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September 2006 |
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One from many, a priceless idea |
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James
Pankratz
Special to Parenting |
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"Pluribus Unum,” I said in the middle of supper. “Now where exactly does that motto show up?” I asked my wife and son. It wasn’t a test. I really wanted to know. The first place they looked was the back of a dollar bill. Not there. Nor on a twenty.
While this search was underway, I imagined Jay Leno in one of his
infamous Jaywalking routines questioning shoppers in a mall. “What does E Pluribus Unum mean?” The replies might range from the name of a famous senator (E. Pluribusunum) to an exotic plant (the Eplury bush) or to the cousin of the president (E. Flory Bush, you know ’em).
If Jay walked far enough, someone would know the words are Latin for “one from many,” and that they are used to describe the philosophy behind our cohesiveness as a republic of separate states. But what if Jay persisted? “What does it mean that the U.S. is one from many? How can we be many, and yet one? How does that work?”
Here’s where things break into two camps. The first camp would say we are one if we believe the same thing. Their goal would be to sweep up as much of the messy untidiness of the beliefs and behaviors of their fellow citizens under one roof, which they might call “the truth.” For them unity (unum) equals conformity.
For example, currently there is a push among the first camp to pass a federal law making English the official language. Twenty-seven states have already enacted laws making English their official language. What is behind this push? Is it truly a desire to have new immigrants get ahead faster in their new land? Or is it fear of diversity masquerading as patriotism? And how did our immigrant ancestors manage to get ahead for more than 200 years without this legislation?
I wonder if our lawmakers managed to watch the National Spelling Bee finals televised live this past summer. More than 250 middle-school students traveled to the nation’s capital after passing local and regional spelling bees.
When I turned on the TV, the competition was down to the final hour. Remember that this was a spelling bee for English-speaking students consisting of words found in a dictionary of the English language.
I emphasize this point because what follows is a sampling of the words the students were asked to spell: heiligenschein, weltschmerz, paillon, koine, poiesis, psittiacism, babism, guilloche, wehrmacht, and hukilau.
And they spelled them correctly.
The runner up missed on the word collyrium. The winner triumphed on ursprache. Often contestants would ask the judges to give them the language of origin of the word they were asked to spell. The small sampling above includes Latin, Greek, French and German.
No one speaks American.
The English language is a living, breathing river enriched by the flow of languages spoken and written by a diversity of cultures extending back thousands of years. It continues to expand as technology and travel link us with people and customs throughout the shrinking globe.
The second camp sees the one (unum) as growing stronger from the influence of the many (pluribus). What unites us is our shared belief in tolerance for diversity. We can even move beyond tolerance to actually celebrate the energy that comes from the new blood of shared opinions, respectful debate, and lived experiences.
When a culture tries to close its borders to protect itself from new ideas, that culture is beginning to suffocate, stagnate, and wither from within.
The students at this year’s National Spelling Bee did not look like the United States of 50 years ago. They were a group of economically and culturally diverse middle-school students united by a shared belief in the power of a mind open to learning.
The words E Pluribus Unum can be found on the back of a quarter, just above the eagle. Although it’s only a quarter, the idea is priceless.
(Pankratz is a marriage and family therapist for Catholic Charities Milwaukee regional office.) |
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