Tom Brokaw says he is 'truly sorry' for his remarks about Hispanics on 'Meet the Press' (1 Viewer)

[Rickeroo]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/27/media/tom-brokaw-nbc-meet-the-press/index.html

The "remarks" were to have Hispanics assimilate into American culture, specifically by speaking English. This is offensive according to the leftist press.

The left allows - indeed expects - Irish and Italians to speak fluent English and reap the benefits of better communication, higher salaries and education.

Why doesn't the left want the same for Hispanics?

 

[Praxas]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/27/media/tom-brokaw-nbc-meet-the-press/index.html

The "remarks" were to have Hispanics assimilate into American culture, specifically by speaking English. This is offensive according to the leftist press.

The left allows - indeed expects - Irish and Italians to speak fluent English and reap the benefits of better communication, higher salaries and education.

Why doesn't the left want the same for Hispanics?

Where does "the left" say this and who is "the left" since you want to slap labels around?

 

[VanceMack]

Literally nothing to apologize for. 1- hes right. 2- its an opinion. 3- if anyone is hurt or offended over someone elses opinion, they should probably crawl back under the blankets and stay there.

 

[yankintx]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/27/media/tom-brokaw-nbc-meet-the-press/index.html

The "remarks" were to have Hispanics assimilate into American culture, specifically by speaking English. This is offensive according to the leftist press.

The left allows - indeed expects - Irish and Italians to speak fluent English and reap the benefits of better communication, higher salaries and education.

Why doesn't the left want the same for Hispanics?

Since when does Tom speak for all leftist?

 

[Lutherf]

Literally nothing to apologize for. 1- hes right. 2- its an opinion. 3- if anyone is hurt or offended over someone elses opinion, they should probably crawl back under the blankets and stay there.

Well, that perspective might look good on paper but from a practical standpoint, his paycheck is coming from the propaganda arm of the progressive left and failure to adhere to the established doctrine is grounds for dismissal...or worse.

 

[Bodi]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/27/media/tom-brokaw-nbc-meet-the-press/index.html

The "remarks" were to have Hispanics assimilate into American culture, specifically by speaking English. This is offensive according to the leftist press.

The left allows - indeed expects - Irish and Italians to speak fluent English and reap the benefits of better communication, higher salaries and education.

Why doesn't the left want the same for Hispanics?

His comments were right... they do need to try to assimilate better...

 

[tres borrachos]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/27/media/tom-brokaw-nbc-meet-the-press/index.html

The "remarks" were to have Hispanics assimilate into American culture, specifically by speaking English. This is offensive according to the leftist press.

The left allows - indeed expects - Irish and Italians to speak fluent English and reap the benefits of better communication, higher salaries and education.

Why doesn't the left want the same for Hispanics?

I heard what he said and thought he was right in what he said.

Who is the generic "left" that insists that Irish and Italians speak fluent English?

 

[Taylor]

To many on the left, the notion of a "melting pot" is racist, outdated ethnocentrism.

 

[Nickyjo]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/27/media/tom-brokaw-nbc-meet-the-press/index.html

The "remarks" were to have Hispanics assimilate into American culture, specifically by speaking English. This is offensive according to the leftist press.

The left allows - indeed expects - Irish and Italians to speak fluent English and reap the benefits of better communication, higher salaries and education.

Why doesn't the left want the same for Hispanics?

For Hispanics, especially, say Mexican-Americans in the southwest, assimilation may always happen more slowly due to the proximity of Mexico. My grandparents came to the US from Sicily and didn’t speak English at all, even after 50 years here since they lived and worked with Italians. Parents were bi-lingual and I spoke only English. Italy was thousands of miles away. The border is next door.

This leftist taught English to Hispanics on both sides of the border who were desperate to learn it. My half-serious best advice to them in the US would have been to move to a place in the US where Spanish is not spoken or to get a gringo boy/girl friend. And, of course, not to lose their Spanish and to raise bi-lingual kids if they could. Better job opportunities for them.

 

[americanwoman]

I see it mixed, some do resist it and are not as motivated to learn English but all their kids speak English mainly and there are many others who do want to learn it and work hard at it. Plus I know some people who do speak English, or some English, but just don't want to admit it. They think there are advantages of someone not thinking you understand what they are saying.

 

[ecofarm]

To many on the left, the notion of a "melting pot" is racist, outdated ethnocentrism.

