Asian Law Journal Symposium on Labor and Immigration

Thank you, Lucas for the kind introduction. At the outset, it is important to recognize the breadth of the impact language-based discrimination has upon the immigrant community and upon Asian Pacific Americans in particular. We must understand the size, growth, and the demographic characteristics of the Asian American population. Between 1980 and 1990, this population has virtually doubled, increasing by 95%. According to the 1990 census, the majority of Asian Pacific Americans are of immigrant background; 27% of them are limited in English language proficiency. In California, one out of three residents speaks a foreign language at home. It should come as no surprise that the color, culture, and sound of the workplace, along with the population of California generally, is changing rapidly. Nor should it come as a surprise that our response to those changes is anti-immigrant backlash. That backlash takes many forms, Proposition 187 being one of them. One of the more prevalent manifestations of social tension we are witnessing as this transformation takes place is language-based discrimination. Language discrimination poses a new set of questions and challenges. There are aspects of language discrimination and other forms of national origin discrimination which are different from traditional race discrimination. Discrimination against immigrants and national origin minorities, unlike traditional forms of race discrimination, are not necessarily based on the color of one's skin; rather, it is often based on certain conditions associated with one's immigrant status and/or ethnicity. The discrimination is targeted at one's "foreignness." Perhaps the most salient aspect of that foreignness is one's language, whether it be one's primary (or only) language or accent. Language-based discrimination can be an easy proxy for race dis-