Why do people expect Hispanics to abandon their heritage to live in the US?

Question

We didn't expect that of any other immigrants. Take a walk in NYC. Visit Chinatown. Does it look "American" to you? Go see Little Italy. How "American" is that? Walk through the Jewish community or the Irish section. You will hear Chinese spoken, Italian, Hebrew. You will see their homes & shops decorated & adorned as they were in their homelands. Why then do we expect the Hispanics to completely abandon their language, their heritage and their culture and in a sense, deny their homeland, to come live here?

Amy G....that's my point. And now we are discriminating against the new wave of immigrants...the Americans of tomorrow.

GreenlYD....But I see so many people in this forum complaining about people flying Mexican flags & speaking Spanish etc. I keep reading how if they really wanted to be "American" they would adopt our culture & our way of life. Why should they have to?

trakslag...so we should go into Chinatown & remove all the flags or into Little Italy & remove those as well? Or the Israeli flag? We should take them down & demand that only ours be raised. Sounds sort of communist to me.

Just Trying to Help....last time I checked no one was handing out citizenship to Hispanic immigrants upon arrival - legal OR illegal. Of course they must learn English to pass the test but is it really right that we expect them to know it when they get here? I don't think our ancestors did.

Sir Shaggy...hate to burst your bubble there but they did NOT all come here legally. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing anything about the Pilgrims having visas. I don't recall them asking the Native Americans first if they could come & kick them off of their own land.

Earl of Trollshire....so you don't think the Native Americans felt IMPOSED upon when YOUR ancestors arrived?

caciansf...and if you were around in the 60's you would have been b*tching about the streets being name Martin Luther King. It's not such a big deal now is it? Just like the Hispanic named streets you struggle to pronounce won't be such a bing d@mn deal in the future. Why can't we just learn from our past mistakes? Why must we keep making the same ones over & over? You showed a prime example of this in your answer.

Answer 1

every nation in the world has brought a Little bit of themselves to this great country ... just like u do i do not understand why the same negative attitude which many immigrants had to face when they were the new immigrants through all the American history is still embraced , and yet worst they do it under the excuse of 9/11 , a day which we should be using to be good and understanding to others and to give our best to the world .

what we are today as a country is not what every immigrant assimilated to but what every immigrant brought here with them , with the only desire to have a better life . the Hispanic just like all others do understand the need of learning English and understand how important is to keep themselves out of troubles but yet many still defame them and lie trying to make them look like if their only desire was to steal and rip apart every single piece of America as it is today ... the reality is that the Hispanics do love America as it is and do love being here just as all other did before , that is a fact .

http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/20.pdf

i would like to add a somethig about the italians in particular which i found in a website about their arival to America :

" For all immigrants, it was difficult to adjust, or assimilate. As they came to America they all brought with them their own traditions and languages. The Italians were no different. For them, their culture became their safety, the only thing they could rely on. "

http://library.thinkquest.org/26786/en/articles/view.php3?arKey=3&paKey=5&loKey=0&evKey=&toKey=&torKey=&tolKey=


about the irish and the way they used to live when they arived :

The poor living conditions contributed greatly to the physical strife the Irish people first faced upon entering America. Cellar tenement's were unsuitable for any living creature but the Irish lived in these tenements where floors "ranged from ten to thirty feet below high-water mark! 'In sub-tidal basements nineteen families, 110 persons, live beneath the level of the sea.

http://www.usna.edu/EnglishDept/ilv/iramer.htm

about the chinnese and their arival :

many people considered the Chinese to be unassimilable and therefore unacceptable—hence, their eventual exclusion from America in 1882.

Under the racist slogan, "Chinese must go!" an anti-Chinese movement emerged that worked assiduously to deprive the Chinese of a means of making a living in the general economy

http://www.immigrants.harpweek.com/ChineseAmericans/1Introduction/BillWeiIntro.htm

about the polish and their arival ( 5 million ) :

These Poles were called "za chlebem" or "for bread" immigrants. They came to America for the sole purpose of making money. Once this was accomplished, they would return to Poland and prosper. Other Poles risked everything to travel to America. They sold all their property in hope of starting a new life. When these Poles entered America they wrote letters back to their relatives about their life here. Soon their relatives came to America to join their relatives. Some Polish people came because America was portrayed to be the land of opportunity, others came because they were encouraged by exaggerated stories of abundant job opportunity

http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/kane98/kane_p3_immig/Poland/Polish.html

Answer 2

Simple, the examples you have given are small almost extinct enclaves of foriegn cultures. But from the way your describing things America should be a Bilingual nation. German should be equal to English on all levels. Why you ask? Because prior to and at the time of the revolution Germans accounted for 40-50% of the population in most of the 13 colonies. The declaration of Independence was printed in two languages, english and german.
Some time after the revolution german americans decided that it was there duty to learn and speak english. A duty the vast majority of immigrants in the last 200+ years have done. But now hispanics say they want special treatment? Screw that. Either speak english or get out(some might say that it is anti-american to say that but I say screw you I am an american born citizen. I have a constitutional right to my own beliefs and if you cant understand that right then you clearly have no idea what our forefathers fought for). Lets face it it is an act of cultural Imperialism to immigrate from one country to another and force your language upon them,It is an act of cultural war that should be responded with our full military might as a nation.

