Passage of Proposition 63

It is common knowledge that referendums passed in California generally set the stage for similar proposals in the rest of the country. Proposition 13 was said to be the progenitor of America’s eventual tax-averse atmosphere and is believed to have been the catalyst behind today’s conservative agenda. Now, a similar situation has occurred--one that is disturbing in its possible impact and which saddens me deeply.

I am a resident of New Mexico, a state whose 400-year Spanish/Mexican tradition includes a healthy respect for the Castilian language. We of Hispanic descent are not immigrants; we have lived in the Southwest for centuries, having occupied the same land for 14 and 15 generations. However, in the past 140 years, we have found our culture systematically stripped from us. What we have fought to maintain, our indigenous tongue, is now in danger of being taken as well.

What happens in California is often not too important to those of us relatively isolated from the rest of the country. However, the English-only amendment is a different story. When Californians choose to adopt a policy that unfortunately is appealing in its bigotry, I cannot help but feel saddened.

Hopefully, this measure does not mean that in the future I will have to feel frightened for any traits that the majority may wish to steal from me as well.

RAYMOND P. SALAS

Albuquerque, N.M.