Malcolm X's Argumentative Analysis

Historically, empires without a common, unifying language have failed to endure the test of time and remain unified. For example, the Romans could not effectively create a central administration “that could cut across regional societies and language groups” (Stearn’s xxx). Later, Europeans developed centralized political systems “by building nation states,” meaning the continent was divided between different regional languages and societies. With its increasingly elevated concentration of foreign, non-English speaking immigrants, the United States is threatened by the same fate of the Romans: a non-unified, divided nation. For this reason, language should be legislated in the United States in order to more easily assimilate minorities into the population, equip them with the

Simply understanding or writing basic English is not enough to catalyze social change or awareness; many immigrants and minorities are mute in this respect. Like a mute person, they are aware of everything going on around them, but they themselves are helpless to comment on it or initiate change because they cannot communicate. For example, Malcolm X, a once illiterate black man, educated himself on how to read and write effective English. This, coupled with work ethic, transformed him into one of the most famous, nationally recognizable Civil Rights activists of his time period. X himself believed that “the best thing [he] could do was get hold of a dictionary – to study, to learn some words” (X xxx). Previously mute to society, X seized his voice and proceeded to play an important role in one of the most celebrated movements in black history. Declaring English as the national language of the United States would empower immigrants and give them a voice by forcing them to learn effective control of the English language as a part of the immigration