Abstract
In this issue Donathan Brown considers the debate in the United States over Oklahoma Ballot Question 751, The English is the Official Language of Oklahoma Act. The view that an official language is needed to unify the United States has figured in recent political campaigns for English-only legislation. Anxieties over linguistic homogeneity have focused attention on immigration as politicians have raised fears that immigrants’ failure to learn English will lead to the ‘divided states’ of America. While the need for an official language has been justified in terms of cost issues, there are also concerns over the divisive effect of the Spanish language on American national identity and this has developed into campaigns around the impact of Latino immigration. Brown considers these issues in the context of the changing demographic structure of the US and unravels and critiques the rhetoric of the debate.
Similar issues are raised by Amardo Rodriguez who focuses on the factors contributing to the recent enactment of punitive immigration laws in the United States and the implications for citizenship and political obligation. Rodriguez critically examines the notion of citizenship in which law-abiding citizens are contrasted with undocumented immigrants, who are seen as a drain on resources and morally suspect. Moreover the obligations of good citizens include upholding these new immigration laws. His discussion includes Alabama's 2011 immigration law, the Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, whose provisions are so far reaching and punitive they aim to encourage self-deportation and provide an alternative to an amnesty for undocumented immigrants.
Gregor Maučec reviews the framework of international and European human rights and anti-discrimination law relevant to the treatment of persons with disabilities. There has been considerable progress in dealing with a range of forms of discrimination including direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation and denial of reasonable accommodation. A range of human rights instruments and policies at the supranational and national level over the past twenty years designed to combat discrimination against people with disabilities, including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, have been introduced. However, as Maučec argues, problems remain in achieving the realisation of these standards in practice.