hummm...is it just me or does VDH read like babarella boxer's talking points?

Mark,
This paragraph was brilliant. It's what I've secretly felt.

"For those who say my ancestors took this land illegitimately, I say: "too bad". Perhaps your ancestors should have fought better - but there's no reversing the past, so just deal with it - and choose; be an American and stick around, or don't be one and get the heck out."

If I had lived in the times of the war with Mexico I don't know if I could have fought or supported taking possession that land. So I'm not going to apologize for it. But the facts are this: we were stronger, we won that war, and we're not apologizing for it. We've made far greater use of the land and the resources than Mexico has made of what they still retain. That's why we're called Americans and not FillintheBlank hyphenated Americans.

Keep up the good writing Mark.

Redstate.com recently posted an interesting compendium of facts on immigration. According to the statistics they post, about 90% of second generation Hispanics are bilingual or speak English mainly. Also, almost a third of all marriages involving a Hispanic or Asian partner cross racial lines (counting Hispanics as a race for this purpose). Nearly half of all the 3.7M inter-racial marriages in the country have one Hispanic partner.

If the statistics posted over at Redstate are accurate, the melting pot concept is working especially well for Latinos -- better than any other group. Certainly there are other issues involved in the immigration debate, but lack of assimilation doesn't appear to be one of them.

How about Catholic Americans or Jewish Americans or Socialist Americans? Peace

Ever heard of Chinatown or Little Italy?

Heck, in Chicago I can think of at least 5 section of the city that ethnic specific where you're just as likely to see or hear a foreign language than English.

And, it's always been like that. Look at the Italian section of New York in the early part of the 20th Century. There have always been immigrant groups who moved here and lived among each other in almost a condensed version of their country.

"Yes to immigration, No to Mexican-Americans (or Salvadoran-Americans, or Honduran-Americans)...the United States is the land of the Americans...if one doesn't wish to be American, one should leave."

This is the first time I've actually thought I might be seeing some bigotry in the immigration debate.

National Petition and Billboard Campaign

Citizens say, "Stop the Invasion!"

Please sign the petition!

Tom,

My ancestors also cared a great deal about their Irish extraction...I don't give a hoot about it. I know that immigrants, their children and their grand-children will retain a soft spot for the old country...but, in the end, it should be "be American, or get out".

Its not hard, after all...all you have to do is hold this nation to be more worthy of support than any other nation out there.

Its not like I'm asking anyone to jump through hoops...

I hate all this talk about Immigrants.. I am White. My Dad was an Orphan. I don't care about my skin color. I get tired of having to Cirle or Dot that I am WHITE.
However, Most Whites I talk to hate anyone that has darker skin. I myself love the hispanic people. I love their culture. The Indian's also have a great culture and I also as a White have tried to learn some Spanish, Just as much as my Kid's have learned some Salish for the area we live in Montana. I love to see all the Mexican's when they come to Pick Cherry's or Plant Tree's in Montana and or Idaho. So much that I even love my Brothers Children because he too loved a Mexican so well he Married her.
You have to see beyond RACE and just Love People. I will add, It took a long time to get my Brothers wife legal.. but it was done.. With time.
I wonder how many White's would kiss their family, their children goodbye and leave home in search of a better way of life and risk it all for the love of their family. Sending most money back home. Living in such debased conditions just so You could make sure your family had something. I told a SAID FRIEND that, He said, They Should not Breed. Awesome, Just like another White Man I know said of the Tadal wave last Winter, IT WAS GOD'S Natural Selection that 250,000 of THEM should die. THEY were darker skinned. Just like KATRINA, I assume THEY, those that Died.. (Blacks) it was Also God's Natural Selection. God was thinning Them out. Some of US that's United States is so Racist that if they don't see WHITE it ain't right. I turn and walk away from ANYONE that refers to anyone else who is not white as THEM.. Shame on YOU. I don't know where YOU live, But Join the KKK or some other group that promotes HATE.
In closing, The Hispanics I have seen Work, I have rarely seen an American Native stoop so low as to do the Labor these hispanics will do. Go ahead and send Them home I guess. Take the 11,000,000 that pay into SSI although they will never collect it take the 11,000,000 that support the Unemployment Insurance, Local Sales tax on everything. Yea remove Them and then We can start to make the hesitation marks on our wrist's where we are committing our own suicide. People that Hate are not my a friend of mine. (Give us your tired your poor) eh.... Keith, Peace Out

Mark said: "Its not like I'm asking anyone to jump through hoops..."

