Rocky Mountain News

So Shut Up, Coach

"One might suspect that a Latino rights activist might have a better grasp of  [bilingual education] than a black football coach." So declares Ron Unz in a provocative e-mail regarding his ballot initiative for English immersion for immigrant students. 

Well, Ron, it depends. If the "black football coach" is actually the U.S. secretary of education - as he is in this case - we might well give his views a respectful hearing.

And no, we don't think ethnicity is a trump card in a debate about bilingual education, racism, the history of oppression or any other supercharged subject involving people's origins. If we did, we'd automatically oppose Unz's amendment, since it so happens that most Hispanic activists in Colorado do. That's interesting, of course, but it doesn't mean they're right.

Six months ago, Unz mocked the "Anglo-Irish" origins and "upper-crust British accent" of Gully Stanford, a leading opponent of his amendment. Now he suggests that black football coaches don't have standing to weigh into the debate, either. How about a Polish-American mechanic? A WASP doctor? Could a Mexican laborer venture a useful opinion, or must he be an "activist" first?

Surely we need to clear up these questions before the campaign really heats up.