| “The Hispanic Challenge”,a 12-page excerpt fromHarvard Professor Samuel P. Huntington declares Hispanics, Mexicans specifically, are a cause for concern to all real red-blooded Americans. It seems to be an intellectual piece. But you soon realize Huntington’s arguments are circularand his data refutes his own conclusions! Don’t waste time reading the 12 pages of propaganda. I’ve done the reading for you. by Jennese Tore-Rez |
| His opening paragraph: 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... rejecting the Anglo-Protestant values that built the American dream. The U.S. ignores this challenge at its peril. |
| His next to last paragraph: The transformation of the United States... would not necessarily be the end of the world; it would, however, be the end of the America we have known for more than three centuries. Americans should not let that change happen unless they are convinced that this new nation would be a better one. Huntington's last paragraph is a real doozy! Keep reading and you'll see! |
In a nutshell, this article says: There are so many
Mexicans, ummm, Hispanics that they are taking
over- our culture. They are a threat to what it means
to be an “American”. Therefore they must be urged
to assimilate or else they must be stopped,
especially that Spanish chatter, or America, as we
know it for the last couple of hundred years, will be
changed FOREVER! [dreadful, forboding organ
music in the back- Beethoven Symphony 5].
Huntington began with patriotic images of Thomas
Jefferson signing the Declaration which he calls “the
creed”:
We, hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Side Bar: Reminds me of a poem by Richard
Olivas: I’m sitting in my history class, The instructor
commences rapping, I’m in my U.S. history class,
And I’m on the verge of napping. The Mayflower
landed on Plymouth Rock, Tell me more! Tell me
more! Thirteen colonies were settled, I’ve heard it all
before. What did he say? Dare I ask him to
reiterate? Oh why bother? It sounded like he said,
George Washington’s my father. I’m reluctant to
believe it, I suddenly raise my mano, If George
Washington’s my father, why wasn’t he Chicano?
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
2nd paragraph: He refers to the Declaration as “an
essential component of U.S. identity”. Therefore his
argument, to be logical, should show that Mexicans
don’t believe in it.
Instead the 3rd paragraph erroneously gives the
history of the U.S. during the 18th and 19th century in
one concise paragraph. “With World War II and
assimilation ... ethnicity virtually disappeared... So
did race, following the achievements of the civil rights
movement... Americans now see and endorse their
country as multiethnic and multiracial... American
identity is now defined in terms of culture and creed.”
Mexicans, ummm, Hispanics that they are taking
over- our culture. They are a threat to what it means
to be an “American”. Therefore they must be urged
to assimilate or else they must be stopped,
especially that Spanish chatter, or America, as we
know it for the last couple of hundred years, will be
changed FOREVER! [dreadful, forboding organ
music in the back- Beethoven Symphony 5].
Huntington began with patriotic images of Thomas
Jefferson signing the Declaration which he calls “the
creed”:
We, hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Side Bar: Reminds me of a poem by Richard
Olivas: I’m sitting in my history class, The instructor
commences rapping, I’m in my U.S. history class,
And I’m on the verge of napping. The Mayflower
landed on Plymouth Rock, Tell me more! Tell me
more! Thirteen colonies were settled, I’ve heard it all
before. What did he say? Dare I ask him to
reiterate? Oh why bother? It sounded like he said,
George Washington’s my father. I’m reluctant to
believe it, I suddenly raise my mano, If George
Washington’s my father, why wasn’t he Chicano?
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
2nd paragraph: He refers to the Declaration as “an
essential component of U.S. identity”. Therefore his
argument, to be logical, should show that Mexicans
don’t believe in it.
Instead the 3rd paragraph erroneously gives the
history of the U.S. during the 18th and 19th century in
one concise paragraph. “With World War II and
assimilation ... ethnicity virtually disappeared... So
did race, following the achievements of the civil rights
movement... Americans now see and endorse their
country as multiethnic and multiracial... American
identity is now defined in terms of culture and creed.”
If race has disappeared, why are Americans of Mexican
decent called “3rd” and “4th generation”? When does the
Mexican-American become- just American? What about
the African-American who for the last 500 years are still not
considered just plain American. Why are there still sub-
category Americans?
Next he contradicts himself: “In the final decades of the 20th
century, however, the United States' Anglo-Protestant
culture and the creed that it produced came under assault
by ... multiculturalism and diversity; the rise of group
identities based on race, ethnicity, and gender over national
identity.” Is there a “rise of group identities based on race”?
