Comments on: WP Editorial: Prince William, a Year Later

By: kgotthardt

kgotthardt — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:46:23 +0000

SA: “If you owned a business where people had to pay a fee such as a movie theater, and people came and watched the movie without paying the fee you’d be outraged, and legally so.”

Yeah, and if you asked them to pay after and make it good and they did, then so what? If we assess people a fine and then get them papers to stay here and work or earn citizenship, what is the difference? This kind of “he didn’t pay” goes to Judge Judy all the time: “This is MY courtroom!”

By: WhyHereWhyNow

WhyHereWhyNow — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:59:09 +0000

I have a theory, Elena, as to why the blogs are so often littered with blatantly ignorant ideas like those you are trying to address with “Tom.”

Because certain politicians seem to be pandering to racists as part of their constituency, it is not hard to imagine that some people pick up on codified racism and foolishly assume that overt racism is okay too. I think they actually believe that stereotyping and anti-Hispanic hate speech HELPS their cause.

It is up to the leaders of the Anti-Immigrant Lobby (not you Elena) to explain why codified racism is better than blatant racism in terms of political expediency.

But it seems the task is simply too overwhelming and they gave up a long time ago.

By: WhyHereWhyNow

WhyHereWhyNow — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:50:52 +0000

I have a theory, Elena, as to why the blogs are so often littered with blatantly ignorant ideas like those you are trying to address with “Tom.”

Because politicians seem to be pandering to racists as, at least a significant part of their constituency, it is not hard to imagine that some people pick up on codified racism and foolishly assume that overt racism is okay too. I think they actually believe that stereotyping and anti-Hispanic hate speech HELPS their cause.

It is up to the leaders of the Anti-Immigrant Lobby (not you Elena) to explain why codified racism is better than blatant racism.
But it seems the task is simply too overwhelming and the gave up a long time ago.

By: Elena

Elena — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:11:10 +0000

Welcome Tom,
Are you describing illegal immigration issues, or community tension? It’s interesting you bring up young children in the street as an example. My friend, who lives in a very homegeneous community in warrenton, shared that a neighbor is always letting her 3 year olds play in the street, to the chagrin of other neighbors who fear they will hit one of them as the drive to their homes. She is “home grown” American, do you want to deport her too? Young stupid drivers come in all colors, that is simply the nature of the age. I can’t speak to peeing on lawns, but that has nothing to do with immigration status, just bad behavior! I could go on, but what you have described are neighborhood issues, which, had our county been foward thinking, should have set up a task force to really deal with tensions. I wonder, how do you know they are “illegal” immigrants?

By: Moon-howler

Moon-howler — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:10:12 +0000

Many adults have a very difficult time with a foreign language. Do any of the nay-sayers ever wonder why foreign adults seem to retain their accent so long? The second generations of all immigrant waves are the ones who become proficient English speakers.

By: Casual Observer

Casual Observer — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:56:45 +0000

Jeesh…I’m having all kinds of problems with blockquoting today. My response to Johnson’s quote (in the first paragraph) is the entire indented portion below it.

By: Casual Observer

Casual Observer — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:54:34 +0000

Johnson asked:

Where are the hispanic legal permenant residents who feel harassed and have left the county? It seems as if only the illegal aliens are leaving. I have yet to hear of anyone legally residing here who has considered leaving.

I’ll tell you about one PWC family (mid-county) I know who was here legally, and left in early-May because of the Resolution. This family owned owned a beautiful home, spoke English as well as any one, and established THREE successful business in the county (a bakery, a cleaning service and one other I can’t recall). They also had three children: two in elementary school and a toddler. The school-age children were very successful students, in ESOL only because their parents’ first language was Spanish. The middle child, who was in third grade this year, was being evaluated for the fourth-grade Signet (Gifted) program when the family moved. He and my youngest child were good friends, having been in the same class together in K-garten, first, second and third grades.

I asked them once why they had three business, because they worked very hard. The husband told me that he and his wife created the three businesses with the expectation that each child would take ownership of one when they grew up. Indeed, they started the third business when the wife was pregnant with her third child.

And they were wonderful neighbors (though not mine). Quite a few times I would be visiting my friend (who did live next to them) and the wife would drop by with a cake or some other baked goods she had made. And they were always the first to offer to help if you needed something.

Despite all of this, the Resolution passed, winter moved into spring, and they longer felt welcome in PWC. The husband announced they were all moving to Texas “until all this nonsense is over.” They tried selling their house, but I think the ended up renting it when it didn’t sell.

And now they are in Texas and doing quite well despite missing home.

So there you go, Johnson. Now you’ve heard of “one family residing here legally who has considered leaving.” Only you can take it one step further, because this family DID leave.

By: Casual Observer

Casual Observer — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:33:28 +0000

oops! Meant to say: “This failure/inability of first generation immigrants to assimilate…”

By: Casual Observer

Casual Observer — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:31:51 +0000

My German great-grandmother, who came to the US sometime in the 1920s died in the late 1970s, spoke German almost exclusively. I cannot ever recall her speaking English. If she wanted to speak to her great-grandchildren or my mother (one of only two grandchildren), she would speak to one of her daughters in German, and she would tell us what she said or needed. I also recall lots of hand gesturing.

Go to Little Italy or Chinatown and you’ll still find the elderly family member who has never felt the need to assimilate (including learn English) because they essentially moved to US communities that were microcosms of their countries of origin. I also think there is a lot of fear behind that as well: fear of leaving one’s history behind for someplace totally unfamiliar, with a strange language, customs, foods, etc.

This of first generation immigrants to assimilate usually ends with them, btw. The next generation is typically bilingual (and an essential link to helping the first generation survive in the US), yet fully American. Yes, they may celebrate their family history with such holidays as St. Pat’s, Columbus Day, Chinese New Year and Cinco de Mayo — but that’s what makes America the wonderful melting pot it is.

So, SA, you’re wrong yet again.

By: kgotthardt

kgotthardt — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:57:12 +0000

Some people literally cannot learn another language no matter how hard they try. This particularly applies to people with severe learning disabilites or another disorder.