That attitude is not unique to the US. I live in Spain, in a region with its own language which was forbidden during the Francoist dictatorship, on top of Spanish which is common to all the country. The reasons against learning the regional language are varied, but the end result is the same: people don't teach it to their children, and each decade it loses more speakers.
I think OP's husband's reasons might stem from a sense of nationalistic/xenophobic superiority, a sense of inferiority ("being left behind"), and given that's a common attitude there, maybe he also doesn't want to stand out or face other people's judgement? In any case those are shitty reasons, and he needs to reconsider.
It's also telling he brought out the issue of race. I'm a white woman who doesn't live in the US, so I don't think I can comment on the "racism against POC" bit, but it seems like he equates "white" to "white, anglo-saxon and English-speaking ONLY", which uh. It's not how it works?
Plus, I imagine normalizing speaking a second language among white people would probably reduce the stigma against other bilingual communities.
Anyways, it seems like xenophobia and racism are entangled and treated like they're the same in the husband's mind, even though that's not always actually the case.
no subject
I think OP's husband's reasons might stem from a sense of nationalistic/xenophobic superiority, a sense of inferiority ("being left behind"), and given that's a common attitude there, maybe he also doesn't want to stand out or face other people's judgement? In any case those are shitty reasons, and he needs to reconsider.
It's also telling he brought out the issue of race. I'm a white woman who doesn't live in the US, so I don't think I can comment on the "racism against POC" bit, but it seems like he equates "white" to "white, anglo-saxon and English-speaking ONLY", which uh. It's not how it works?
Plus, I imagine normalizing speaking a second language among white people would probably reduce the stigma against other bilingual communities.
Anyways, it seems like xenophobia and racism are entangled and treated like they're the same in the husband's mind, even though that's not always actually the case.