While the notion of English as the dominant language was enforced through
the use of English in every domain of public life, the concept of minority languages (minoritization) was developed through iconization and erasure, by
the conflation of language with ethnicity, and by the devaluation of minor language/English bilingualism (García and Mason 2009). The Anglo-Saxon elites
identifijied the languages of encountered populations as a social problem, fearing these populations as politically formidable and restricted, or even completely eradicated, the use of their languages (see Ruiz, 1984 on three basic
orientations toward language and its role in society). As Karst (1986) argues,
“intercultural domination . . . always rests on shaky foundations, for it is based
on fear” (p. 315). Thus, targeting minority languages, language measures were
rooted in xenophobia. Forced to comply with the superiority of English in
order to survive, language and ethnic minorities have become active carriers of
the English-only ideology.
Enslaved Africans were the fijirst target of the Anglo-Saxons’ brutal restrictive
language policies and rules in North America. Playing a critical role in the
growth of the US economy (Stewart 2005), enslaved Africans were socially,
economically, and culturally marginalized, forbidden to speak their native languages, and separated from their linguistic groups. Prohibited access to education and forced to communicate in English, enslaved Africans developed the
African American Vernacular English (AAVE), which has been denigrated to
an inferior status by the Anglo-Saxon elites (Baugh 1999).