Originally Posted by tw

And yet that was America for most of the 20th Century. Why do you think every city has a little Italy, a China town, etc? Why do you think ethnic groups tended towards same jobs - Irish cops? America was very ethnically divided and yet still functioned as one nation, indivisible, etc.

We are beginning to see cultural losses. Deep southern drawls and the New England Yankee accent (ie in John Kennedy's speeches) are significantly diminished. Somehow we forget how ethnically and culturally divided and yet so united was this nation called America even 60 years ago. Part of the American experience was discovering someone so culturally different - and yet he was also another of us.

The abbreviation for America is US - the we who are so different.

There is one factor though. Back then, the need for English was considered necessary to be an American. We have another problem. The grandchildren sometimes cannot talk to the grandparents. Political hype associated with why all should speak English gets lost when delivered to the immigrant. A grandparent who wants to be able to talk to his own grandkids - he should appreciate that consequence of not learning English.

Such more important facts are often lost when others worry about this 'them and us' attitude in America.

One final problem directly traceable to an America that now fears immigrants and therefore must import immigrants illegally. Those immigrants do not come with the attitude of staying. Why would they? They are not welcome. That is clear. Those immigrants who end up staying are basically told, "Don't bother learning English. You are not staying." Simply by increasing the 29,000 per year number to 2 million per year means that person will need to speak English. He is staying. He need not hide in an only Spanish community. He is now coming to America for the same reasons so many did in 1900s.

Why should they even bother to speak English when they must hide in Spanish neighborhoods - when they will never be welcome? Just another problem created by the 'we fear all immigrant' attitudes.

American that was united was never so homogenous. Why should we expect all to conform to one culture? That was never America before.