Free Republic

From the "Buried on Page Eighty-Five of the Newspaper" file ...Mark Krikorian at National Review.com has posted a link to a story that has probably gotten as much attention as the Oil For Food scandal, or any American victories in the War Against Islamo-fascists.It's one of those "no no" articles that go beyond shopworn political incorrectness and actually begins to probe the dark recesses of genuine xenophobia.At least, that's how the Left will see it.It's not often in this day of obnoxious multiculturalism and moral equivalence that a story about the need - yes, need - to "Americanize" immigrants...

What was it about Greta Gustaffson that captivated so many? And exactly how many young men would you guess spent an inordinate amount of adolescent "alone time" staring at pictures at Jo Tejada? (Yes, this is a lame set-up on my part).Now substitute the names Gustaffson and Tejada for Greta Garbo and Raquel Welch, and your ability to answer becomes easier.Stage names.Yes, it was a common practice to Americanize your name at one time.Just like David Kaminsky, Muzyad Yakhoob, Henry John Deutschendorf Jr, Anna Maria Italiano and Alphonso D'Abruzzo did ... along with many, many others. Some were born here,...

<p>PARIS -- French libraries are said to file their nation's constitutions -- there have been more than a dozen since 1789; the current one is a relatively ancient 49 years old -- under periodicals. Now Nicolas Sarkozy, France's peripatetic new president, has created a commission on constitutional reform. The commission includes Jack Lang who, as minister of culture in 1983 under President Francois Mitterrand, staged a sublimely unserious conference on the (supposed) world economic crisis, featuring the likes of Sophia Loren, Susan Sontag and Norman Mailer.</p>

The vast majority of people in the United States believe everybody who calls themselves an American citizen should speak the national language, according to a poll by Hart/Newhouse released by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. 89 per cent of respondents support having all immigrants applying for citizenship being required to learn English. In May 2006, U.S. president George W. Bush addressed the nation to discuss his immigration proposals. Bush outlined five clear objectives: securing the borders, creating a temporary worker program, holding employers to account for the workers they hire, allowing illegal immigrants "who have roots" in the...

To judge how important assimilation is to senators John McCain (R.- Ariz.) and Ted Kennedy (D.-Mass.), peruse their immigration bill, now before the Senate. “Assimilation” appears only once in this legislation, and not until the 343rd of 347 pages. “Americanization” never emerges. Too bad the most sweeping immigration measure since 1986 shortchanges assimilation. Whether America ultimately absorbs 12,000 or all 12 million illegal aliens estimated to live here, it will be better for them and this nation if they speak, study, and vote in English, understand America’s Constitution and political culture, respect our history and civic traditions, and honor our...

America's core culture has primarily been the culture of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century settlers who founded our nation. The central elements of that culture are the Christian religion; Protestant values, including individualism, the work ethic, and moralism; the English language; British traditions of law, justice, and limits on government power; and a legacy of European art, literature, and philosophy. Out of this culture the early settlers formulated the American Creed, with its principles of liberty, equality, human rights, representative government, and private property. Subsequent generations of immigrants were assimilated into the culture of the founding settlers and modified it, but...

The New Americans by Michael Barone, 2001Introduction In January 1994, speaking in Milwaukee, Vice President Al Gore gave a speech in which he translated the national motto E pluribu unum as "out of one, many". One might guess that this was an inadvertent error, or evidence that Gore did not take Latin at St. Albans or Harvard. Except that in the words that followed he made it clear that the words had come out as intended. "You all share the American belief that there is strength in all our differences," he said, "that we can build a collective space large...

Americanizing Newcomers AgainBy W. James Antle IIIEtherzone.com | October 30, 2002 If the U.S. immigration system is to have any purpose, it would seem that it should be the creation of new Americans. To that end, admission criteria would be revamped to prefer those who wish to become Americans and the naturalization process would emphasize assimilation - what we once called "Americanization."Up to this point, such prominent center-right opinion leaders and policy advocates as Ron Unz, Linda Chavez and Ben Wattenberg would strongly agree. But they would also couple their call for greater assimilation - and admirable opposition to the...