Not anymore! Last week’s election showed that we should have more faith in our listeners, the power of the grass roots coalitions, well-reasoned debate, and civil dialogue.

It’s not just Eric Crafton’s English Only that was defeated on Thursday. The brand of name-calling alarmism practiced by the three mouthkateers (can Tom Negri, General Manager of Loews Vanderbilt Hotel, or Rev. Jim Lawson, civil rights icon, really be defined as “liberal-wackos”?) was also given the smackdown by facts, figures, and the intellectual optimism practiced by a wide coalition of business, community, and spiritual leaders.

At this point, Gill et. al. should be frightened. Although they would never admit it, they know their fearmongering has both limited appeal and a limited shelf-life. Which is why hanging on to it while the rest of the country strides ahead is bad for business. Those boys say that they are giving people what they want, but our show – which with only 2 hours a week on a non-commercial station and engaging, reasonable guests, helped to defeat a city-wide referendum – clearly shows that they are so not. These emperors have not a stitch on.

The arguments against the Fairness Doctrine or the viability of progressive talk radio are red herrings use to deflect what DelGiorno, et. al. are really afraid of – that in these times, the majority of people in Middle-Tennessee would rather do what we do – discuss how public policy, elections, and elected officials can best serve the people of Tennessee – rather than what they specialize in – fear-based and divisive bombast (cue tax! abortion! immigration! gun! discussions). And they have no earthly idea how to adapt.

Obviously, the good folks in Nashville didn’t ask for our opinion. We’d be remiss, however, not to say that we’ve been there and done that — and we didn’t like it. Dade County, as it was then known, enacted an English-only ordinance in 1980. It quickly became a source of endless legal headaches, heated community debate, political embarrassment and bureaucratic wrangling. Finally, it was repealed in 1993, to near-universal relief.

What can we expect if English Only passes? The same inertia that Miami experienced due to lawsuits and unending minutiae:

There were lawsuits and legal challenges from the federal government over issues such as bilingual ballots. Civil libertarians argued that linguistic restrictions violated the equal-protection clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

Mass-transit schedules were printed only in English. Doctors at the public hospital were forbidden to give Haitian mothers a brochure in Creole about caring for their infants. Bilingual signs at the zoo were permitted to remain, but when a new section opened up, the signs had to be English-only (until private funding was found).

Welcome newcomers, Miami urges us, because in their experience, “arrivals strengthen us, not make us weaker.”

If you are in D.C. and need info about tomorrow’s Swearing In Ceremony, you can go to the official Presidential Inauguration Committee website. If you’re still in Nashville and are looking for a front row seat to the festivities, head on down to the Belcourt Theatre where they’ll be showing the event on the big screen.

Nashville for All of Us, a coalition of over 70 local organizations working together to defeat the English-only Amendment, is hosting the free event, which will begin at 9:00 am Central Standard Time when Inauguration festivities start on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. A live video feed will run until Noon, when President Obama completes his Inaugural Address.

Again, there is no admission fee, but to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and today’s National Day of Community Service, guests are asked to bring a children’s book (new or gently used) for a book drive for Book’em and the Pencil Foundation, or donate to the Visitation Hospital Foundation, a Nashville charity that runs a hospital in Haiti.

The Belcourt concessions will be open for business and guests can purchase food and refreshments.

The broadcast should include all of tomorrow’s regularly scheduled events.

So, if you’re still not sure of the importance and still need reasons to vote Against/Against, we offer you the “Against Liberadio(!) Interview Series.” Wait. We offer you the “Liberadio(!) Against Interviews Series.” Darnit. Here’s the “Liberadio(!) Presents: The Against/Against Interview Series.”

Each interview focuses on the effect the passing of the referendum will have on our guests’ area of expertise.

