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Diverse Nashville Coalition Defeats English-Only Initiative
During a special election last Thursday, the people of Nashville voted against an English-only initiative. The coalition to oppose the amendment was incredibly diverse and included key allies of the Center.
On January 22, more than 41,752 voters stood up in opposition to an English-only measure in Nashville, defeating it by a margin of 57% to 43%. Hopefully, this defeat by the voters puts the final nail in the coffin of the English-only debate that’s been going on in Nashville for more than a year. Back in 2007, then-Mayor Bill Purcell vetoed an English-only measure. Then, in 2008, the current Mayor, Karl Dean, vigorously opposed the latest version of the measure and the city council passed a resolution encouraging county voters to oppose the ballot measure in the special election on January 22.
The mobilization of voters to oppose the English-only initiative can only be attributed to top-notch organizing and coalition building. Looking at the website of Nashville for All of Us (the coalition that led the fight against the English-only amendments), the mix of organizations is astounding: immigrant organizations and progressive advocates joined with political groups, chambers of commerce, and religious groups.
Several partners of CCC contributed to the success of this campaign. The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), The Urban EpiCenter, and Mid TN Jobs with Justice all worked to defeat the English-only ballot measure. Evonne Tisdale, CCC’s Lead Organizer in the South (and a Nashville resident) says that "one of the reasons the coalition was so successful is that the African-American community played an important role in getting this amendment stopped. A broad base of Black leaders really stepped up to the plate on this one."
The success of the coalition also demonstrates the potential for people energized by the Obama campaign to continue to make change and stay involved in politics and our democracy. One of the key groups in the coalition was Nashville Community Organizers, a meetup group of former organizers and volunteers for the Obama campaign. These former Obama organizers certainly used the lessons they learned during the presidential campaign to win yet another campaign.
Nashville for All of Us also maintained an impressive blog that aggregated all of the opposition to the English-only initiative in the city. Reading through the blog, it’s amazing to see the diversity of public statements, letters to the editor, op-eds, and blogs of Nashville community members, registering their opposition. And the campaign also raised $300,000 to defeat this mean-spirited English-only proposal.
Last week’s vote is certainly a victory for the people of Nashville, but let’s also hope it’s a sign things to come. Broad and diverse coalitions, using a variety of organizing styles (old-fashioned door-knocking and newfangled online strategies), are the key to making change.
