Louisiana School Board Considers English-Only Grad Speeches
August 12, 2008
Vietnamese students provoke potential policy
In Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish, Ellender Memorial High School co-valedictorians and cousins Hue and Cindy Vo delivered graduation speeches on May 19, unaware that including a few lines of Vietnamese would prompt the school board to consider a policy requiring English-only graduation speeches.
Hue said three lines in Vietnamese thanking her parents. They overcame obstacles when they escaped a prohibitive country and came to a foreign land where they were unfamiliar with the culture and language.
Cindy, who was born in the United States, spoke one line. She translated it as a phrase that encourages someone to be his or herself, no matter what other people say.
Rickie Pitre, a school board vice chairman, is spearheading a school committee to possibly draft a proposal and submit it for a November or December school board vote. The probable policy would require that all public high schools in the county be mandated to have graduation speeches in English only. This deterrent of expressing students’ diversity could possibly prompt other counties to do the same.
Minh Thanh Nguyen, executive director of The Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans (VAYLA-NO) said, “We think it’s unjust. We have a lot of support and we’re gonna make sure that this doesn’t happen. We’re fighting for our people, for the freedom of our youth.”
The Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, VAYLA-NO’s national partner, is enlisting the support of approximately 20 civil rights organizations that have signed a petition against a proposal. Some of the organizations include the National Urban League, The Japanese American Citizens League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Indian Education Association.
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