0 comment Friday, July 4, 2014 | admin
According to this piece, from the Salem (OR) Statesman Journal, Spanish is on the way out, and the tens of millions of Hispanic immigrants will be speaking good American English -- in just a generation or two. Or three.
Reporterette Thelma Guerrero, in this simple-minded article, suggests that any concerns about the ascendancy of Spanish in this era of mass immigration are misplaced.
She cites these little anecdotes as her 'proof' of her assertion:
McKay High School sophomore Monique Guajardo, two generations removed from her family's arrival from Mexico, has a difficult time speaking Spanish.
Fifteen-year-old Whitney Peña, on the other hand, can't speak a word of Spanish. Her ancestors immigrated three generations ago.
According to a recent study, their difficulty with their native language is part of a national trend. Spanish dies out within three generations, and English becomes the dominant language.' [Emphasis mine]
First of all, Thelma, these girls' 'native language' is ENGLISH, given that they were born in English-speaking America. Spanish may be their ancestral tongue but English is their native language.
And hey, Thelma: let me explain something for you. I will write slowly because I know you can't read fast.
What was true of immigrants three generations ago, or even two generations ago, is not necessarily true now.
And the studies cited, done by UCal Irvine and Princeton, do not necessarily prove that today's immigrants will behave exactly as past generations did. The academics who were responsible for the study or studies should know better, and I suspect they do, but the agenda takes precedence over truth or science. Political correctness trumps all, and these academics tend to blind themselves to facts if those facts don't fit their belief system.
And notice the comments by the Hispanic professor on the findings of the study:
Some educators lament the loss of Spanish-speaking abilities.
"It affects (a) person's appreciation, if not understanding, of their culture," Nathaniel Cordova, an associate professor of Latin American studies and American ethnic studies at Willamette University.
It also can result "in embarrassment for those who don't understand the language or who are not able to understand what others are saying," Cordova said.
For their 10-year study, the researchers focused on language adaptation among Hispanic immigrants and their descendants in California and south Florida.'
Nevertheless, the studies prove nothing about what will happen with the language issue in this country. It merely tells us what happened in the past. And as we know here on this blog, 'the past is another country; they do things differently there.'
And what that different country, known as America, did in past generations (in the pre-PC era) was to
1) control numbers of immigrants, so that they would not overwhelm the country 2) allow immigrants in selectively, with a preference for the assimilable, compatible immigrants, and 3) insist that the lucky ones who entered LEARN ENGLISH, andstudy American history and civics.
Now, Miss Guerrero, who wrote this propaganda piece, omits some vital facts, such as when the great-grandparents or grandparents of these girls immigrated, and where they settled. But if they arrived three generations or even two generations ago, presumably that was half a century ago, more or less. Almost certainly it was pre-1965.
And if their great-grandparents or grandparents immigrated to Oregon, where these girls live now, then it's a dead certainty that they immigrated to a predominantly white, 'Anglo,' English-speaking area. Two or more generations ago, much of Oregon was still a very homogeneous state. While there may have been areas where there were Hispanic migrant workers, the Northwest in general had no significant Latino enclaves (or Hispanic 'communities', to use the cloying PC term du jour) and there were certainly no bilingual school programs, no bilingual documents, no Spanish-language media, no 'tiendas' , no celebrating of diversity mandated by the government. In short, they had every incentive to learn English, and a disincentive not to. Their lives were harder if they refused to speak English. The same is demonstrably not true today, when there are large and growing networks of Hispanics, illegal and legal, in places like Oregon, enclaves which did not exist a generation ago. There is Univision and there is Telemundo and Spanish-language radio and Mass in Spanish, bilingual 'outreach' and interpreters provided by the government, clinics for Hispanics. Oh, and one rather important point: now there is something called La Raza, and MEChA, and the 'Aztlan' movement, with its fairytales about the 'Aztecs' who were the rightful owners of America before the evil gringos stole it. No such malevolent ideas were abroad in America back when these girls' great-grandparents came here.
