Prof. Blanchard notes the criticisms of one of my immigration pieces by one Audra Bonhorst. I want to add another. Ms. Bonhorst writes:
I think comparing Hispanics and Muslims in Europe is also horribly misguided and ignorant. Hispanics aren't trying to change the laws in this country (aside from maybe immigration). They are attending the same schools, churches and functions as "everyone else". Also when America was being founded it was very common that people from the same countries lived in the same areas and spoke the same language. In some big cities, there were Polish, Irish and Italian Catholic churches.
This is a useful criticism because it points out a weakness in my argument. So let me expand on my thoughts. Likes should be treated as likes, and un-alikes as un-alikes. How are Hispanics in American and Muslims in Europe un-alike? Ms. Bronhorst is certainly right that there are distinctions. Our Hispanic population is not violent and its basic values, so far as I can tell, are to a significant degree in line with American civilization. So how are they alike? They are alike in that there is considerable resistance from some quarters within those communities to the notion that these immigrants should assimilate to the host nation's mores. While Ms. Bronhorst is correct that ethnic ghettos are part of American history, they largely disappeared after a generation or two, helped along by a societal commitment to assimilation that was once called "the melting pot." The same pressures do not appear to be brought to bear on our recent Hispanic immigrants, and the point of my post was that to the extent there is such pressure, significant portions (I do not wish to put a precise number on it) of that immigrant community resist assimilation. In that sense Hispanic immigrant to America are like the European Muslim immigrant in that they resist assimilation, and that resistance may create undesirable tensions at some point in the future. I hope that clarifies and I thank Ms. Bronhorst for intelligent criticism.
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