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Columnist Richard Estrada Passes Away Richard Estrada, a gifted columnist and editorial writer for the Dallas Morning News, passed away on October 29. Estrada, 49 years old with advanced degrees from the University of Chicago, had made a national name for himself as a commentator on immigration and social issues. On August 24, 1999, he wrote a column criticizing the decision of El Cenizo, Texas, to become "the first U.S. municipality in memory to enact a Spanish-only law." Estrada said: "By the time she took her first break at 6 o’clock in the morning, my grandmother already had made a piping hot batch of flour tortillas. I can still remember that wonderful woman sitting in her small home in southwestern New Mexico as she ate a tortilla with butter, sipped her coffee and listened intently to the resonant voice of a commentator broadcasting from a radio station across the border in Juarez, Mexico. "From the time of her arrival in the United States in the middle of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20 until her death in 1963, she never learned how to converse in English. If she needed to communicate with the schools or local governments in her community of about 5,000 people, her children or grandchildren interpreted for her. Certainly, she never expected an English-speaking country to accommodate a non-English-speaking newcomer. "How things change. In the not-much-larger town of El Cenizo, Texas, recently, local elected officials stirred up a hornet’s nest across America by becoming the first U.S. municipality in memory to enact a Spanish-only law. And not only did the mayor and two city council members pass an ordinance requiring that all public business be conducted in Spanish, they directed other local government employees to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, under penalty of being fired. "As unacceptable and offensive as El Cenizo’s action was, it was logical. One city council member says 80 percent of its 7,800 residents are monolingual Spanish speakers, and the other 20 percent are bilingual. City council meetings previously held in English were complicated because interpreters were required. The officials in the Rio Grande border town bowed to popular demand that the meetings be held in Spanish. "Trouble is, time and time again, the advocates for mass immigration has told America this kind of thing would never happen. "Federal judges across America should take note: Many American are seriously concerned about the primacy of English for good reason. About 25 states have adopted English-only measures, but Arizona’s passed in 1988, was struck down by the courts. The law passed by Alaska voters in November is being challenged as well. "To be sure, it is questionable whether such laws will resolve the growing challenges to the primacy of English in America, but the courts are whistling Dixie when they suggest by their rulings that no real problem exists. As canaries in the coal mines go, El Cenizo is a 500-pounder." A memorial service for Richard Estrada, led by ELPAC Chairman Barnaby Zall, was held in the U.S. House of Representatives on November 19. Congressmen Lamar Smith and Silvestre Reyes led a group of speakers remembering Estrada’s wit and wisdom. |
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The
ELPAC Report 