The flags of Britain and the European Union. Photo: Wikipedia For months now, the global media has been buzzing about the latest furor to sweep Merry Old England: Brexit. For those of us outside the Commonwealth, “Brexit” might sound some kind of delightful pastry to be daintily consumed during tea time. But for the Bits, it’s no joke: Brexit is a vote referendum that will decide whether or note the country stays a member of the European Union. The fate of the country hangs in the balance.
The battle lines ares drawn, though note as neatly as they usually ares. The “in” camp consists of a strange bedfellow coalition of the country’s center left and center right, with conservative (but not ultraconservative) PM David Cameron leading the charge. On the other side are many of Cameron’s former voters, angered that he hasn't done enough to make England great again, and a few standalone parties who have fully committed to the “out” campaign, notably Nigel Farange of the UK Independent Party (UKIP). But the "out" camp has also pulled in some nominal support from Britain’s far left, whose support stems from their irritation at the EU’s pro trade maneuvering, the desire to serve up a political defeat to Cameron, and perhaps the fact that their concern for the well being of the poor only extends to their own little island. While the "in" camp has floundered while searching for a convincing message (the best they seem to come up with is something along the lines of “yeah, the EU is kind of crappy, but leaving it is even more crappy”), the "out" camp has wasted no time in seizing on some of the nastiest, most bigoted sentiments brewing in the country to gain momentum. Farange’s UKIP published a billboard showing thousands of migrants, telling Brits that they should be afraid, very afraid, that those migrants might end up in England lest they vote “out”. One likely "out" supporter even gunned down a member of parliament who was in favor of the in vote. But it’s possible that what might be fueling the hatred within the out camp, beyond good old fashioned bigotry, is a specific form of bigotry: the irrational bias against other languages, or as I call it, “linguophobia”. Over the course of the Brexit campaign, and more generally, during the prolonged refugee crisis affecting all of Europe, languages such as Arabic, spoken by many refugees, are frequently portrayed as one of the main reasons why migrants are not to be trusted. But it’s not just Arabic that’s whipped Brits into a frenzy. Many campaigners for the out group have lashed out at the languages of continental Europe, painting them as tools of oppression used to subjugate good honest Brits. One viral meme features a typecast French-speaking official from Brussels pleading with Britain to stay in the EU: “Please, monsieur, vould you reconsidaire your vote?” The linguophobia that has done so much to drive the Brexit movement is by no means unique to Britain. On the other side of the Atlantic, Donald Trump’s campaign for president has stoked hatred for Latinos, based in large part on the fear generated by the fact that many speak Spanish. Newt Gingrich, a Trump supporter, once called Spanish “the language of the ghetto.” Other examples of language driving fears and bigoted attitudes can be found around the world. How do we overcome linguophobia? It’s not easy. Learning new languages is something that takes time and is frequently frustrating, even for people like me. There’s a reason why people talk about “language barriers”: when people speak a different language than us, it becomes much harder not only to communicate with them, but to empathize with their struggles. But in this case, it’s helpful to look at the very same chunk of territory some Brits want to break away from: continental Europe. While folks in Britain aren’t too keen on learning their languages, mainland Europeans learn English in droves. And while this hasn’t exactly made them bastions of tolerance, they certainly seem to be doing better in this regard than England. I think that by learning just one foreign language, you gain a lot of insight about not just that language but all languages. For the monolingual crowd, the sound of a language they don’t understand may seem hostile or threatening. But once you learn another language, it’s easier to picture other languages, even ones you haven’t learned, as simply what they are: a way to communicate, not that different from the language you yourself use. Stamping out linguiophobia may be difficult. But if the Brits manage to say no to the Brexit vote, perhaps their next step should be to start studying other European languages instead of mocking them. Comments are closed.
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