Is this fair?

A health insurance provider in our state just granted children up to the age of 19 a totally free health insurance plan for two years....if they are undocumented.

A majority of people here have NO health insurance for their kids...citizens who were born here. They cannot afford it.

Wow.

Seriously, not to sound young and naive here, but I don't understand what is so horrible/scary/un-American about people from different cultures with different lifestyles living in our country. 

I know people who call themselves "Italian-Americans" who know nothing about their Italian ancestors, don't know where their relatives in Italy are, and really are so far removed from their Italian heritage that it's ridiculous, yet they brag about how great it is that their ancestors were immigrants.... but (and this is just in my experience), they are the ones that scream the loudest when someone needs a legal document explained to them in Spanish... 

I call that hypocrisy.

*EDIT- Not trying to pick on Italian Americans as a whole, I was just referring to some people that I know.  I have no problem with Italians or Italian Americans.

Hee hee the more 'assimilated' a group of people is, the more they want to keep others out.

Okay, I can only answer so many responses at a time:

With the amount of mexican immigration going on, there are areas that have become almost entirely mexican communities. All of the stores are run by mexicans, all of the billboards are in spanish, all of the teachers at these schools teach classes in spanish. These communities will not assimilate with time.

A lack of assimilation has shown to be damaging to the mexican culture that has immigrated here. It decreases their ability to function with society.

I'm going to have to stop for now, class is going to start. I'll get back to this later. 

In the mean time, Dr. Hanson's work is a good resource to understand my position on this: Here's an article that he wrote.

Original Post by simwaves1:

With the amount of mexican immigration going on, there are areas that have become almost entirely mexican communities. All of the stores are run by mexicans, all of the billboards are in spanish, all of the teachers at these schools teach classes in spanish. These communities will not assimilate with time.

Sound the alarm... the Mexicans are trying to take California back!

Original Post by alibsam:

Why must immigrants assimilate?

I live in South Korea. Does this mean I must stop speaking English, eat Korean food only, wear hanboks on holidays, etc? No.

 

 But do you at least make an effort to learn basic Korean?  Or do you just go there expecting people to speak English for you?

I don't know you that well, but I know your style and I'll bet you have tried to learn basic Korean.  This is much more than the majority of the new wave of Mexican immigrants seem to be trying to do. (Note:  I have no stats on this.  This is just what I see from the ones that my husband and I have dealt with in recent history)

The majority of them don't even know what to do when my husband pulls them over and asks for their ID and proof of insurance.

Original Post by simwaves1:

With the amount of mexican immigration going on, there are areas that have become almost entirely mexican communities. All of the stores are run by mexicans, all of the billboards are in spanish, all of the teachers at these schools teach classes in spanish. These communities will not assimilate with time.

Again, how is this different than any other wave of immigration.  Just about every major city in the US has a 'Chinatown' area and plenty have 'Little Italy's' have the chinese and italians not assimilated?

When my grandparents came over from Ireland they lived in an almost entirely Irish neighborhood, they spoke Gaelic, they shopped at stores run by irish people, they went to restaurants owned by irish people, they only went on vacations to areas with large irish populations.  They had 3 kids, none of whom currently live in Irish neighborhoods, or shop at exclusively irish stores.  Unless it came up in conversation you wouldn't know any of them were Irish and they're only one generation off the boat.

Peaches, they're pretending not to understand for the most part, because he's a LEO. When folks are looking for work, they can scare up enough English to get hired, also from direct experience.

The Irish are different Sully - they didn't assimilate into American culture, they made American culture assimilate into theirs. ;D

I'm fed up with being ignored!!

nothing to do with the thread just needed to say it somewhere...

*notices Andie - gives her some whiskey*

There you go - more Irish assimilation ;D

Original Post by kathygator:

The Irish are different Sully - they didn't assimilate into American culture, they made American culture assimilate into theirs. ;D

 If that were true I wouldn't have had to drive 3 hours and pay a $20 cover to watch Irish football.

