The reason is probably just demographics. In late 19th century America, the immigrant tide came from a dozen countries, and from a score of different cultures and linguistic groups. The total proportion of immigrants in the population was probably comparable to the American Southwest today, but no one group (not even the Negroes, who were domestic immigrants from the Rural South) dominated and the "white" (for lack of a better term) power structure became the paradigm for all the others. The Mexican population in the Southwest is much more homogeneous than was the immigrant population in the big eastern cities around the turn of the century. Instead of many cultures melting in the pot, with one dominant one flavoring the stew, what you have now is two cultures struggling for dominance. That's a very different mix, and a potentially much more explosive one.
That fact alone tells me we can't count on it turning out like it did the last time. And it also convinces me this is one problem we can't legislate or police our way out of. Sometimes we just have to let historical processes run their course and play themselves out.
Current Events » in reply to A less visible problem perhaps
Re: Mexicans and Irishmen
The whole thread (34 posts)
- Seems the same people who dislike the Arizona law, also dislike the American flag.