[Column] The far proper’s overseas language phobia

 By Robert Fouser, linguist

Already a 12 months has handed because the newest US presidential election. Donald Trump’s second victory introduced with it the identical catastrophic shocks that accompanied his first win. His supporters had been ecstatic, however nervousness was palpable throughout America as an entire. 

Trump’s two victories could look related, however there’s a essential distinction between them. In 2016, Trump gained the Electoral School, however misplaced the favored vote to Hillary Clinton by roughly 3 million. It was solely pure for Trump to lack clout as he stepped into the White Home. In 2024, nevertheless, Trump gained the electoral vote and likewise left his competitor Kamala Harris within the mud within the in style vote. This time, he swaggered into the Oval Workplace.

We will see this distinction mirrored previously 9 months since his second inauguration. He has no reservations about revealing his true colours: his blatant pursuit of white supremacy.

To Trump, the “actual” America is one which solely has white inhabitants. He oppresses authorized immigrants and US residents within the identify of purging “unlawful” immigrants. He rationalized the deployment of Nationwide Guard troops to Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, metropolitan cities that many individuals of coloration name house, declaring that he was waging a struggle in opposition to crime. His threats to ship extra troops to different cities and the large-scale memorial service for conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in early September, solely goes to spotlight his propensity for white supremacy. 

In fact, that’s not all. On March 1, Trump signed an govt order designating English because the official language of the US. This unprecedented transfer reveals how Trump mirrored his age-old perception that English needs to be the one language used within the US in laws. Language and identification are intertwined; as such, language can be utilized as a device to create “others” for the sake of strengthening inner unity. 

As a federation, language use and schooling in America are determined by particular person states. Even earlier than the manager order, 27 states had already labeled English because the official state language. These states had been those that Trump got here out triumphant previously three presidential elections — southern states which have a excessive proportion of white residents and a protracted historical past of legalized racism in opposition to African Individuals. Not most of the 20 states that haven’t designated an official language exhibit such excessive help for Trump, which means that they may most likely not comply with this govt order. 

Many international locations select a local language to be their nation’s official language, which implies we can not definitively say that this kind of conduct is explicitly an outgrowth of the far proper. Nevertheless, the US is a distinct case. The core of the far-right motion within the US is rooted in white supremacy. To those individuals, those that use languages that aren’t English are targets to be attacked for threatening the “purity” of only-English-speaking white people.

Japan can be quickly swerving towards the far proper. The slogan “Japan First,” which undoubtedly comes from far-right influences, is gaining traction, because of the Sanseito get together. It is extremely straightforward to return upon YouTube movies during which Sanseito supporters complain about how there are too many foreigners within the nation, how tough it has develop into to make use of Japanese to speak, how the streets ring with unfamiliar languages, and that Japanese will quickly develop into a misplaced language if foreigners proceed to reach in Japan. This demonstrates this obsession, very like the one harbored by many white supremacists: a eager for a “pure” Japan. These individuals regard those that communicate different languages as a risk.

It sadly seems that Korea is not any exception to this harmful pattern. Racist anti-China protests have develop into a daily prevalence in Seoul’s Myeongdong and Daerim areas, escalating to the purpose of threats in opposition to native retailers and residents. Increasingly more individuals are complaining about “not with the ability to talk” with coworkers in traces of labor the place overseas labor is frequent. The implication after all being that that they aren’t capable of talk “in Korean.” 

Korea’s far proper has but to make language an specific goal of its hostility, just like the US and Japan. To date, its obsession with “purity” has primarily been expressed when it comes to Sinophobia. However there’s no assure that this antipathy gained’t unfold to different nationalities and ethnicities, or different languages. 

What issues is how we reply if it does. The far proper is gaining floor the world over, however a more in-depth have a look at most of the international locations affected by the far-right fever reveals they’re, on the similar time, earnestly striving to seek out new methods to advance open democratic values that reject notions of “purity.” These are the voices that Korea should foster. 

Sitting round and ready for a chance to current itself gained’t resolve something. We have to actively foster voices for open democratic values. There was no future for the far proper after its failure within the twentieth century. We have to show that the identical goes for at present. Doing so would be the first step towards constructing a future during which we are able to all reside with dignity collectively as neighbors. 

Please direct questions or feedback to [english@hani.co.kr]