Comments on: The Hispanic Challenge

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Yes, David Brooks takes a similar attitude in his NYT Op-Ed today.

By: rich

rich — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

where i live, i'm surrounded by mexican flags. it bothers me, and i'm hispanic. but, as you say, jj, the enemy is already in the gates, so to speak. their children will be, by and large, american.

By: Jim in Texas

Jim in Texas — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

I hope for the Hispanic homogenization as well and suspect that it is only slow in coming due more to the size of the influx than the attitude of the immigrants.

It was rather sobering though to be turned down for a job I was otherwise qualified for in Dallas because I didnât speak Spanish. The bulk of the workforce I would have supervised did not speak English.

Letâs hope that phenomenon is transitory

By: Ian S.

Ian S. — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Actually, that's not entirely true. It's the second and third generation immigrants that tend to *really* detach from US society and get wound up in things like MECHA. The first-genners, regardless of their other flaws, at least knew the horrors of the "homeland" first hand. After that it's just something your parents told you, and everyone knows their parents are always wrong.

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

There's a difference today.
Today, the liberal elites, including politicians, actively oppose assimilation. Multicultis pronounce talk of assimilation as racist and xenophobic.
Diversity champions insist that we must retain diversity.
Liberals question the benefits of assimilating to such a flawed, racist, sexist etc. society in the first place and wonder whether we'd be better off if the products of DWEMs disappeared forever.
Common sense has an answer, of course, but common sense is barely legal.

By: bryan

bryan — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Well, I would guess that no other past wave of immigrants had access to their native language as readily as the hispanic population has. After all, the ballots in Texas are printed in only two languages - english and spanish. I suspect less coddling on the language issue would push along at least some of the assimilation.

By: Val Prieto

Val Prieto — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

I was planning on reading the entire text posted, but when I got to the following part, I realized Huntungton doesnt have the faintest idea of what he's talking about:

"The persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages"

Yes, it's the first line. Its all I had to read. The problem with this opening sentence is that he lumps every "hispanic" culture together as one. I can assure you, my cultural background is completely different than say an immigrant form Mexico, or one from Brazil, or Chile, etc... Our mores are not the same, are values are not the same. Sure, there are similarities, but the differences far outweigh them. Our political ideologies vary greatly also. Cubans tend to be right of center while, again, for example, Mexicans tend to be left of center. And the language, while at a basic level is the same, the dialectitical differences are many. I agree with James on this. The influx of "hispanic" (I quote it for I hate the word) immigrants is not radically different than those that came before from other parts of the world. Wait a generation or two, then ask a teenager with the last name of Lopez to write a complete, grammatically correct sentence in Spanish. In the long run, everyone gets Americanizado.

By: LatinoPundit

LatinoPundit — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Key word here is "constant." Change or Assimilation will eventually happen, it is that there is such a mass influx that it is not readily seen.

By: Miguel

Miguel — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

This Mexican would like to throw his $.02 in. Practically 100% of the children of Mexicans born and raised in the USA speak English as natives. Most Mexican parents want their children to learn the language of the land. There is where integration begins. It is different to other waves of immigrants yes, because as said here on the comments: the availability of the language and the huge quantities of people moving north- and south-bound over the border, thus creating a constant communication with the home country that no other immigrants have. As for the "horrors of the original homeland", it doesn't apply to Mexico. Life here is not "horrible". Mexicans are amongst the most happy people in the world; in some recent international poll, we rated on the top slots with over 70% Mexicans affirming: "Yes, I have a happy life". That is probably another reason Mexicans don't integrate as easily as others. We have a beautiful society down here (with one of the lowest suicide rates in the world, as another piece of data), the main reason to go over there is economical, but you can anytime come back to the old country and have a wonderful time with your folks down here. That is why Mexicans are less attached to the US culture than people from countries where by political, geographical or any other reasons, their citizens have severed the old ties.

By: crane

crane — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Miguel tends to support Huntington's thesis.

Why assimilate, when you can bring your country with you? If mexicans truly think that Mexico is a pretty good country, they will consider it a good thing to change parts of the US to become like Mexico.

The seeds of conflict are too obvious.

By: Priorities & Frivolities

Priorities & Frivolities — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Two Americas Three cheers for David Brooks, who successfully challenges Samuel Huntington's argument that Latino immigration "poses a fundamental question":Will the United States remain a country with a single national language and a core Anglo-Protestant culture? ...

By: Daniel W. Drezner

Daniel W. Drezner — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

The fearless Sam Huntington
I was a post-doctoral fellow at Samuel Huntington's Olin Center fort Strategic Studies at Harvard in 1996/97, when The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order first came out. Needless to say, it was a controversial book, and...

By: Babalu Blog

Babalu Blog — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Hispanic, Latino..Whatever James Joyner has an essay by Sam Huntington on the hispanic immigration "challenge" over at Outside the Beltway. It's quite lengthy, but worth a read....

By: LatinoPundit

LatinoPundit — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

More Thoughts On Hispanic Influx
Via Babalublog, Outside the Beltway has piece on the flow of Hispanic Immigrants, Foreign policy, and Assimilation. Interesting read....

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