THE HISPANIC CHALLENGE TO AMERICA (S. Huntington)-REPOST-(Very Long Good and Required)

Foreign Affairs ^ | March 2004 | Samuel Huntington

[Cacique]

The persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages. Unlike past immigrant groups, Mexicans and other Latinos have not assimilated into mainstream U.S. culture, forming instead their own political and linguistic enclaves—from Los Angeles to Miami—and rejecting the Anglo-Protestant values that built the American dream. The United States ignores this challenge at its peril.

[Cacique]

I posted this article two years ago. It seems someone pinged me to the old one, but in the interest of having a wider readership I am reposting it.

My comments on the old thread at the time were:

As someone the census bureau would classify as Hispanic. I think that I can speak with confidence that there are those of us who came here to be Americans and adopt American values. We abandoned our former countries because they were failures culturally, economically and politically. Unfortunately there are others who are here not as "immigrants" but as "colonists". They want to bring their failed culture and failed ideas to America and impose them here. Unfortunately there are panderers on both the left and the right that will play into those sentiments and help accelerate the Balkanization of America.

You can find the old thread with the complete article and it's interesting comments HERE.

[Zacs Mom]

[HawaiianGecko]

A Freeper posted this a couple of weeks ago and I believe it is apropos today.

Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American. "

• There can be no divided allegiance here.
• Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all.
• We have room for but one flag, the American flag.
• We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.
• And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1907
 

 

 

[eleni121]

PING to me for later read. Thanks for posting this.

[Baynative]

[Smocker]

What would you think of people with dual citizenship? Wouldn't that also mean an individual has loyalties to a country other than the US?

[wardaddy]

BTTT

[wardaddy]

I would defend the Cubans and South Americans and Nicaraguans who fled the Sandies.

They vote right mostly (unlike most other Hispanics) and once outside Miami, they do tend to assimilate.

In Miami, they simply don't have to.

PS....I fear Brasilians may vote left too...and I have children that carry that passport too...as I once did.

[monkeywrench]

Bttt! Excellent article, and great comments.

[DumpsterDiver]

Hi, Cacique,

I still have the same gripe as I did when you first posted this. I agree with most of what Huntington says, but I dislike the words Hispanic and Latino because I'm never sure just who the author (not just Huntington) is talking about.

The persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages.

The majority, though not all, of Hispanic immigrants may speak Spanish, but that does not mean that they share the same culture.

Unlike past immigrant groups, Mexicans and other Latinos have not assimilated into mainstream U.S. culture, forming instead their own political and linguistic enclaves...

Who has the definitive list of the Hispanics who are also considered to be Latinos? And would it take the FOIA to get a copy of it? :^)

[diamond6]

bump for later

[pax_et_bonum]

bttt to read later

[satchmodog9]

I don't mind the immigration. it is the failure to assimilate that needs to be cured. No more Spanish in schools. We didn't have Italian in schools when my parents legally came here and worked shit jobs. We learned to speak English and now we are fiercely loyal Americans.

[Travis McGee]

The amount of historical idiocy and fallacies surrounding this subject is staggering, chief among them the "Aztlan" fairy tales. What's the truth? How did the Spanish Europeans conquer the Southwest? The "conquistatores" (that means "conquerers" did it with the lance, and the lash.

For example, in 1541 Coronado entered present-day New Mexico searching for "cities of gold," and one of his first actions on meeting the natives was to burn 100s of them alive in their dwellings, for not handing over suspected horse thieves. This is how Spain conquered the natives of the present US Southwest--not nicely! It was certainly no love-fest between long-lost brown-skinned soul-mates, as it is often portrayed today by the Aztlaners today!

