Prometheus 6

I'm late posting this morning because there's a great load of stupid to deal with.

Most U.S.-Born Latinos Speak Fluent English
By N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 30, 2007; A14

Almost all Hispanic adults born in the United States to immigrant parents speak fluent English, even though most of their parents do not, according to a report released yesterday.

I read that in my RSS reader decided I didn't need much more to indicate teh stupid. Little did I realize how much stupid followed immediately that first sentence.

In a recent Washington Post poll of Virginia residents, for instance, 70 percent of respondents said they believe recent immigrants are not doing enough to learn English and fit in with American culture and values.

When are people going to learn to answer these questions honestly? You don't know WHAT recent immigrants are doing. What happens is you hear "immigrant" and immediately translate to "Mexican." And "Mexican" translates to "illegal"...nevermind that we know of a community of some 30,000 illegal Irish immigrants. And I ain't saying you should hate on them, but...why ain't you hating on them?

When you say they aren't assimilating fast enough, how much time are you giving them? A year? That's not as bad as expecting folks to reverse the damage of centuries of hateration in a few decades in the face of active opposition to that reversal, but it's definitely in the same vein.

And it makes people crazy. It hasn't made Mexicans protest against themselves yet.

Hispanic immigrants appear to be feeling the heat, according to the Pew study. Forty-six percent said lack of language skills was the biggest cause of discrimination against Latinos, as opposed to skin color, immigration status or income and education level.

But it's coming.