February 10^th

 

Today we have a column by Cal Thomas. It will, no doubt, surprise you to know that I agree with his message. Cal objects to the current tendency for people to describe themselves, or to be described, as hyphenated Americans. A major case in point is African-Americans. No less a celebrity than Whoopi Goldberg resents being called an African-American. Cal quotes her as saying that, “I have visited Africa…and I’m an American.” He reminds us that when his Welch ancestors arrived here they didn’t refer to themselves as Welch-Americans. All of this is admirable and I heartily agree with it. (This is the first time, so far as I remember, that I have ever agreed with any of Cal’s opinions.)

Many immigrant groups have stayed to themselves, some because of prejudice against them, I think of the Irish immigrants here, and some because of a desire, quite specifically, to separate themselves from the traditionally American culture, perhaps the Amish are a good example of people who isolate themselves because they do not share some of our traditional values. Education stops for the Amish at the eighth grade, science is usually not taught. Most American parents want their children, at the very least, to finish high school.

There are many pockets where immigrants are protected from assimilation. My ancestors were Pennsylvania Dutch who arrived in Ben Franklin’s time. They stayed largely to themselves and Ben, very unhappy about that, referred to them as, “Palatine boors who wish to inflict their culture upon us.” That was wildly overdrawn; they just wanted to be left alone, but you can’t assimilate that way.

Cal does not mention the Cuban-Americans perhaps for good reason; these are a nearly solid anti-Castro, solidly Republican block who probably should not be trifled with by a conservative columnist who wants to continue his career on Fox News. Maybe these folks prefer to be described as just plain Americans but I haven’t seen Senator Rubio, a second generation son of Cuban immigrants, objecting to being called a Cuban-American.

Unfortunately our free enterprise system sometimes plays into the hands of immigrants who find assimilation difficult. I know an elderly woman, an immigrant from Japan, a widow of a retired Green Beret Major, who lives in California. She watches TV programs broadcast in Japanese. Her meals-on-wheels consist of Japanese food. She has lived in this country for over fifty years and she has not really assimilated because she has never had to. You only have to look at New York City to find whole sections catering to ethnic preferences. The melting pot in this country seems to be a tad too cool.