By 1821, Mexico City was strong enough to overthrow even more decrepit and ineffectual Spanish rule. However, the distant provinces of the current US Southwest were far beyond the reach of the authority of independent but strife-torn Mexico. These distant northern provinces received neither military assistance nor needed levels of trade from the south. For example, Comanches ran rampant in the 1830s in this power vacuum, burning ranches that had been around for a hundred years and massacring their inhabitants. Mexico City could neither defend nor keep the allegiance of its nominal citizens in these regions. Nor could it provide needed levels of trade to sustain the prior Spanish-era standard of living.

Meanwhile, a growing America was making great inroads, via ships into California, and via wagon trains of trade goods over the Santa Fe Trail from St. Louis. The standard of living of the SPANISH in these states subsequently increased enormously, which is why they did not support Mexico City in the 1846-48 war. In fact, the Spanish-speaking inhabitants of the Southwest NEVER considered themselves "Mexicans" at all, ever. They went, in their own eyes, from SPANISH directly to AMERICAN.

So how long did Mexico City have even nominal control over the Southwest? 25 years, during which they had no effective control, and the area slipped backwards until the arrival of the Americans. Since then, how long has the area been under firm American control? For 150 continuous years.

And now, we are supposed to let any Mexican from Chiapas, Michoacan or Yucatan march into the American Southwest, and make some "historical claim" of a right to live there? From where does this absurd idea spring?

At what point in history did Indians from Zacatecas or Durango stake a claim on the American Southwest? Neither they nor their ancestors ever lived for one single day in the American Southwest. The Spanish living in the Southwest in 1846 stayed there, and became Americans by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

No current inhabitants of Mexico have ANY claim on even one single inch of the Southwest! They are criminal invaders and colonizers, pure and simple.

[Cacique]

I frankly don't know, I am classified as a hispanic by the census bureau simply because of where I was born. Latino is an old term that has been around forever and is a derivative of "Latin" which at one time also meant Italians as derivative of the langauge they spoke.

It is much easier for ignorant people in bureaucracies to classify people. Also, keep in mind that today modern migrants or "colonists" are a cheap plane ride away from their native countries and don't feel compelled to settle in culturaly or otherwise into their new country. The advent os foreign language television and papers and the entire market economy that comes with it makes it unnecessary for someone to assimilate. Coming to America is no longer the one way trip as it was a hundred years ago.

[raybbr]

Unfortunately there are panderers on both the left and the right that will play into those sentiments and help accelerate the Balkanization of America.

I never thought of Bush as deliberately balkanizing America but rather through a misguided belief he fails to see the consequences of his policies.

We are now one of the largest Spanish-speaking nations in the world. We're a major source of Latin music, journalism and culture.

Just go to Miami, or San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago or West New York, New Jersey ... and close your eyes and listen. You could just as easily be in Santo Domingo or Santiago, or San Miguel de Allende.

For years our nation has debated this change -- some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome the new America.

As I speak, we are celebrating the success of democracy in Mexico.

George Bush from a campaign speech in Miami, August 2000.

You can read the speech here.

Here is an excerpt of a good critique of that speech:

In equating our intimate historic bonds to our mother country and to Canada with our ties to Mexico, W. shows a staggering ignorance of the civilizational facts of life. The reason we are so close to Britain and Canada is that we share with them a common historical culture, language, literature, and legal system, as well as similar standards of behavior, expectations of public officials, and so on. My Bush Epiphany By Lawrence Auster

[amihow]

We, who know the facts about illegal immigration MUST keep pushing for a SOLUTION.

If you agree, push the following:

First, employer sanctions in big numbers.

Second and at the same time, Secure the borders.

Third,an immigration policy that balances the need of America with the needs of potential immigrants.

Fourth, fix the economies of the broken countries, especially Mexico.

Ask yourself and your politicians, why it is that the huge populations of the Mexican cities on the border are not jumping the wire to get here. Is it because it is not as bad over there as the MSM and the pandering politicains would like to have us believe?

Who's coming? Is it the single male who is in the vast manority?

