Neighbors live worlds apart

Indianapolis Star ^ | June 22, 2003 | John Tuohy

[sarcasm]

LOGANSPORT, Ind. -- A half-dozen skateboarders twisted, turned and soared across ramps made of concrete at Riverside Park near downtown.

A hundred yards away, another group of teenage boys kicked a soccer ball around.

The skateboarders were white, the soccer players Hispanic. Neither group acknowledged the other, nor would they for the rest of that sunny afternoon.

[sarcasm]

ping

[proxy_user]

You need teenagers of the opposite sex. Then they will find a way to communicate, even if they speak different languages.

This method has worked in the past, and led to the assimilation of numerous ethnic groups.

[Just another Joe]

I see nothing wrong with hispanics working anywhere in the United States as long as they are legal immigrants.
With that said, The hispanics also need to learn english. Like the article said, "This is not Mexico."
If you want to be accepted, you learn the language of the host country.

[ikka]

Are they all here legally?

[glorgau]

It's the Sharks and the Jets!

[Xenalyte]

How many of those featured in the story are here legally? Inquiring minds wanna know.

[raybbr]

Notice the lengths at which the author went to get quotes from the hispanics and so little from the whites.

The local people are nothing but a bunch of dumb hicks who can't see the great things embracing the hispanic culture can do for them.

Go here to see all the great contributions to our society.

[varon]

This method has worked in the past, and led to the assimilation copulation of numerous ethnic groups.

[ReagansShinyHair]

A constant source of tension is the large number of Hispanics who do not speak English, and the whites who don't want to learn to speak Spanish.

I just love how this is phrased. The Hispanics just "don't speak English", like it's something that can't be helped. While the whites "don't want to learn to speak Spanish", like they are just being obstinant and it's really all their fault the Hispanics aren't having an easy time of it.

There can be prosperous and nice majority Hispanic neighborhoods. I know of some areas that used to be very nice and were full of hard working people who started their own businesses. I have no problem with that. The problems start when there are way too many single males and they start committing crimes right and left. Fast Food Nation talks about a couple of towns that have been ruined by crime after ConAgra imported foreign labor, incidently.

And I don't remember ever hearing any "Anglos" openly criticize Hispanics for not learning English. Of course, they are right, and if you come to this country you should learn English and assimilate as an American, just like my own relatives did. I've just never heard it spoken about openly. Maybe because I grew up in Upper Mexico.