Such a standpoint is not pertinent to Africa (and most parts of the world) though. In the regional reality, such people, on top of their poverty, have trouble participating in society and business above a certain level, precisely because of a language barrier.
Not that different from the US, come to think of it. There are some real multilanguage countries on Earth, where two or three or more languages have an equal footing, but that is not it.
The "American standpoint" might be "pluralistic and opposed to the idea of an official language" in abstract theory and as seen from an ivory tower, but see how far an immigrant just speaking their own language, even if that's as common in the US as Spanish, or some Native American or Cajun or whatever person not well versed in English, and see how far they go. Hell, even blacks from poor backgrounds, who do speak english, and for all the lip service to equality and opportunities, have to be deprogrammed to speak whiter english, and they undergo just that in university, if they want to work in any position from PR and finance sector, to law, public sector, the news, and so on. It's not about racism, even, it's more about classism: a redneck speaking like one would in rural country, with the dictionary, accent, mannerisms, and everything, wouldn't go far in the East or West coast either.
Not that different from the US, come to think of it. There are some real multilanguage countries on Earth, where two or three or more languages have an equal footing, but that is not it.
The "American standpoint" might be "pluralistic and opposed to the idea of an official language" in abstract theory and as seen from an ivory tower, but see how far an immigrant just speaking their own language, even if that's as common in the US as Spanish, or some Native American or Cajun or whatever person not well versed in English, and see how far they go. Hell, even blacks from poor backgrounds, who do speak english, and for all the lip service to equality and opportunities, have to be deprogrammed to speak whiter english, and they undergo just that in university, if they want to work in any position from PR and finance sector, to law, public sector, the news, and so on. It's not about racism, even, it's more about classism: a redneck speaking like one would in rural country, with the dictionary, accent, mannerisms, and everything, wouldn't go far in the East or West coast either.