| LETTERS
TO EDITOR
The American WASP
– a Master Race?
http://www.hispanicvista.com/html4/041704sosio.htm
The rebuttal of
Samuel Huntignton's paranoid thesis was
nothing short of brilliant.
He reminds me of the
controversy along the same lines of
social multi-culturism which prevailed
during the Civil War. At that time the
North was characterized as being divisive
wherein the Anglo-Saxon culture had been
compromised by the more affluent
German-American society
that constituted a class unto itself
with their own language, media,
entertainment and schooling. Imagine a
German language newspaper in NYC with the
largest newspaper circulation of the time
(40,000).
In a prominent
publication, The London News
(10/04/1862), the editors predicted that
the Northern society was so
splintered, among the Teutons, Celtics
and the Anglo-Saxon communities, that the
English language was not a sufficient
glue to hold the nation together. They
predicted that the South, a homogeneous
Christian Protestant society (never
mind the slaves), would emerge as the new
American Nation, unpolluted by Irish
Vatican influenced Catholicism and
Teutonic traditions.
The rest is history.
The multi-cultural society survived.
Slavery was abolished. White supremacy
lost the battle and the war.
Huntington is still
fighting the war, which has already been
lost. Multi-cullturism and diversity has
proven to be the great strength of this
nation. The English language is only the
expression of the underlying fundamental
values and not the fundamental principle
of Americanism. The American identity
is an amalgamation of the
Hispanic, African, Asian, African, Native
American and European cultures and
traditions. Superb commentary! -- T.
Paine
***
Thanks for writing
the article. What I found most
worrisome is that Huntington indeed
proposes a fascist attitude toward
Latinos. I'm glad you make that
point plain. -- Jose de la Isla --
Author, The Rise of Hispanic Political
Power
***
This is a great
article, a must read for Latinos/as and
non-Latinos/as. If you are not a
subscriber to Hispanic Vista, please
consider. Respectfully, -- Leo Mendoza
***
Dear Mr. S. Osio, I
hope that when you receive this e-mail
that all is well with you. I want
to congratulate you on the rebuttal to
Samuel Huntington's book that you had
recently published in HispanicVista.com
It is an excellent
rebuttal. You could have also
mentioned the influence of the Iroquois
Confederacy in the laws of the U.S.
I had my opinion piece
published in the last issue of
HispanicVista.com It is
entitled "Can't hold U.S. as a
beacon against racism."
Keep up the good work. Sincerely,
--Jaime Cader
***
What a beautiful,
clever and very well stated rebuttal, you
successfully dissected and brilliantly
rebutted the key points of this lunatics
thesis.
I'm looking forward to keeping current
with the information posted on Hispanic
Vista.com. Muchas gracias, Suzanne
Martinez Hernandez
***
It was a pleasure
reading your rebuttal to Samuel P.
Huntington's piece, The Hispanic
Challenge. THANK YOU. I had read
Huntington's article over the weekend
online at Foreign Policy Magazine ( http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2495)
and just cringed at the knee-jerk
reactions outlined in its content --
simply chilling. I have spread the
article here in New York City (and
pointed folks to your rebuttal). A forum
is being held tomorrow here in NY by the
Policy Division of the Puerto Rican Legal
Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF) to
begin to address the matter. The forum is
called: "LATINOS AND THE NEW
CULTURE WARS." All the best, -- Edwin
Pagan
***
I enjoyed the
read. A wide and very
interesting twist on the typical, and a
perspective that I've observed, but never
took the time to consider in a larger
scope. I can see how
others would perceive how this
"language-culture" issue, would
alter or influence society, and adjust
opinions. The
Canadian-comparison-point makes the
possible, possible.
Hum? Could that happen in
American? A two culture
environment, at
odds...
Just so you know, I do not speak
Spanish. I consider myself an
American of Hispanic
decent. I am very WASP
influenced. I'm a
Republican, yet moderate, and I always
take time to vote. I am
the product of German/Hispanic parents,
who were of mixed backgrounds,
too. I guess I'm 4th or
5th generation American. I've
always had a job, I work hard, and I'm
always chasing the American
dream. (Have a job and also
have my own business - Albuquerque
Discount Vacuum.) Took the
time to earn a BA in Business from the
College of Santa Fe.
Working on the MBA,
now. Taking it slow
this time. I enjoy
school, and recommend education to
all...that, too, is a benefit to our
Multi-Cultural American
society. Well, I'll end
on that note. I just
wanted to share my appreciation for your
posting. It was an excellent
read. Luck.
Curtis Romero / Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
***
Felicidades, your
piece was well put. My family and I also
belong to a group that was told to
"Go back to Russia " and
"Get out of here, you damn
Polocks". As a child, my foods were
different from those of my neighbors'
kids. English was my second language.
Today, my wife (who is from Cuba) and I
are the proud parents of five
multicultural kids who are as comfortable
eating black beans, platanos and stuffed
cabbage as they are eating hamburgers and
fries (their personal preference). My
younger kids roll their eyes when I play
salsa on the radio but already my
daughter is a Celia Cruz fan. Our third
son, who is in Guatemala as a missionary
is as American as they come. He loves the
frijoles refritos and tortillas de huevos
for breakfast over there but visits the
local McDonalds with his missionary
companion every chance he gets. My wife
says that when I talk in my sleep, I
speak in Slovak. I am bishop of a
Hispanic congregation of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in
Houston TX. Although the first generation
members of my congregation have strong
ties to their "patria", their
kids most of whom were born or raised in
the U.S. exhibit no such loyalties.
You are right. Huntington does exhibit
some fascist type views but if you look
at history, you'll find that
alarmist views about immigrants and
their supposed inability to blend into
society are nothing new. Time and birth
rates are on the side of the Latinos.
What we need though is a well educated
youth, who believe in themselves and are
ready to assume their share of leadership
of this great nation. -- Andrew
Hardwick-Bohovcik
PS Did you know that when the
first Italians set foot in the U.S. there
was
a debate as to whether they could use the
"whites only" bathrooms. It
seems
that most of the immigrants were darker
skinned (southern Italy or Sicily no
doubt) and thus didn't fit into what was
perceived to be
"white".
***
As far as this
Huntington article is concerned, I worked
for a family of "Huntington's"
here in San Diego for about 12 years. I
found them to be much like the one you
describe. I must assume that it is
genetic.
The only hidden
agenda that my 'friends' had was to make
as much money as possible, by using
short-cuts and replacement materials.
They didn't refer to themselves as Wasps,
they preferred to be called Christians.
The only problem
that I have with some of these people is
that although they profess to be
Republican Christians, the only thing
Christian about them is their desire to
"Tithe". In their case it means
guaranteeing themselves ten percent
minimum profit by any scheme possible.
It is not the
preservation of a culture that they are
after. They use culture to draw attention
to themselves as "Patriots"
while stealing you blind and by you I
mean the customer, whether an individual
or a government agency they
with which they hold contracts.
Keep up the good
work. -- Bert Acosta
***
A very thoughtful
and thought provoking perspective…
enjoyed reading it. -- Helen
Castillo (also a current board
member of MAOF).
***
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