The Law
Interview with Nashville attorney Gregg Ramos and Assistant District Attorney Sarah Davis – One defender. One prosecutor. How can they both agree that Councilman Eric Crafton’s English Only amendment is not a good idea for Nashville? [37.9 MB 23:37 download MP3]
Download audio file (liberadio20081222part2davisramos.mp3)

Governance
Interview with Councilwoman at large Megan Barry. Councilwoman Barry sheds some light on how Councilman Eric Crafton’s English Only amendment would negatively affect the governing of the city of Nashville. It’s not pretty. [38.3 MB 23:52 download MP3]
Download audio file (liberadio20090105part2meganbarry.mp3)

Business
Interview with Tom Negri. Tom is the Managing Director of Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel, on the board of the Chamber of Commerce, and a founding member of Nashville’s Coalition For Education About Immigration. He knows real immigration reform and what’s good for business and Councilman Eric Crafton’s English Only referendum is neither. [40.2 MB 25:04 download MP3]
Download audio file (liberadio20090112part2tomnegri.mp3)

Act Now Bonus Interview
Interview with Rev. Jim Lawson – Rev. Lawson, civil rights icon, Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt, and a most thoughtful human being, weighs in on the need to continue to teach the principles of nonviolence; the similarities and differences between the civil rights struggles of various communities (women, African-Americans, gays, etc.); and Nashville’s English Only referendum. [35 MB 21:52 download MP3]
Download audio file (liberadio20081208part2jimlawson.mp3)

Preview: Immigrants and Immigration
On Monday, January 19, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we will welcome Stephen Fotopulos, Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition to talk about the very real effect the passing of the English Only referendum will have on Nashville’s immigrants and refugees.

Before you click on the link, try and guess which answer is winning, Yes or No. If you guessed “No,” you would be really, really wrong. As of about 2:15 pm on Wednesday afternoon, 4904 people have said they are for the English Only initiative and 1420 have said they are against it. 78% to 22%. Shocking, isn’t it? Especially since everyone you know to is against it, right? Right? Wrong.

You won’t hear a call from us to click on over to WSMV’s website and vote in their survey. Could care less. We need you where it counts and what we are asking you to do will take more effort.

First, have you voted yet? If not, get yourself to the polls. The last days of early voting at the Howard School are today, tomorrow, and Friday from 8 am to 5:30 pm, and on Satuday, from 9:00 am to 12 noon. Has your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, best friend, best friend’s friend, yadda yadda yadda, voted yet? If not, then get them to the polls. We’re playing a numbers game here, voters, and we have to have more people vote Against/Against then For/For or we lose. Wait, let me rephrase that, or the city of Nashville loses.

Second, send out a mass email about voting in this important election to your personal email lists. All the information you need to create one to urge the people you know to vote Against/Against – from quick facts about the English Only referendum to who’s part of the large and growing locally-based Against/Against coalition – can be found at Nashvilleforallofus.org. Here’s is an example:

Bad for business.
• Nashville boasts 76 companies with some level of foreign investment. Those companies employ 7,660 Nashvillians and generated more than $19.6 billion in sales last year. At a time when Nashville is enjoying tremendous success recruiting international companies, the English-only effort sends a negative and inaccurate message to the world. Tom Oreck, CEO of Oreck Corporation, said, “I can tell you that if this had been the law when we were considering Nashville, Oreck might not have chosen this city.” (Tom is also featured in the Against/Against TV ad)
Bad for Nashville’s tourism industry.
• Tourism is important to Nashville, and international visitors comprise one of the fastest growing tourist segments. Last year, Nashville hosted more than 300,000 visitors from foreign countries, who averaged three days in Nashville and spent more than $150/day. As a result, those visitors contributed more than $135 million to Nashville’s economy.
A tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars.
• Its own language states that it will not apply to services that could affect public health or safety, or that are required by federal or state law. That means there are only a handful of services now being provided that would be halted. We are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort to eliminate services that don’t exist so we can save approximately $495.00 per year.
Unnecessary.
• English is already the “official and legal language” of Tennessee, and Nashville. Our city does not need to change its own constitution for that to be true. Immigrants know better than anyone the importance of learning English. They also know that the faster they learn English, the faster they can assimilate into the society. If the concern is that immigrants are not learning English quickly enough, we should create more opportunities for them to learn.
Inconsistent with our values as a city.
• Nashville is a city of faith. For many people, of various faiths, the attempt to make English the only language in Nashville rings false. The Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Qur’an, all offer text supporting a more tolerant view of those who may not speak our language. “English-only,” not “English-first.”
The Sponsor of the referendum, Councilman Eric Crafton, does not have the best interest of Nashville in mind.
• Rather, it is his own self-interest and agenda that motivate him. While the coalition against the referendum is made up of Nashville’s business, community and spiritual leaders, Crafton’s “coalition” consists of one out of state company, Pro English, with deep pockets and ties to organizations designated as “hate groups” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. And if he did have the best interest of Nashville in mind, then why would Mr Crafton insist to the New York Times that “We’ll make English the official language here” and then “go city to city, show them how we’ve done it here, and let the dominos fall.”

