NBC News special correspondent and former “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw apologized Sunday evening for remarks he made on “Meet the Press” earlier in the day about Hispanic assimilation, after the comments triggered backlash.
During a panel discussion about the fight for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Brokaw said: “On the Republican side, a lot of people see the rise of an extraordinary, important new constituent in American politics, Hispanics, who will come here and all be Democrats.”
He continued, “Also, I hear, when I push people a little harder, ‘Well, I don’t know whether I want brown grandbabies.’ I mean, that’s also a part of it. It’s the intermarriage that is going on and the cultures that are conflicting with each other.” He did not explain who had told him this.
Brokaw went on to say: “I also happen to believe that the Hispanics should work harder at assimilation. That’s one of the things I’ve been saying for a long time. You know, they ought not to be just codified in their communities but make sure that all their kids are learning to speak English, and that they feel comfortable in the communities. And that’s going to take outreach on both sides, frankly.”
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America in the course of the last century has become a country of cowards, opportunists, and trimmers.
112 years ago, Teddy Roosevelt put it a lot more bluntly:
In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American … There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.â€
And Teddy did not apologize.
Bilderback
The cardinal mistake is the apology. It’s fuel for the fire and indicates you Knew you were committing wrong think.
GoneWithTheWInd
The best possible advice I could give a recent immigrant regardless of where they came from would be learn the English language, get and education, make sure your kids learn English and get an education to and assimilate. Be free to keep your culture, enjoy your culture and your heritage. But do not be an outsider in your new country. Do not inflict that on your children either. Lastly for those who are 60 years old or older, grandma’s and grandpa’s of immigrants who don’t or can’t learn English and don’t choose to assimilate; WE should give you a pass.
Boligat
GWTW: I’ll give a pass to the grandmas and grandpas that have difficulty with the culture and the language, too, PROVIDED that they don’t sit in the corner bad mouthing our culture.
Seattle Sam
So Hispanics should NOT work harder at assimilation? Explain how faster assimilation does not work to the immigrant’s advantage? Do you not think that an Hispanic who can speak English really well does not have an advantage over one that does not?
Imagine a friend of yours was going to move his family to Mexico City. Would you advise him to not bother to learn Spanish? Watch only American television? Read only English periodicals? Find a house in the American neighbor and try not to mix with Mexicans?
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