What is America's Future Culture? Is it likely to be the seventeenth century America that was intended as a free thinking republic for northern and western European immigrants in search of a better life? Is it likely to be the twentieth century America that we have come to know as a nation of immigrants divided by economic, religious, linguistic, political and social principles- with ethnic and racial loyalties to one's own culture? Or will the twenty-first century America likely be one that is multiethnic, multilingual and able to coexist as a national culture that is distinctly American?
In projecting a future America, we concern ourselves with today's events and extrapolate from those trends a possible tomorrow. Today's America wrestles with policies and practices of immigration in an attempt to remain true to its founding ideas and ideology: "All are Welcome!" For many, the ideology has been altered by the definition of the word "All" that has broadened to include immigrant groups from around the world with different cultural practices and languages. This new definition of the word "All" fuels the current debate over immigration.
This study addresses some parts of that debate. It focuses on California's call to abandon bilingual education programs in some of its public school districts. In the Los Angeles district where sixty seven percent of the total school population is of Latino origin, the school board aims to replace the method of instruction, known as bilingual education with English-only classes for immigrant children whose native language is Spanish. This call for action by California sets a pace for other districts that will likely follow with similar restrictions. That brings me to the point of the argument set forth in this paper and prompts me to ask, "Will tomorrow's America be one that we want?"