Is America becoming becoming a Hispanic Country?
He may be overstating it a bit, but the basis of his thesis seems to be sound.
"The real story isn't what's happening in Texas, California, Florida or New York, which have long been home to significant numbers of Hispanics. It's about the demographic changes in states such as Alabama, Louisiana, Kansas and Maryland, where Hispanics are a relatively new commodity -- and the accommodations that have to be made between new arrivals and longtime residents." (and Utah!. They are indeed ready for a refreshing of their cloistered bloodlines.)
"... maybe you [...have already...] figured out that the Hispanic population in the United States was exploding when you saw the quixotic efforts of some to stop the trend by cracking down on illegal immigration and -- for an encore -- trying to limit legal immigration as well."
I find this one of the most telling points that he makes,
"But in states such as [... California, Florida, ...], Arizona, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, you also have Hispanic families that can trace their American roots back hundreds of years"In fact, many Amierican mestizos can trace their ancestry to our indigenous people.
In fact, St. Augustine Florida, was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers and is the oldest continuously occupied European established city or port the the continental U.S. The southwest U.S. was Spanish controlled a hundred years or more before it was ceded to the U.S. at the end of the Mexican-American war. California was settled by the Spanish 80 years before the Mexican American war. Many Americans of Spanish ancestry trace their ancestors to 18th century or much earlier.
"[... Americans ...] should acknowledge the positive impact to their communities ... of people who are, by nature, conservative, hardworking, optimistic, patriotic and entrepreneurial. Hispanics aren't a threat to the United States; they're an essential component. Visit any military cemetery in the United States and count the Spanish surnames. You'll see that Hispanics have already contributed so much to this country"Americans like the Cisco Kid's sidekick Pancho, Leo Carillo , who's ancestors go back to the founding of California, have made major contributions to the fabric of American culture. In Leo's honor, there is the Leo Carrillo State Park, schools named after him, and the Leo Carillo Ranch Historic Park. "Hey Cisco! Hey Pancho!"
Lest we forget, 3 of the largest and oldest cities in the U.S. are in California and have Spanish names - Los Angeles(1), San Diego, and San Jose.
Here, in San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the U.S., there is no ethnic majority. The "Hispanic" community is almost as large as the other European ethnic groups combined, loosely defined as "white"(2); the people of Asian ancestry and others split the difference. Yet we have the lowest crime rate of any large city in the country. (United States cities by crime_rate). So much for the negative influence of the Mexicans!
I was lunching with a colleague from back east and he was grousing about why the Mexicans didn't learn to speak English. After all, this was America! I pointed out that we worked at the Santa Teresa Labs and were in a diner on Santa Teresa Blvd., in the City of San Jose, in the County of Santa Clara, in the State of California. 'Nuff said.
Yes, America is a country of immigrants and the Spanish settled in the U.S. in the 16th century at the same time as other European immigrants. They're here for the long haul.
à tout à l'heure
“Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight"
(Bright)
(1) El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula has the honor of the shortest abbreviation of any city in the world, L.A.
(2) I detest the racial sobriquet of "white". We respect other ethnic backgrounds such as African Americans. I insist that I am an English-American, not "white". After all, my ancestors are immigrants from England, going back to 1729 and as late as 1914, and all of them are proud Americans.
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