Do we want this all over America? Check out the link to the Pima County jail and see if the proportion of Hispanic surnames to other surnames is equivalent to the proportion of Hispanics in Tucson, 24%.

http://www.pimasheriff.org/inmate/roster.html

[Zacs Mom]

Hmmmmmmm ... I wonder if that is a pic of some of those "poor kids" in Ennis who had to miss their prom 'cause they were supsended for skipping school to join in the protests?!

[Das Outsider]

And now, we are supposed to let any Mexican from Chiapas, Michoacan or Yucatan march into the American Southwest, and make some "historical claim" of a right to live there? From where does this absurd idea spring?

Right. The Southwest definitely belongs to Mexican people, or so the thinking goes--which people is not so definite.

The Aztlan movement--as much as I am reluctant to draw the comparison--does depend on race myths similar in form to those of Adolf Hitler and his ilk.

[GSlob]

You are right. Hispanity is best left south of the border.

[HawaiianGecko]

What would you think of people with dual citizenship? Wouldn't that also mean an individual has loyalties to a country other than the US?

Well, I have dual citizenship so I can answer that question first hand. I was born in Japan to American parents, but have allegiance to no country other than the United States. If someone wants to enter America to make money and retain their citizenship with their mother country, that is fine with me. Do it legally. If others find their country and/or culture is failing them, want to come to America to better themselves and become United States citizens, then they should do so legally, adopt our culture and pledge allegiance to the United States.

I can't speak for others, but General John Abizaid comes to mind. Who would know that he is Lebanese and speaks fluent Arab. Does anyone think he has loyalties other than to the United States?

 

[ANGGAPO]

Yes it does, and I would kick his butt out.

[Das Outsider]

For years our nation has debated this change -- some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome the new America.

Is this the new America in mind?

[tertiary01]

There's plenty of empty roadless desert land, which is exactly as they would have left it if their fairy tale of past inhabitation of the Southwest was true. I say the Feds should offer 20 acres of empty desert BLM land and if they make a go of it in 5 years, after at least one member of their family does a stint in the military they can apply for citizenship.

[LS]

Matt, the whole business of the Spanish conquering the Aztecs in the first place is merely the story of one semi-despotic empire replacing a far more despotic one. Everyone points to Cortez's horses, guns, and even disease, but as we show in "Patriot's History of the United States," he had only 80 horse, perhaps 100 musketeers and crossbowmen, and the smallpox epidemics had ravaged Tenochtitlan a full year before Cortez returned to win his final victory---and besides, I don't think smallpox knew who was an Aztec and who was a Spaniard. It spread more among the Indians because of their tendency to sleep a dozen or so in a room.

What really tipped the scales in Cortez's favor, of course---obviously besides the "western way of war"---was the fact that he had 25,000 Indian allies who blocked off the escape routes, and forced the Aztecs to fight him in the narrow streets where their numbers were meaningless.

[bellas_sister]

bump for later

[Travis McGee]

The Aztlan movement--as much as I am reluctant to draw the comparison--does depend on race myths similar in form to those of Adolf Hitler and his ilk.

Bingo. Instead of the "Norse-Aryan Volk" myth, they have the "new bronze race" myth, supposedly born of that love-fest between the brown-skinned Spaniards, and the brown-skinned Indians.

They even have a "Mein Kampf," which is called "El Plan de Aztlan," full of racial and socialist mumbo jumbo. Their "nationalism" is racial identity.

And this Plan de Aztlan is no trivial matter. It's the "constitution" of MEChA, for example. MEChA is the student group dedicated to carrying out the "Plan de Aztlan." The A in MEChA is for Aztlan.

Why does this matter? Because there are active MEChA chapters on every college and high school campus in the Southwest peddling this twaddle as fact.

Today, after 20 years of this propaganda, MEChistas are judges, lawyers, politicians, and so on, in positions of real power to influence events.

How important are these grown-up MEChistas?

Here's one notable MEChista:

"Mayor MEChA:"

Read about how a pro-communist, ultra radical "MEChista" named Tony Villar cut his hair, changed his name, put on a tie, and became the mayor of America's second largest city.

