JW wrote:
I had most of this written when I hit a wrong key and it all disappeared so I am writing it again but posting it here.
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permafrost wrote:
"...Remember the olden days when the Poles, fins(sic), Italians and others spoke their own language, lived in the same areas, had their own stores, shops and dreamed of the "old country"?
It seems very natural for people who came to this country from anyother country, (even the ME) to stay together, feeling comfortable with fellow immegrants (sic)..
What do you think assimilation is? The Somalia(sic) in Minnesota have community. they join in and participate in the local govt, economy.."
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No, Frosty, I do not remember the 'olden days' the way you seem to remember them. Your memory seems to incorporate a lot of old movies and hackneyed stereotypes rather than actual history when it comes to immigrants. I know because I am an immigrant. I have associated with immigrants all of my life... legal and illegal, I might add.
There are traditionally two kinds of immigrants, financial opportunists and those who want to become Americans. There is a world of difference between the two.
Financial opportunists are to some degree the way you describe them but the others are quite different. I belong to the 'others' group.
Financial opportunists are here for the money, benefits and nothing more. They maintain their language and customs and have no intention to assimilate. They are quite satisfied to be what they are and they teach their children to be the same. A lot of them are very nice people but they are not Americans by any stretch of the imagination, no matter how many generations of them there are here. They have little or nothing to do with Americans outside of the necessary contacts.
The 'others' are here to find a better life than the one they knew in the "old Country". They speak their mother tongue at home but never in public. That is because it is easier and not because of embarrassment or shame. They want to be seen as Americans. They want their children to be Americans so they encourage them to participate in the American way of life and adopt American manners and customs.
Until the lunatic fringe took over the Democrat Party, the only thing impeding assimilation for us 'others' was the acceptance or rejection of our neighbors. Since those Progressives have had power in the culture, they have set numerous other roadblocks in our way. They concocted an insidious form of discrimination called multi-culturism. In the guise of open mindedness and blanket acceptance, they have hyphenated us, deprived many of us of the national language and sought to segregate us in ghettos. Those ghettos arise when we do not fit in with the general population. In short, Progressives have created a situation in which your vision of the immigrant is becoming a reality; separate by custom, isolated by language and dependent for survival on government handouts.
To make the transition from the great American melting pot in which everyone could participate, Progressives have sought to destroy all standards of immigration to produce a disintegrated and disjointed society. As a result, we now have a third type of immigrant, those who want nothing to do with Americans or Americanism but want to transfer their home conditions to the USA...
All my life I wanted to become an American. In my old age, I have discovered that I have always been an American. I might have known it much sooner had not so many well meaning and not so well meaning people made certain I knew I wasn't one.
I had most of this written when I hit a wrong key ... (
show quote)
You misconstrued what i posted..
when I was young, we lived on a subsistence farm, as did nearly everyone in fare NW Minnesota..
In one direction from town, most of the people were Scandinavian, talked the native language at home.
On the opposite side of town, most of the people were from Poland and spoke that language at home..
when we moved to the cities, in NE Mpls, every 3 or 4 blocks was a different ethnic group.. each spoke the native language, had their own stores, grocery, hardware, bars..
But all of these people, the kids went to school learned the same things that longer residents learned and adapted to the usual American way of life..
Most of today immigrants seem to be no different.. the first generation is more comfortable with people who came from the Old country, for what ever reason.. they speak the old language..
the 2nd generation attends school, speaks English and learns computers.. they become average Americans..
i see little difference in those of today from those of the 50s..
why, if you wish them to show assimilation, does it upset you that a Somalia runs and gains political office?
Nearly all immigrants, from Irish to blacks from asia/Africa have a struggle with the very new to them American society..
After the Vietnam war, Minnesota gained an unusual number of Mong from the highlands who had been allies of ours..
They also took a long time and had problem becoming Americans.. but the did and now fit in just as well as we, the noble Norsk..