How about you don't reject a most fundamental aspect of their heritage? Your personal "melting pot" conception is racist self serving BS.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

 

[Taylor]

How about you don't reject a most fundamental aspect of their heritage? Your personal "melting pot" conception is racist self serving BS.

I'm not going to force you to learn how to assimilate into the dominant culture, just like I'm not going to force you to learn how to read or understand math. But you'd be a fool not to.

 

[VanceMack]

How about you don't reject a most fundamental aspect of their heritage? Your personal "melting pot" conception is racist self serving BS.

Oh FFS. Come on. Those comments are just goofy, self serving BS.

Learning to speak the language of a country you voluntarily decide to join does not 'reject' anyones heritage. It opens doors of opportunity for education, healthcare, and employment and is or should be a standard of ANY intelligent immigration policy.

The concept of 'the melting pot' never included abandoning individuals heritage. It holds that by coming together we SHARE cultures and become stronger.

 

[ecofarm]

I'm not going to force you to learn how to assimilate into the dominant culture, just like I'm not going to force you to learn how to read or understand math. But you'd be a fool not to.

Immigrant grandma can get by just fine with family and friends. And she'll contribute. You worry about yourself.

 

[ecofarm]

Oh FFS. Come on. Those comments are just goofy, self serving BS.

Learning to speak the language of a country you voluntarily decide to join does not 'reject' anyones heritage. It opens doors of opportunity for education, healthcare, and employment and is or should be a standard of ANY intelligent immigration policy.

The concept of 'the melting pot' never included abandoning individuals heritage. It holds that by coming together we SHARE cultures and become stronger.

You pervert "melting pot" into "kiss my ass because I'm all up in your business".

You don't gotta tell people what to do. They don't need your advice.

 

[TheParser]

To many on the left, the notion of a "melting pot" is racist, outdated ethnocentrism.

Many textbooks for children no longer call our society a "melting pot."

We are a "salad bowl."


Ethnicity A is the lettuce.

Ethnicity B is the tomatoes.


Ethnicity C is the olives.

etc.

All the ingredients are mixed together for a delicious (and healthful) dish.

 

[Buzz62]

Many textbooks for children no longer call our society a "melting pot."

We are a "salad bowl."


Ethnicity A is the lettuce.

Ethnicity B is the tomatoes.


Ethnicity C is the olives.

etc.

All the ingredients are mixed together for a delicious (and healthful) dish.

That's concerning. We have always thought of Canada as "Multi-Cultural". Canadian leaders even like to tout this idea internationally.
Personally I think "Multi-Culturalism" is counter productive to national cohesion. If a sense of 'nation' is not desirable, what's the point in having nations at all?
And I'm not big on rabbit food...thank you very much.

 

[Roadvirus]

Many textbooks for children no longer call our society a "melting pot."

We are a "salad bowl."


Ethnicity A is the lettuce.

Ethnicity B is the tomatoes.


Ethnicity C is the olives.

etc.

All the ingredients are mixed together for a delicious (and healthful) dish.

Unfortunately, sometimes one of the ingredients has Listeria or e-coli.

 

[JasperL]

I see it mixed, some do resist it and are not as motivated to learn English but all their kids speak English mainly and there are many others who do want to learn it and work hard at it. Plus I know some people who do speak English, or some English, but just don't want to admit it. They think there are advantages of someone not thinking you understand what they are saying.

I think that's the main problem with Brokaw's comment - he broad-brushed an entire community and what they 'need' to do. The bottom line is human nature being what it is, we do what we need to do. If we need to learn a new language to get by, we do it. That's been the case for immigrants to the U.S. for all of time. Those who live and work in English speaking communities.....learn English. If they locate in neighborhoods of people like them who all speak their language, few will make the concerted effort because it's not worth the effort. The assimilation mostly happens with the kids. I can't imagine a time or group of immigrants when this was NOT true.

My biggest problem with Brokaw is his relentless, vapid, bothsiderism.

Brokaw: And a lot of this, we don't want to talk about. But the fact is, on the Republican side, a lot of people see the rise of an extraordinary, important, new constituent in American politics, Hispanics, who will come here and all be Democrats. Also, I hear, when I push people a little harder, "Well, I don't know whether I want brown grandbabies." I mean, that's also a part of it. It's the intermarriage that is going on and the cultures that are conflicting with each other. I also happen to believe that the Hispanics should work harder at assimilation. That's one of the things I've been saying for a long time. You know, they ought not to be just codified in their communities but make sure that all their kids are learning to speak English, and that they feel comfortable in the communities. And that's going to take outreach on both sides, frankly.