It should also be mentioned that the official logo of MEChA is an eagle, holding a blood-dripping Aztec head-chopper in one talon, and a lit dynamite bomb in the other.

And the founder of the UCLA chapter of MEChA, is now the mayor of LA, so this is no "fringe" element.

Montebello High Scool, LA, March 27, 2006. That is the tall flagpole over the entire school. People who understand the MEChA movement are not at all shocked by these scenes. We've seen it coming for years, and this is only the beginning of what is to come.

[Cacique]

You are forgetting that Bush has in-laws that are Mexican. That is his experience. Also, he has a nephew that is being preend to be the successor to the Bush political dynasty and since he is half Mexican legalizing all those illegals would practically guarantee his election at some future point.

The elites in this country are completely and totally detached from reality, all they know is what they imagine.

I was once in Harlem with a very wealthy blueblood friend of mine (married to a Dupont) and he made the comment that every time he visited Harlem he felt he knew how black people lived and experienced things. I simply turned to him and told him "You're just a tourist, you haven't got a clue". That is I am afraid how all elites are when it comes to the rest of the societies they live in. We have our world and they live in theirs.

[A message]

it is the failure to assimilate that needs to be cured.

Exactly!

My great-grandmother legally immigrated from eastern Europe. She washed bank floors in Pittsburgh. She was Slovak speaking. My grandmother would not speak a word of Slovak no matter how hard us grand kids pestered her. She considered herself American. She spoke English only.

My wife's dad was a legal immigrant from Portugal. Her dad learned and spoke English only even at home.

English is the language that unites us. English is the language that America was founded upon.

This multi cultural BS that the liberal idiots have foisted on us is what will destroy our nation.

But then as we see more and more brainwashed zombies think we need some one world Utopian government. I think their goal is to destroy this nation.

[B4Ranch]

The battle between Mexican Americans and illegals who think America is their land isn't going to end soon.

[Das Outsider]

We've seen it coming for years, and this is only the beginning of what is to come.

I was just saying that yesterday with regard to the attacks in L.A. several years ago. The media, as they are understandably limited, treats these recent tensions over immigration as if they arose out of a vacuum. I don't think we'll hear about MEChA in the MSM anytime soon.

What's the deal with Tony Snow, anyway? I must have missed a lot last week.

[RoadTest]

"I would defend the Cubans and South Americans and Nicaraguans who fled the Sandies. "

Yeah. There's a world of difference between Elian Gonzales' mother giving her life to release her son from demonic Communist oppression and a Mexican breaking into our country for money.

There's something wrong when the former got sent back to the gulag and the latter is allowed to step on our laws, sovereignty and Constitution.

Culture. language, borders. Let's keep 'em.

[moehoward]

Thanks for the re-post. Excellent read so far!

[TAdams8591]

"What's the deal with Tony Snow, anyway? I must have missed a lot last week."

I like Tony, but sometimes those rose colored glasses of his, hamper his ability to see clearly.

[satchmodog9]

Problem is most people look at you like you are insane when you try to tell them about La Raza or MECHa

[Das Outsider]

I like Tony, but sometimes those rose colored glasses of his, hamper his ability to see clearly.

I've been turned off by his adherence to the godless power of positive thinking. Whatever it was that he did to get Freepers upset happened recently .

[Giant Conservative]

Everyone who wants to immigrate into the U.S. should be legally required to prove they are fluent in written and spoken English first.

[B4Ranch]

Print out some URLs with the titles about LaRaza and give it to them. Say, "Check it out for yourself if you don't believe me."

[TAdams8591]

"Problem is most people look at you like you are insane when you try to tell them about La Raza or MECHa"

I KNOW that's true. It's that way when you attempt to educate people about many leftist groups and their radical agendas.

