Saturday, June 18, 2005
Assimilation nation
Once again, Mr. Krauthammer steps aside from the pack for a different view and makes sense.
Despite such as the fringe that wants to "reclaim" the Southwest for "Latinos" (not mestizos or indios of course! Only those who can claim to have Euro-immigrant blood!) people come to this country any way they can because they want to enjoy what we have - and are largely smart enough to know they can do so without forcing us to become them but rather just being able to keep some of the old while adopting/adapting what is here that was not there.
And while it may seem repellent to some, [US-]English is the language here. If I were to emigrate to Brazil, I would expect to have to learn at least a basic seven thousand words of their brand of Portuguese. So, yes, education in English is a first step. Other steps, some less daunting (if you have a refrigerator, you do not have to shop every day - but yes, you can keep doing so if you want) and others more (no, you can't kill your sister because she flirted with a boy) so.
America's genius has always been assimilation, taking immigrants and turning them into Americans. Yet our current debates on immigration focus on only one side of the issue — the massive waves of illegal immigrants that we seem unable to stop.
...
By all means we should try to control immigration. Nonetheless, given our geography, our tolerant culture and the magnetic attraction of our economy, illegals will always be with us. Our first task, therefore, should be abolishing bilingual education everywhere and requiring that our citizenship tests have strict standards for English language and American civics.
The cure for excessive immigration is successful assimilation.
Despite such as the fringe that wants to "reclaim" the Southwest for "Latinos" (not mestizos or indios of course! Only those who can claim to have Euro-immigrant blood!) people come to this country any way they can because they want to enjoy what we have - and are largely smart enough to know they can do so without forcing us to become them but rather just being able to keep some of the old while adopting/adapting what is here that was not there.
And while it may seem repellent to some, [US-]English is the language here. If I were to emigrate to Brazil, I would expect to have to learn at least a basic seven thousand words of their brand of Portuguese. So, yes, education in English is a first step. Other steps, some less daunting (if you have a refrigerator, you do not have to shop every day - but yes, you can keep doing so if you want) and others more (no, you can't kill your sister because she flirted with a boy) so.