Third, please volunteer some phone banking and or canvassing time to get the word out about this very important issue. Nashville For All of Us has an official headquarters located at 1814 Church Street, Nashville. Phone banking will be done at the HQ from Monday to Saturday from 10am – 8pm and on Sunday from 1pm – 6pm. You can also go there to schedule a canvassing shift. President-elect Obama is calling for Martin Luther King, Jr. day (Monday, January 19) to be a day of service. Make defeating the English Only referendum your much-needed service.

Today, a broad coalition of Nashville’s citizens, community leaders, and business owners launched NashvilleForAllofUs.org, the beginning of the movement to urge the residents of Davidson County to vote against the English-only Metro Charter amendment. At NashvilleForAllofUs.org you can find out more information about the coalition, sign up to volunteer and spread the word, and contribute to their work to defeat this referendum.

Liberadio(!) is part of the coalition, and on Monday we had a lengthy discussion with one of our regular listeners who thought the “English-Only” Charter Amendment was a good idea [Listen]. We, obviously, do not.

Here is what the amendment proposes:

English is the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Official actions which bind or commit the government shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, Boards, and Commissions of the Metropolitan Government shall be conducted in English. The Metro Council may make specific exceptions to protect public health and safety. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or state law.

The amendment, which is clearly “English-only” and not “English-first,” is excessive, inefficient, and dangerous.

Excessive because Tennessee state law already codifies English as the “official and legal language” of our state. Inefficient because the translation of essential documents by Metro agencies makes the bureaucracy run more smoothly for all residents. Dangerous because the ability of Nashville government to communicate with all city residents, especially those who might have important information to share with government officials, is essential for public safety.

Nashville has always been known to business leaders, students, and the many visitors that our tourism industry relies on as an inclusive community. This amendment will discriminate against all foreign-born people who visit or come to live or study here, including refugees who have come to this country to escape discrimination. Ironic, ain’t it?

Some important facts:

• On August 7 , 2008, the Metro Council voted 25-8 urging voters to oppose an English-only charter amendment. Mayor Dean himself addressed the council: “I wanted to take this time, this opportunity to make sure my voice, as mayor of this city, is heard on this issue, and to assure that everyone fully understands the consequences of passing a law that will tie our hands in the global economy, that will detract from our appeal as an international tourist destination, and that will damage our reputation as a welcoming and friendly city.”
• According to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Japanese investment alone in Tennessee exceeded $9.4 billion in 2004, creating over 40,000 jobs.
• Research indicates that 98% of Latinos think it is “essential” that their children learn English. In fact, 80% of foreign-born children from Mexico learn English “well” or “very well,” and 92 percent of second-generation Latinos are fully fluent in English. By the third generation, only 28% of Latinos are still proficient in Spanish. (Migration Policy Institute).
• Immigrants are required to learn English before they become U.S. citizens (exceptions include older immigrants). While they are learning English and going through the long citizenship process, they must still interact with government agencies.
• There are over 45,000 foreign-born individuals in Davidson County who are still working towards their citizenship.
• According to the Davidson County Election Commission, January’s special election to decide the fate of this ballot initiative will cost Nashville taxpayers approximately $350,000 to $500,000. This during a time when Metro is being forced to take a good, hard, long look at our budget and make necessary cuts.

So in the midst of all that Holiday cheer you’ll be spreading with your giftees and your parties, think about what makes Nashville unique as a city in Tennessee and what we’ll lose if this amendment passes. And then take the time to tell your friends – in between cups of holiday cheer, of course – to get out and vote.

Vote against the “English-Only” referendum on January 22, 2009. Early voting begins on January 2, 2009. Last day to register to vote in this election is December 23, 2008. Call the Davidson County Election Commission for more information at 615-862-8800.