[Wallace T.]

Hispanic immigrants have tended historically to migrate to specific regions of the country: Mexicans to the Southwest and, to some extent, the Midwest; Puerto Ricans to the Northeast; Cubans to South Florida and the New Jersey/New York area. There is snobbery among the Latin American nationalities, just as there are in the Anglosphere, or among Italians. One sure fire way to insult an Anglo-Canadian is to confuse him with an American! Northern Italians have a well-known disdain for their fellow countrymen from south of Rome. Yet, at the end of the day, the various "Anglos" and the Italians recognize that they have more in common with each other than with other nationalities.

Were affirmative action and ethnic agitation to magically disappear and the Feds effectively seal the borders, Hispanics of all backgrounds would slowly assimilate via intermarriage with whites in a century or so. After all, most Hispanics are at least partly of European ancestry, basically European culturally, and traditionally Catholic, albeit with a growing Protestant minority.

However, with immigration from Latin America out of control, various Hispanic nationalities are penetrating parts of the U.S. and even Canada where they were hertofore almost unknown. I have read where Mexican immigrants have outnumbered blacks in North Carolina and Georgia factory or farming communities. Additionally, I understand that there are neighborhoods in New York City where Mexicans are replacing Puerto Ricans and other Carribean Hispanics, who had previously caused whites to move away. With serious political problems in Columbia and Veneszuela, and the fact that any working class Hispanic can quintuple their income by moving to San Diego, Des Moines, or Baltimore, I can foresee nothing but continued, unabated Hispanic immigration.

I hope you are with regard to the unlikelihood of intra-Hispanic merger. If they did unite, our country may be plagued with Latin power brokers a la Jesse Jackson, but with much more clout.

[Clemenza]

I lived in Miami for three years and have spent most of my (admittedly short) professional career dealing with Latinos. Most of the Latin professionals you meet down in Miami (not just the Cubans) are of European heritage, including a close associate of mine from Colombia who was of English and Scottish ancestry.

Unfortunatly, 70% of all Latin immigrants are poor peasants from southern Mexico. Even here in New York, most of the dishwashers, pizza makers and line cooks you see are either Mexicans from Puebla or Ecuadorians.