Answer 3

Just as the majority of those who answered you here, I do not agree with your point of view whatsoever. I do not think we expect Hispanic immigrants to abandon their heritage or their culture. Just like we never expected the Chinese, Italian, German, etc. immigrants to abandon theirs. There is charm in the communities such as "Chinatown" and "Little Italy," etc. but like others here said, while maintaining their culture and heritage, they also accommodate us by communicating in English and not expecting us to accommodate them by speaking their languages. They are welcome to speak their own language amongst themselves or in their homes, but when they want to do business with us or chat with us, speak English. Don't demand our schools teach their children in their native language. The problem is that the Hispanics, being the majority of illegal immigrants in the USA at the present time, seem hellbent on making demands and they are so "in your face" with showing loyalty and patriotism to their home countries, rather than to their new country and it feels very disrespectful to American citizens and legal immigrants. They came here of their own free will and choice - we did NOT ask for them to come here. As someone else said, and it is so true, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." That still applies today!

Answer 4

No one is expecting them to abandon their heritage. We are expecting them to come here and speak english and live in America as an american. Chinese adapted and did not change our culture and still kept their own. I can say this as my grandfather was an immigrant from Mexico. He learned english and had a business. He did not expect America to change for him. He changed for America. He still kept his own heritage and spoke spanish at home. There is a difference. My mother and her siblings were taught to embrace the american way since they were born here in America. My grandfather loved this country and was very loyal to it until he died.

You do not see any other countries that let immigrants come to their country and destroy their heritage and culture. So why should it be allowed here. There is nothing wrong with keeping the culture and heritage from the country you originated from. But you should be a viable part of society and be able to speak english.

Answer 5

Here Pamela, give that pc talk a rest and let big papa tell it like it is:

"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 man's becoming in very fact 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, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...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."

-Theodore Roosevelt 1907


Additional Details - are you calling TR a commie? I see you refrained from pulling the race card at least.

And lay off Sir Shaggy, you really don't know.

Answer 6

This is going to sound like a repeat of alot of other answers but I believe if you are going to come to the US...learn the language, nobody says you have to abandon your heritage, just learn English! Would you think it was rude if we (us citizens) came to Mexico and refused to speak Spanish? Demanded you to put all the papers and stuff in English? How about if we demand that all the Spanish schools must teach English? If you think about it that way you will see our point of view.

Answer 7

Have you ever walked through a Hispanic neighborhood? They are as ethnic and loyal to their heritage as any of the other groups you mention.

By adopting the culture of the country you live in, it doesn't mean you automatically let go of your heritage. Hispanics have a different culture that maybe lets them more liberally merge the two cultures where other groups are just more traditional and resistant. I don't think anyone is denying anything in this sense.

PS, I'm not hispanic at all, so this isn't even a self defense.

Answer 8

My next door neighbor had a Mexican flag on his garage and plays Mexican music all the time. As long as he does't bother me I don't care.

The difference someone like you mentioned.. such as my grandfather who immigrated from Italy, well he only spoke Italian once in awhile. He had an American flag and it was very important to him to assimilate.
When he went out in public he only spoke English. He knew it was important for him .. to live the 'American Dream' to him meant you needed to learn how and be part of the 'melting pot'

Trouble is we are seeing people who don't want to melt into the pot.

Answer 9

No one does, but they seem to act like they expect others to accommodate for them just because they are moving here when if it was anyone else (like my friend's great grandpa who moved here from Germany) we'd be expected to learn the language of the country we were moving to, or at least make an attempt at broken english just to get by. I've seen Little Italy and Chinatown, they speak both english and their language. No one is insisting we accomidate for them and start teaching OUR children THEIR language to make it easier on them.

Learning english doesn't = losing your culture, you are still free to speak your language and act the way you want to.

Answer 10

its not that we as Americans expect them to abandon their culture. we do expect that Hispanics will be proud Americans. which many are but their are just as many who seem to think that America is theirs for the taking. many many Hispanics come here disrespect our flag, expect Americans to learn Spanish, feel no obligation to learn English and then are surprised by the animosity that so many Americans feel towards them. i am sorry maybe im a dick but if you come to america learn to speak english or go home. when in rome do as the romans do. do not expect the romans to do as you do. you make mention of many other cultures, all who speak their native language at home, or int he neighborhood, but they all also speak english and integrate into the us society. where as so many mexican immigrants expect us to speak english, and for us to adapt to their culture. that is why so many immigrants before were not treated with the same animosity.

Answer 11

I don't think anyone expects them to "abandon their heritage." We expect them to stop trying to impose their language and culture on the rest of us. Chinatown, Little Italy, etc. are not full of people insisting that we start teaching school in Chinese/Italian/etc., or that we post all street signs and provide all government paperwork in Chinese/Italian/etc. This is not the case with Hispanics.