According to the 2010 census data on language use, out of about 60.5 million residents above the age of five who were reported as speaking another language in the home, 22.4 percent were reported as speaking English “not well” or “not at all.” Out of the 291.5 million responses analyzed in this report, this would represent less than 5 percent of the U.S. population that do not speak English at all or can’t speak it effectively.

If this is the case, the English-only crowd is essentially crying wolf when they frame English as being threatened. By this measure, we shouldn’t need to argue whether a decline of English translates to a degradation of American culture and “societal glue.” However, under the present administration’s approach to foreign policy and perspective on America’s place in the world, it does seem the fear of a decline in American culture is growing.

As with the English-only agenda as a whole, the fear of a decline in our popular culture is misplaced. Rightists resent illegal aliens for their blatant violation of American sovereignty, but what is more troubling to many are some tightly knit communities of immigrants who are seen as rejecting the general American culture in favor of living what outsiders can only perceive as a better version of Mexican or Latin American or Chinese culture within U.S. borders.