It's a good thing I moved closer.

Edit: it's not the Irish's fault that their culture is so superior that others are drawn to it...

Not necessarily, Kathy.  Not from what I saw at every restaurant that I've ever worked for. 

I've not seen one person even carrying around an english dictionary for quick referencing.  At least I did THAT much when I went on vacation in Mexico.  At least I made an effort.  I think if more made the effort, it would go a long way.  I've never thought that I should go to another country and not even make an effort to speak the language.

One thing I've noticed with LEP and ESL is that just because someone needs an interpreter or is more comfortable speaking their native language doesn't mean they don't understand any English.  Nor does it mean they are not trying to learn.  English is very difficult.  Heck, sometimes I need someone to explain things to me (legal-ese and the stuff doctors come out with, mostly).  I can't imagine how much more trouble I would have if English was my second language.

Original Post by brtaylor:

 English is very difficult.  Heck, sometimes I need someone to explain things to me (legal-ese and the stuff doctors come out with, mostly).  I can't imagine how much more trouble I would have if English was my second language.

 Right.  That's why I'll give anyone props who at least tries to make the effort.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by kathygator:

The Irish are different Sully - they didn't assimilate into American culture, they made American culture assimilate into theirs. ;D

 If that were true I wouldn't have had to drive 3 hours and pay a $20 cover to watch Irish football.

It's a good thing I moved closer.

Edit: it's not the Irish's fault that their culture is so superior that others are drawn to it...

 In order to find his equal an Irishman is forced to speak directly to God...

Original Post by kathygator:

*notices Andie - gives her some whiskey*

There you go - more Irish assimilation ;D

 drinks it down.... cheers ma dear 

Original Post by peaches0405:

Original Post by brtaylor:

 English is very difficult.  Heck, sometimes I need someone to explain things to me (legal-ese and the stuff doctors come out with, mostly).  I can't imagine how much more trouble I would have if English was my second language.

 Right.  That's why I'll give anyone props who at least tries to make the effort.

just because you don't perceive them to be making an effort doesn' t mean no effort has been made.

and i'd like to get back to sim's complaint about CA schools teaching classes in spanish and engish; what's the alternative?  put kids' education on hold for a year or two while they learn english?  so that they can be that much further behind the other kids, and that much more likely to drop out?  and that much more likely to be dependent on aid or to turn to crime?

it's pretty hard to study social studies and math when you don't understand the language the teachers speaks.

[i went to the grocery store, and while i was gone, this thread got a whole lot more racist.]

No, I don't think the thread has gotten racist.  There is a diference between race and ethnicity.  I just think the thread has broadened to include all sorts of isses that have to do with immigration.  This of course would include language issues.

Not to belabor the issue, but my biggest source of confusion is why anyone has a problem at all with people speaking Spanish.  I think it's a beautiful language. 

Is it that people are uncomfortable and/or afraid when they can't understand what a person is saying?  I can't think of any other logical, across-the-board reason why someone would care whether or not another person spoke English.

Original Post by peaches0405:

No, I don't think the thread has gotten racist.  There is a diference between race and ethnicity.  I just think the thread has broadened to include all sorts of isses that have to do with immigration.  This of course would include language issues.

yeah, the difference between race and ethnicity is that ethnicity actually exists.  and that we don't have a word that conveys prejudice based on ethnicity.

Well I don't think we can discuss immigration without acknowledging that our entire culture is composed of immigrants. Each wave brought the same resentment from the previous waves.

The Irish dock workers railed against the freed slaves because they were 'taking our jobs', just as the Irish were vilifed for doing the same thing in New York and Boston the previous generation.

You shake your fist at Mexican immigrants for trying to get a better life, you're shaking a fist at your own history - for the most part.

Now if you're Native American - you get to be pissed at the lot of us - well all except Mexican immigrants - dunno that you can rightfully call people that were here first then booted out 'immigrants' when they come back?