But these are questions of bilingualism, it must be pointed out, and
since the first boarding school for Native Americans was opened at
Carlisle in Pennsylvania (Coleman 1993), the language issue for Native
Americans has become complicated by the development of varieties of
English distinct both from tribal languages and the English of non-Native
Americans. Thus, much like Mexican-Americans, Native Americans are
confronted with educational challenges of two types: bilingualism, and
bidialectalism. Leap (1992) makes the salient point that for each Native
American tribal language there is a distinct and functioning variety of
English with phonological, morphological, syntactic and discourse
features specific to it. This variety of English must be taken into
consideration in the classroom, and not just as an object to be replaced
with another, less socially stigmatized *SAE.
In the current day, language education policies are rarely overtly racist
or Eurocentric, and it is precisely for that reason that they work so well.
There are no conspiracy plots to kidnap Mexican children in Texas or
Chinese children in San Francisco or Arabic children in Detroit. Educators
do not suggest that children of a specific ethnicity or race would be better
off if they were removed from their homes. We ask those children to learn
English, the argument goes, but it’s for their own good. The more they
willingly submit to mainstreaming, the better the mainstream will treat
them.
The most commonly heard position on this issue of the appropriate
language of education was summarized quite saliently by William J.
Bennett, a former Secretary of Education:
Our origins are diverse. Yet we live together as fellow citizens, in
harmony ... Each of us is justly proud of his own ethnic heritage. But
we share this pride, in common, as Americans, as American citizens.
To be a citizen is to share in something common – common
principles, common memories, and a common language in which to
discuss our common affairs. Our common language is, of course,
English. And our common task is to ensure that our non-English-
speaking children learn this common language ... We expect much of
[our schools] – to impart basic skills, to help form character, to teach
citizenship. And we expect our schools to help teach all of our