More to the point, it's not as if you have to ask. They're doing it all by themselves.

Ricorun,

I disagree - there are groups out there (MeCHA, MALDEF) who are trying to make immigrants retain their identity with the old country...there is a move to Balkanise America, and I won't stand for it.

Mark,

Apart from the fact that I think you have a very biased impression of MeCHA and MALDEF, the fact remains that even IF you were right (i.e., that they are trying to make imigrants retain their identidy with the old country), they are extraordinarily ineffective. They don't represent the mainstream Hispanic community any more than groups like the Aryan Nation represent the mainstream white community.

For the record, though, MeCHA is a student organization which is much more concerned with helping Hispanic college students complete their degrees than they are concerned about any sort of radical cause (although there is some of that element -- they're kids, for crying out loud). MALDEF is not unlike the Jewish Defense League or the NAACP. In other words, they are advocates for minority rights -- Hispanic minority rights, in their case. They, like other groups of their ilk, sometimes over-advocate. But that's the nature of the beast.

Did you completely forget your recent swimming pool experience?

Anyone who's here and willing to work, should be granted a visa, F-1, J-1, whatever. If they come here as a student and fade into our society, so be it. This is not just an issue of Mexican's, who give up everything and often live in deplorable conditions sending every penny back to their families, it also applies to the educated Indian Cultures that are here and are working (in different industries, of course) but they also are sending every dime back to their native land to take care of their families.

I'm doing what I can as a White American Woman and mother of a blond haired blue eyed son who is going to have to be sufficiently educated enough to compete for what I pray will be a job that will support him and his future family. I plan on giving him the best education, we can and making sure he can speak at LEAST another language and making sure he has the respect for all the people of this land. Most of all, I hope he is blessed with common sense and is taught the difference between right & wrong and to always try to do the right thing.

He will be entering the workforce, as a white male (my husband is actually native american, by definition, but we are raising American children, who may by then actually be the minority of this country, I hope he will not expect his government to take care of him. I hope he will be competitive and have learned above all else that he still must WORK for everything he gets in life.

I also pray that he is passed over for a job he is qualified for not by the ethniticy of the box he marks, but by a more qualified individual. Actually, I hope by that time, our heritage is no longer a factor used by companies to fill certain quota's.

People should get jobs based on being the best skilled and best qualified. If a company needs individuals who speak and/or write two or more languages, then anyone who doesn't should not apply.

This is basic fundamental principal that many people have forgotten. There is so much more going on here. Most of the Mexican's who come to this country are willing to work, I've been with them in the orange groves and tomatoe fields. I've been with the Asians swetting like dogs sewing clothes in the sweatshops, it's been hot as hell and they work like dogs. They do it day in and day out, everyday, I'm there for a few days or hours. I don't know of many people born in this country who are willing to do the work they do. These are not the people who are bombing our country and causing us any problems. They are an incredible group of people who are humble, still know how to show respect for other humans, etc. I, am blessed to be fortunate to see what they must endure in their daily work experiences and they living conditions and thank goodness when I get home that I am as fortunate to be blessed with all that my husband & I have worked so hard to achive, which may be little by some standards in this country.

I do have a problem with anyone in this country, legally or not, who is a drain on our society and lord knows we have pleanty of blacks, hispanics, indians and YES, whites that are populating our jails and making our living conditions unsafe.

Now, if we want to start getting rid of people in this country, how about getting rid of our criminals that are crowding our jails? What purpose do they serve?

God Bless All the hard working people who are in this country working to try to make someone elses life a little better.

A friend of mine told me the other day that she was at a convenience store picking up some items and watched a group of individuals taking their lunch and drinks right out of the store.

She told the cashier and the cashier's response was an personal racial attack on my friend. There were cultural differences, of course, and the situation was turned into a race issue by the cashier. Sorry folks, this had nothing to do with race, this had to do with theft. Would the cashier allow me to steal from her store or her employer, or would I be prosecuted to the maximum extent under the law?

The bottom line is, if you do the crime, you should do the time. People need to stop thinking they have entitlements for anything. The world and the people in it owe nothing to anyone.

Just my two cents worth. I pray for all of us. This is such a global issue that affects many races. Thanks for your time. Stay Safe.

SK