The Hispanic Challenge (To America) A MUST READ Samuel Huntington (Long But Good)

Foreign Policy ^ | March 2004 | Samuel P. Huntington

[Hollywoodghost]

Not to worry--when America falls off her high horse things will change. When the only people having jobs are mexicans (because they speak Spanglese) things will change. All in all, it might be a good thing. This is one fight that could unify the Yellows, Blacks and whites as one people.

[cyborg]

If I say American culture is a certain thing, then usually there's something that presents itself as an 'exception'. My father said all I needed to know about America that was important is the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. As long as I can remember, I pretty much worshipped my dad as the American icon. I'm glad for the brainwashing I got as child because I managed to survive atttending college during the late 1990s the height of the PC movement. I happen to agree with your summary as well. The NEA is a terrorist group BTW. There are a lot of kids born here, parents born here American kids black,white otherwise, who are very confused and ignorant about life and have no sense of self thanks to the publik skools.

[Cacique]

btt

I'll second that

[Gritty]

This is a great article which ought to lay to rest the fiction that this current wave of illegal immigrants are just like the many others which came.

Can you spell Y-u-g-o-s-l-a-v-i-a? I thought you could!

[Mr. Jeeves]

And we have the GOP and the Catholic Church (amongst countless other entities) to thank for much of it!

"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot..." -- Thomas Jefferson

[Clemenza]

The Cuban and Hispanic dominance of Miami left Anglos (as well as blacks) as outside minorities that could often be ignored.

Before the upper class Latinos turned Miami into a business center it was a dying resort area with local politics dominated by Jewish in-migrants from the northeast. I lived there from 1999-2002 and enjoyed it immensely.

I don't care what language a person speaks as long as they are willing to start businesses and pay their own way, which is why my resentment is stronger against poorer immigrants from places such as Mexico who dump their kids on our already awful public schools. There is a world of difference between a Colombian banker and a Mexican dishwasher.

Huntington also fails to admit that the second generation is English dominant. While it is true that the adults in the area I lived in Miami spoke largely Spanish, their children preferred English when speaking to eachother. The concern over language is a tempest in a teapot, although I do agree that government-sponsored bilingualism must end.

[Clemenza]

I'm still trying to figure out what American culture is.

As of 2004, Hip-Hop, reality shows and Wal-Mart. I have found that aside from about 10-20% of the country that could be considered "cultured" (ie seen movies other than Twister or Men in Black), most Americans, whether white, black or "other," tend to share they same respect for low culture. What is different now from say 30 years ago is that "middle brow" culture has disappered. A symptom of this is the decline of the family shi, er, "Sitcom" as a staple of television viewing.

Give me Sabado Gigante over Survivor or BET anyday of the week. Better yet, turn off the television and read a book for a change.

[Clemenza]

there are many, many hispanics in the new york area who have assimilated and are as american as anybody else.

Well, the Puerto Ricans who came here after WWII assimilated into American ghetto culture and tend to speak black English rather than Spanish. We have a huge wave of Mexicans in the city that most New Yorkers ignore, with the exception of the dwindling contingent of lower middle class white people who live on Staten Island or SW Brooklyn. Upper/middle class South and Central Americans tend to go out to suburbia at a faster rate and assimilate quite well. It depends on the origin of the sending country and the social class of the people before they come here.

[cyborg]

I agree... I hardly watch TV anymore. It's pretty boring.

[Polybius]

Huntington also fails to admit that the second generation is English dominant. While it is true that the adults in the area I lived in Miami spoke largely Spanish, their children preferred English when speaking to eachother. The concern over language is a tempest in a teapot, although I do agree that government-sponsored bilingualism must end.

In the initial wave of Cuban refugees of the early 1960's, almost everyone spoke English as English was simply one of the things that a well-educated Cuban needed to know in order to succeed in the Cuban business world.

Even my grandmother, born in 1887, spoke English before we ever came to the U.S. When we came to the U.S. when I was 6, the only members of my family that spoke no English were my cousin's month old infant, who spoke nothing at all, and myself. When the "grown ups" wanted to discuss adult matters and leave me out of the loop at home back in Cuba, they spoke English.

Once we were in the U.S., the rules for the kids were that, at home, the kids spoke to the "grown ups" in Spanish. We therefore had English emmersion at school and Spanish emmersion at home.

Non of this "bilingualism" B.S. The only way to learn a language is sink-or-swim emmersion both at home and at school.

So, in the case of my older first cousin's kids, the fourth consecutive Spanish-English bilingual generation was raised and those who married other Cuban Americans are now trying to raise the fifth consecutive Spanish-English bilingual generation.

Even now, when I am in my late 40's, I still follow the old "don't speak English to the grown ups" rule when I phone my older aunts, uncles and "grown-ups-when-I-was-- kid" older first cousins. It's just ingrained in me.

With each generation, however, passing on Spanish becomes more difficult as our generation finds it easier to speak English amongst ourselves. If you marry an "Anglo" as I did, bilingualism is out the window.

Even if you marry another Cuban American, switching from English to Spanish with your spouse after the baby is born takes a lot of effort and many couples just give up and take the easy way out.

Back in the old days in Cuba, if a kid was not bilingual by high school, they would ship him off to an American boarding school to learn it. Now, if they lose Spanish......oh, well.

I see the bilingual original-wave Cuban Americans becoming as extinct as Yiddish-English bilingual American Jews in another generation.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot..." -- Thomas Jefferson

I must have a link to a source for that. Please.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[Cacique]

BTT

[drhogan]

i think huntington was so successful with his last "two civilizations" article (islam and the west) that he tried to repeat his success with mexicans and americans. but i suspect, if we go back and look at the nativist, white, anglo-saxon protestant (written) attacks on the irish, italians, and jews, that they would read very similarly.

[drhogan]

i agree with you, especially in regard to social class. i have met some upper class mexicans and they are very nice people. not necessarily assimilated, but they are excellent citizens.

[drhogan]

my impression of the hispanic people whom i have met on long island (and years ago in CA) is that they are pretty much like everybody else (i.e., most good; some bad.)
everybody is always bringing up the bad behavior at soccer games, where the mex-ams boo the national anthem or attack somebody. however, the brits (those guys who started the US) are always killing other brits at soccer games, and the children's soccer games that i have been to on long island are not much better than the ones in LA, in terms of spectator behavior.
i suspect that in a few years, the mex-ams will identify much more with america than they will with mexico, even if they claim the opposite.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

The only way to solving a problem is realizing that one has a problem. Refusing to accept that one has a problem leaves no solution and only inevitable consequence.

[Cacique]

please ping your list

[Cacique]

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[Cacique]

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