Reader Mail (Irish): You paint with confidence the futuristic view of assimilation among 53 million Latinos, even while conceding that they will assimilate, though with a cultural affinity. I believe you should have pointed out the contrasts between the two centuries and their immigrants. What Americans resent is that so many have entered the country without documentation, aka, they are illegals, here making ribbons of the legal ratios of permitted applicants. Second, so many have entered that they have become a legal and social challenge, and these are not easily blurred nor easily forgotten, as their numbers continue to slip into the country, and, unlike the 1840s through 1910, today many costly social benefits draw the numbers of illegals. More than 25 years ago the Supreme Court required schools to accept the children of illegals, a decision that offered untold benefits to those who would seek a better life here. Finally, there is the question of race, as Latinos appear very different from their partially- European ancestry. The fact that so many Latinos now do not hesitate to speak Spanish to one another in public places is not an advantage in their favor when Americans are attempting to adjust to their overwhelming numbers. Today governments print announcements and ballots in Spanish--and Vietnamese--as a concession to large numbers of people who, it seems to many, ought to focus seriously on the language in order to facilitate their acceptance in their new culture. The inability of residents to understand Spanish in many cases prompts the growth of ill feelings and therefore harms the relationship. I have never read that such cultural props as foreign-language translations were present during the 19th century. These contrasting elements in the relationship between large numbers of Latinos and the dominant culture must be added into the equation of how the newcomers best integrate with the mainstream in a way that elevates them and maintains the best traditions and values of America.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:49:58 +0000
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