[MegaSilver]

Typical left-wing ignorance.

When you can't refute your opponents, you have two options: a) lie/distort/ignore facts (argumentum ad mendacium), or b) use a catch-all term like "racists" to paint your opponents in a negative light (argumentum ad hominem abusive).

[My2Cents]

the United States is threatened with national disintegration because of the soaring rate of Hispanic immigrants.

No, we're disintegrating because of the soaring rate of lawlessness, both among immigrants and the natives.

[prion]

Racists will love new 'Hispanic threat' book

They probably love donuts, too, but that doesn't make crullers racist.

[alex]

Funniest part is that Mr.Oppenheimer agrees with Samuel Huntington on all points except the exact vector of social developments in Hispanic community. Mr.Oppenheimer thinks that Hispanics are mostly assimilating and Mr.Huntington believes that it is not. Otherwise, there were no difference in the opinion.

But Mr.Oppenheimer meanwhile does not hesitate to call Mr.Huntington racist.

[Pontiac]

If you are wondering whether Huntington's arguments are just misguided, or plainly Hispano-phobic, I suggest doing this little exercise: replace the term ''Hispanic'' in the text with ''African American,'' or ''black,'' then ask yourself what would be the reaction of the black community.

What a crock! African-Americans almost exclusively speak English. They may have a distinct dialect all there own but understand standard American English when they hear it.

African Americans have been integrated and assimilated for at least 100 years.

And yes I have heard of segregation. They may have not been accepted by the Anglo majority, but they were part of the society as a whole regardless.

[El Conservador]

Your gag alert is uncalled for!!!

Andrés Oppenheimer is anything but a leftist. He's a strong opposer of the Fidel regime, HE'S AN EXILE, FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!

If whatever "Dr." Huntington said was true, then I wouldn't be writing this in English.

If you want to see assimilation, you should come to our house: We see more English TV than Univision or the news from our home country. My mom sometimes mixes English words when speaking in Spanish at home. My sisters barely speak Spanish, and feel no attachment to Colombia whatsoever.

Huntington may be right about most Mexicans, who certainly don't assimilate completely if at all, but to lump all Hispanics as people who refuse to be American is intellectually dishonest. Not racist, but intellectually dishonest and ill-intentioned.

Maybe if Oppenheimer hadn't included the word "racist", his argument wouldn't been that unpalatable, but he's right on the money.

And before you say every Hispanic is a liberal, you should see the voting trends on the Cuban-American community: Solidly Republican since the mid-60's, when the felt betrayed by JFK and his sloppy handling of the Bay of Pigs.

And about the dissolution of American society, if whatever Huntington said had been historically true, then America would be divided in a nation for the British, one for the Irish, one for the Germans, and so on.

Finally, for those of the "conservatives don't need to pander to racial minorities" or the "we don't need the minority vote" crowd, it's you who discourage minorities from becoming conservative Republicans and keep the liberal Democrat monopoly on minority vote. It's you that guarantee that Trent Lott-like scandals will repeat themselves over and over again.

[dmzTahoe]

BIG, BIG difference between Cuban immigrants and those coming into the US from Mexico and Central America. The writer fails to recognize this.

Cuban immigrants make a quick transition from Cubans to Cuban-Americans to Americans...one generation usually accomplishes this, much like the Poles, Irish, Italians et al of the early 1900's.

The immigrants from Mexico never make a transition from Mexicans to Mexican-Americans to Americans. They are stuck somewhere between Mexicans and Mexican-Americans and have no incentive to complete the transformation.

Samuel Huntington is absolutely right on this issue...surprising for a Harvard Prof.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Mexican Americans cheer for Mexico in U.S. vs. Mexico soccer matches.

Correction: The also cheer for "Osama, Osama, Osama" during games with USA.

But hey, who cares about minor, meaningless details.

[Publius6961]

The left is incpable of comprehending simple concepts, or the inescapable axiom of cause and effect.
Why do people immigrate? To find themselves in a better place; assimilation is the guaranteed ticket to enjoyment of that better place. Non-assimilation is bringing that lesser place with you.

It's not really that complicated. And the red herring of "cultural pride" doesn't wash. Assimilation and cultural pride are not mutually exclusive. I know. I've lived it. My kids, all native born Americans, are living it.

[Missouri]

PING.

[Polybius]

.......the number of unassimilated Hispanics -- those who don't consume English-language media ..........

That's the definition? Someone that doesn't watch the boob tube in English?

[archy]

But, as seen from Miami, where a majority of adults speak a language other than English at home, his idea that Hispanics pose a threat to America is absurd.

Our Cuban-American residents offer us the best of both cultures, bring us their heritage and traditions as a gift that's been admirably added to the US cultural melting pot, and who have become as American as any immigrants or heirs to America's many immigrant cultures. That they were first Cuban, then now American, is in no way any detraction or slight on their Americanism.

Neither has their leadership demanded the control of 5 or more of the United States to foreign Cuban control, as the socialist proponents of *Aztlan* and Mecha have. Accordingly, the immigrants coming to the US from the Southwestern border are not potential immigrants with the character of the Cubanos, but foreign agents and invaders.

We have Nicaragua, soon we will have El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Mexico. One day, tomorrow or five years or fifteen years from now, we're going to take 5 to 10 million Mexicans and they are going into Dallas, into El Paso, into Houston, into New Mexico, into San Diego, and each one will have embedded in his mind the idea of killing ten Americans."

--Thomas Borge, Nicaragua Interior Minister as quoted in the Washington Times, March 27, 1985

[dagnabbit]

When Hispanics stop demanding "affirmative action" preferences, they will be assimilated. Until then, they are not.

[junta]

That Oppenheimer is an idiot is settled. What should really be an eye opener is the level of delusion that the open borders fanatics lather themselves into. These responses by the second sentence are little but racial/ethnic chauvinism from their priveleged positions of victimhood or minority status. The pattern in each of these posts is that the poster assumes American history really began when they washed up on our shores and what came before is of marginal interest. Huntington is right and not just about the latest invasion as threats to national unity.

[swarthyguy]

Andre should try reading the article. Well documented and thought out, and a cry that recognises that the language of America is not simply English, but Spanish, also for all practical purposes.

And resorting to the typical leftie scream of racist is intellectually bankrupt. And not convincing.

He addresses real issues.