Patriotism and language loyalties: comparing Latino and Anglo attitudes toward English-Only legislation
Sarah Allen Gershon, Adrian D. Pantoja · Ethnic and Racial Studies · 2011
This study examines the role patriotism plays in structuring Anglo and Latino attitudes towards making English the official language of the United States. We rely on pooled data from the 1997 and 1998 Los Angeles County Social Survey and use logistic regression to examine the impact of patriotism and other determinants on support for English-Only policies. The results indicate that Latinos and Anglos hold distinctly different views on English-Only policies, with significant numbers of Anglos supporting these policies, and Latinos largely opposing them. Patriotism, as well as other socio-demographic variables, differentially structure Latino and Anglos attitudes towards linguistic policies. Specifically, patriotism significantly increases Anglo support for English-Only policies, but exerts little impact on Latino attitudes in this regard.