Or has race and ethnicity “virtually disappeared” and “now
Americans endorse their country as multiethnic and
multiracial”? Which one is it?
Talking about history, is this country not built entirely on
immigrants? Our founding fathers, were they born
American? NO. He recognizes this: “Contributions from
immigrant cultures modified and enriched the Anglo-
Protestant culture of the founding settlers.”
If immigrantion “enriched” the American culture then it is
good. He acknowledges that immigration is what America
is made of with a most circular question: “Would the U.S.
be the country that it has been and that it largely remains
today if it had been settled in the 17th and 18th centuries not
by British Protestants but by French, Spanish, or
Portuguese Catholics?“
He answers himself. No one else would entertain such a
senseless question. Like saying: What color was
Napolean’s white horse? “The answer is clearly no. It
would not be the U.S.; it would be Quebec, Mexico, or
Brazil.”
He then says that Mexican immigration is different than any
other immigration in all of American history! [organ
forboding doom again!] He names 6 simple-minded
factors unique to Mexican immigration. Such as,
Mexicans don’t travel far to get here.
Next section: Spanglish as a Second Language. Instead of
a linguistic analysis, he rambles so much that it shows that
in actuality Spanish IS his main gripe. “The size,
persistence, and concentration of Hispanic immigration
tends to perpetuate the use of Spanish through successive
generations.”
I must burden you with numbers so you can see how
baseless his gripe is. “In 2000... 28 million people in the U.
S. spoke Spanish at home (10.5%...), [wow! 10%!] and
almost 13.8 million of these spoke English worse than
“very well”" [worse than ‘very well’? Is that good English?].
"In 1990 about 95% of Mexican-born immigrants [what
does that mean ‘Mexican-born immigrants’? Does that
mean that if you are Mexican but born here then you are a
U.S.- born immigrant? Of course not! You would be a ‘1st-
generation-Mexican-American’?]
decent called “3rd” and “4th generation”? When does the
Mexican-American become- just American? What about
the African-American who for the last 500 years are still not
considered just plain American. Why are there still sub-
category Americans?
Next he contradicts himself: “In the final decades of the 20th
century, however, the United States' Anglo-Protestant
culture and the creed that it produced came under assault
by ... multiculturalism and diversity; the rise of group
identities based on race, ethnicity, and gender over national
identity.” Is there a “rise of group identities based on race”?
Or has race and ethnicity “virtually disappeared” and “now
Americans endorse their country as multiethnic and
multiracial”? Which one is it?
Talking about history, is this country not built entirely on
immigrants? Our founding fathers, were they born
American? NO. He recognizes this: “Contributions from
immigrant cultures modified and enriched the Anglo-
Protestant culture of the founding settlers.”
If immigrantion “enriched” the American culture then it is
good. He acknowledges that immigration is what America
is made of with a most circular question: “Would the U.S.
be the country that it has been and that it largely remains
today if it had been settled in the 17th and 18th centuries not
by British Protestants but by French, Spanish, or
Portuguese Catholics?“
He answers himself. No one else would entertain such a
senseless question. Like saying: What color was
Napolean’s white horse? “The answer is clearly no. It
would not be the U.S.; it would be Quebec, Mexico, or
Brazil.”
He then says that Mexican immigration is different than any
other immigration in all of American history! [organ
forboding doom again!] He names 6 simple-minded
factors unique to Mexican immigration. Such as,
Mexicans don’t travel far to get here.
Next section: Spanglish as a Second Language. Instead of
a linguistic analysis, he rambles so much that it shows that
in actuality Spanish IS his main gripe. “The size,
persistence, and concentration of Hispanic immigration
tends to perpetuate the use of Spanish through successive
generations.”
I must burden you with numbers so you can see how
baseless his gripe is. “In 2000... 28 million people in the U.
S. spoke Spanish at home (10.5%...), [wow! 10%!] and
almost 13.8 million of these spoke English worse than
“very well”" [worse than ‘very well’? Is that good English?].
"In 1990 about 95% of Mexican-born immigrants [what
does that mean ‘Mexican-born immigrants’? Does that
mean that if you are Mexican but born here then you are a
U.S.- born immigrant? Of course not! You would be a ‘1st-
generation-Mexican-American’?]
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