In light of the fact that the America these girls' great-grandparents immigrated to does not exist anymore, and that it has been replaced by a balkanized multicultural America, which positively encourages separate Spanish-speaking enclaves, it is a whole new ballgame.
What was true 40 or 50 years ago is not necessarily true now. Especially when you throw into the mix a new revanchist view of history.
How hard is it to see such glaring differences? I suppose when one is a reality-denying liberal, or a Hispanic whose ties to the ancestral country color one's worldview 100%, it might be very hard indeed. Ideology blinds people.
To return to the article, Miss Guerrero continues,
Based on analysis of language loss over the generations, English has never been seriously threatened as the dominant language in America, nor is it under threat today," the report said.
The conclusion refutes the threat to U.S. culture alleged by author Samuel Huntington, who says that Hispanic immigrants endanger the core of U.S. culture because they "speak a common language, divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures and two languages."
So, take that, Samuel Huntington! Incidentally, I like how they dismiss Huntington as merely an 'author', not mentioning that he is a political scientist and Harvard professor.
One heartening thing to note is that several of the reader comments following the article are decidedly irate, I think people are beginning to catch onto the fact that the media and the politicians are lying to us, spinning and prevaricating. And many of us are fed up with it, having had our fill of political correctness and shameless catering to everybody but American citizens.
The elites are pushing this thing too far, and people are losing patience.
These words of Huntington's seem apropos here:
What ultimately counts for people is not political ideology or economic interest. Faith and family, blood and belief, are what people identify with and what they will fight and die for.
Many of us in this country have all but forgotten 'faith and family, blood and belief', being taught that we are above such things; we are to be 'inclusive' and tolerant, and share our country with anybody and everybody who wants a piece of the American pie. But the challenge from millions of interlopers, who are staking a claim to our country, has started to awaken a renewed consciousness of our identity. We will be at a considerable disadvantage as long as we Americans play the 'tolerance' game, not asserting our own interests, while every other group is going all-out to push for their interests.The aggressive assertion by many immigrants of their own ethnicity is starting to call forth a similar consciousness among Americans.
It's high time.
Reporterette Thelma Guerrero, in this simple-minded article, suggests that any concerns about the ascendancy of Spanish in this era of mass immigration are misplaced.
She cites these little anecdotes as her 'proof' of her assertion:
McKay High School sophomore Monique Guajardo, two generations removed from her family's arrival from Mexico, has a difficult time speaking Spanish.
Fifteen-year-old Whitney Peña, on the other hand, can't speak a word of Spanish. Her ancestors immigrated three generations ago.
According to a recent study, their difficulty with their native language is part of a national trend. Spanish dies out within three generations, and English becomes the dominant language.' [Emphasis mine]
First of all, Thelma, these girls' 'native language' is ENGLISH, given that they were born in English-speaking America. Spanish may be their ancestral tongue but English is their native language.
And hey, Thelma: let me explain something for you. I will write slowly because I know you can't read fast.
What was true of immigrants three generations ago, or even two generations ago, is not necessarily true now.
And the studies cited, done by UCal Irvine and Princeton, do not necessarily prove that today's immigrants will behave exactly as past generations did. The academics who were responsible for the study or studies should know better, and I suspect they do, but the agenda takes precedence over truth or science. Political correctness trumps all, and these academics tend to blind themselves to facts if those facts don't fit their belief system.
And notice the comments by the Hispanic professor on the findings of the study:
Some educators lament the loss of Spanish-speaking abilities.
"It affects (a) person's appreciation, if not understanding, of their culture," Nathaniel Cordova, an associate professor of Latin American studies and American ethnic studies at Willamette University.
It also can result "in embarrassment for those who don't understand the language or who are not able to understand what others are saying," Cordova said.
