Even though Donald Trump’s second presidential term hasn’t even reached the two-month mark, he has signed a slew of executive orders. His latest order, though, is one of the most baffling...and, of course, Black folks have a lot to say about it.
The order, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, would make English the country’s official first language. It would also rescind a federal mandate issued by former president Bill Clinton that agencies and other recipients of federal funding must provide language assistance to non-English speakers.
The United States has never had a national language at the federal level in its almost 250-year history.
The Wall Street Journal also shared that the White House said that the goal of making English the national language is to “promote unity, establish efficiency in the government and provide a pathway to civic engagement.”
One X user, @shea_jordan, aptly pointed out that Trump is “pushing an extreme and isolationist agenda.” “His new executive order would roll back a longstanding Clinton mandate...leaving millions of non-English speakers without crucial resources,” they explained.
The Guardian noted that Trump has used anti-multilingual rhetoric as part of his attack on open borders and immigration in the U.S.
“These are languages – it’s the craziest thing – they have languages that nobody in this country has ever heard of. It’s a very horrible thing,” he said during the Conservative Political Action Conference last year.
A Black right-wing commentator, Rob Smith, tried to take credit for the idea on X for some reason, saying that his suggestion earned him “a strike on @tiktok_us and demonetized on @Meta.” Of course, other Black folks expressed the notion that this country has bigger things to worry about.
In response to Trump’s latest move, @kayyyy10k glazed over the news to ask: “When will the cost of eggs be lowered?” Another X user commented on how Trump is a performative president who is essentially duping his biggest supporters.
“Trump administration is nothing but culture war political theater in order to keep poor white people voting against their interests,” @SocialistMMA stated. He also called explained how his most loyal base have nothing to show for re-electing Trump.
“Trump is literally doing nothing for the working class but hey at least we have the Gulf of America and English as the official language. I bet poor white people feel so represented right now,” he wrote.