[Giant Conservative]

English is the language that unites us. English is the language that America was founded upon. This multi cultural BS that the liberal idiots have foisted on us is what will destroy our nation.

Agreed.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

After viewing the pictures I feel we can disarm them with our love.

[Cacique]

That would have kept out Einstein, Fermi, Tezla and countless others who eventually contributed to this country. I came here as a child with my parents, my english was barely passable at the time. My father spoke English, my mother did not and learned while she was here.

[TAdams8591]

Tony supports the administrations guest worker program. Travis challenged Tony's position Friday, on Tony's Program's talk radio thread.

[Fruit of the Spirit]

I wouldn't mind amnesty so much IF there was a clause that said they MUST repay the two or three trillion dollar debt incurred by American citizens for their welfare.

[x_plus_one]

What's next? Once they take Aztlan back and turn it into a northern Mexico ghetto - what's next? They want to be part of America or do they just want to trash up the nieghborhood?

[x_plus_one]

Does this mean we have to move area 51?

[TigersEye]

This is not about workers rights or fair immigration policies. It has to do with international communist/socialist orgs looking to gain the political upperhand in the U.S..

Posted by JeffHead Jeff links to Mexica.org's 'after protest' pic fest. You can see there what the marchers thought they were marching for.

A poster for Friday's march. March 31. This poster lists the Latino orgs that are promoting the protests. They are all communist/socialist front orgs.

Here is my analysis of what is going on behind the scenes.

Here is some evidence that 'amnesty' increases illegal entries. These people knew before the demonstrations that the time was ripe.

Smith Act of 1940 This is the U.S. statute that ought to apply to the organized gathering of tens of thousands of foreign nationals calling for the overthrow of our country.

H.R. 4437 At this link you will find a good exegesis of the only bill that doesn't offer some type of amnesty/pathway to citizenship/excuses for illegal entry. It is harsh on employers but has reasonable protections for employers who verify documents that are later shown to be false. It explains that the databases necessary are already in place. It provides for border security.

Understand that the provision that the protesters say is 'racist,' that makes illegals felons, was inserted by the Dems a short time ago. That clarifies why Hillary happened to discover the immigration issue a week before the marches. Why she demonized Republicans as "making Jesus a criminal."

Keep in mind just who organized these protests. Who provided the tens of thousands of T-shirts, the thousands of professionally made signs, the hours and hours of promotion on Spanish language radio and TV stations. It has been noticed that Islamic orgs names and logos appear on some of these signs as well. Remember that NEA teachers and adminstrators are the ones who have assisted the march organizers by providing bussing for their students, hoisting Mexican flags at school and overlooking the truancy.

Don't forget that the last two Presidential elections were nearly 50/50. Think about how our Congress is looking for a way to appease these foreign nationals through legilation. No election necessary. The outcome of legalizing 11 million illegals and encouraging more to come will be a solid lock for the left forevermore in national elections.

[Malesherbes]

You make a very perceptive comment which should be obvious to all but which most people don't consider - coming to America is no longer a one way trip, and it is no longer necessary to assimilate. "Globalization" and "multiculturalism" are now taken by the governing elites as givens, without much thought to the longer tern implications. At the moment we are just muddling along and hoping that we'll muddle through.

[raybbr]

You are forgetting that Bush has in-laws that are Mexican.

I did not forget that. It still doesn't mean that he gets to choose only hispanics for his "new America". If we are to honor our heritage then we must bring people in from all over.

Thanks for your posts. I am proud that you and I are Americans first and hyphenates second.

[Das Outsider]

Tony supports the administrations guest worker program. Travis challenged Tony's position Friday, on Tony's Program's talk radio thread.

Ah, I see. Good job, Travis. Were you suspended for it?

I guess as long as we're still calling it a 'guest worker' program, there will be uncritical sympathizers. After all, who wants to legislate against guests? The problem is the euphemism: only at Target, Holiday Inn, and Disneyland are illegal aliens considered "guests."

Analogies abound.