For their 10-year study, the researchers focused on language adaptation among Hispanic immigrants and their descendants in California and south Florida.'
Nevertheless, the studies prove nothing about what will happen with the language issue in this country. It merely tells us what happened in the past. And as we know here on this blog, 'the past is another country; they do things differently there.'
And what that different country, known as America, did in past generations (in the pre-PC era) was to
Now, Miss Guerrero, who wrote this propaganda piece, omits some vital facts, such as when the great-grandparents or grandparents of these girls immigrated, and where they settled. But if they arrived three generations or even two generations ago, presumably that was half a century ago, more or less. Almost certainly it was pre-1965.
And if their great-grandparents or grandparents immigrated to Oregon, where these girls live now, then it's a dead certainty that they immigrated to a predominantly white, 'Anglo,' English-speaking area. Two or more generations ago, much of Oregon was still a very homogeneous state. While there may have been areas where there were Hispanic migrant workers, the Northwest in general had no significant Latino enclaves (or Hispanic 'communities', to use the cloying PC term du jour) and there were certainly no bilingual school programs, no bilingual documents, no Spanish-language media, no 'tiendas' , no celebrating of diversity mandated by the government. In short, they had every incentive to learn English, and a disincentive not to. Their lives were harder if they refused to speak English. The same is demonstrably not true today, when there are large and growing networks of Hispanics, illegal and legal, in places like Oregon, enclaves which did not exist a generation ago. There is Univision and there is Telemundo and Spanish-language radio and Mass in Spanish, bilingual 'outreach' and interpreters provided by the government, clinics for Hispanics. Oh, and one rather important point: now there is something called La Raza, and MEChA, and the 'Aztlan' movement, with its fairytales about the 'Aztecs' who were the rightful owners of America before the evil gringos stole it. No such malevolent ideas were abroad in America back when these girls' great-grandparents came here.
In light of the fact that the America these girls' great-grandparents immigrated to does not exist anymore, and that it has been replaced by a balkanized multicultural America, which positively encourages separate Spanish-speaking enclaves, it is a whole new ballgame.
What was true 40 or 50 years ago is not necessarily true now. Especially when you throw into the mix a new revanchist view of history.
How hard is it to see such glaring differences? I suppose when one is a reality-denying liberal, or a Hispanic whose ties to the ancestral country color one's worldview 100%, it might be very hard indeed. Ideology blinds people.
To return to the article, Miss Guerrero continues,
Based on analysis of language loss over the generations, English has never been seriously threatened as the dominant language in America, nor is it under threat today," the report said.
The conclusion refutes the threat to U.S. culture alleged by author Samuel Huntington, who says that Hispanic immigrants endanger the core of U.S. culture because they "speak a common language, divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures and two languages."
So, take that, Samuel Huntington! Incidentally, I like how they dismiss Huntington as merely an 'author', not mentioning that he is a political scientist and Harvard professor.
One heartening thing to note is that several of the reader comments following the article are decidedly irate, I think people are beginning to catch onto the fact that the media and the politicians are lying to us, spinning and prevaricating. And many of us are fed up with it, having had our fill of political correctness and shameless catering to everybody but American citizens.
The elites are pushing this thing too far, and people are losing patience.
These words of Huntington's seem apropos here:
What ultimately counts for people is not political ideology or economic interest. Faith and family, blood and belief, are what people identify with and what they will fight and die for.
Many of us in this country have all but forgotten 'faith and family, blood and belief', being taught that we are above such things; we are to be 'inclusive' and tolerant, and share our country with anybody and everybody who wants a piece of the American pie. But the challenge from millions of interlopers, who are staking a claim to our country, has started to awaken a renewed consciousness of our identity. We will be at a considerable disadvantage as long as we Americans play the 'tolerance' game, not asserting our own interests, while every other group is going all-out to push for their interests.The aggressive assertion by many immigrants of their own ethnicity is starting to call forth a similar consciousness among Americans.
It's high time.