There's not an informative or original thought in that drivel. It's conventional wisdom both siderisms. He slams Republicans and immigrants, then makes the non-sensical claim that intermarriage, with brown babies, AND conflicting cultures are a problem, but they're mutually exclusive. Intermarriage is assimilating, having mixed race babies is the ultimate breaking down of barriers between cultures. If whites (presumably) have a problem with that, there is no winning for Hispanics, but I imagine few but the actual racists do have a problem with that. So the bothsiderism here is on one side the problem is intermarriage and brown babies and the merging of cultures and (a small minority who are actual) racists having a problem with that, and on the other side Hispanics walling themselves off in their own enclaves.... How does that work, Tom?

Brokaw is at his best reading script off a teleprompter IMO. I've never been impressed by the guy as an original thinker. He and others I guess confuse looking good on camera and reading with a nice voice with being insightful.

 

[Mach]

"work harder at assimilation"

To me it looks like Tom was trying, but did overstep.
He started with this:

And a lot of this, we don't want to talk about. But the fact is, on the Republican side, a lot of people see the rise of an extraordinary, important, new constituent in American politics, Hispanics, who will come here and all be Democrats. Also, I hear, when I push people a little harder, "Well, I don't know whether I want brown grandbabies." I mean, that's also a part of it.

But to balance out his correctly identifying the latest racism/white nationalism, he goes with Trump's "both sides" defense by claiming Hispanics need to work harder at assimilation.

He appears to be speaking about all Hispanics, and unlike his comments about Republicans, he's not referencing any mainstream information that I'm aware of. Nor is he saying it's "some people he pushed harder", who admit they don't, etc.
It looks like he simply generalizes to balance out his calling out of lot of Republicans on their own rhetoric.

Personally I know of no immigrants whose children raised here do not integrate and speak English. Hasn't this always been the case? Parents come here at 30, 40, or heaven forbid, grandpa and grandma, they are not gonna be fluent English speakers..and if they are great! They make speak OK, but not fluent. Grandma/pa may not speak much at all. Their kids, will be talking like every other kid at school.

No, Hispanics don't work less than any other immigrants of similar social status who find themselves in the United States. And even if so, I doubt it has anything to do with "not working harder". Unless he's got evidence of that, he should indeed retract it.

He corrected himself, good, move on. But Republicans can't move on from cultural wedge issues, especially related to immigration. It's what they run on, what drives a big chunk of the anger and fear of their base.

 

[Mr Person]

<snip>
He corrected himself, good, move on. But Republicans can't move on from cultural wedge issues, especially related to immigration. It's what they run on, what drives a big chunk of the anger and fear of their base.

It's also as simple as the satisfaction of thinking one has contributed a gotcha to the great struggle against the amorphous left, especially so if they can convince themselves it doubles as protecting Trump.

 

[ElChupacabra]

To me it looks like Tom was trying, but did overstep.
He started with this:


But to balance out his correctly identifying the latest racism/white nationalism, he goes with Trump's "both sides" defense by claiming Hispanics need to work harder at assimilation.

He appears to be speaking about all Hispanics, and unlike his comments about Republicans, he's not referencing any mainstream information that I'm aware of. Nor is he saying it's "some people he pushed harder", who admit they don't, etc.
It looks like he simply generalizes to balance out his calling out of lot of Republicans on their own rhetoric.

Personally I know of no immigrants whose children raised here do not integrate and speak English. Hasn't this always been the case? Parents come here at 30, 40, or heaven forbid, grandpa and grandma, they are not gonna be fluent English speakers..and if they are great! They make speak OK, but not fluent. Grandma/pa may not speak much at all. Their kids, will be talking like every other kid at school.

No, Hispanics don't work less than any other immigrants of similar social status who find themselves in the United States. And even if so, I doubt it has anything to do with "not working harder". Unless he's got evidence of that, he should indeed retract it.

He corrected himself, good, move on. But Republicans can't move on from cultural wedge issues, especially related to immigration. It's what they run on, what drives a big chunk of the anger and fear of their base.

Stating that some don't assimilate would have been a more accurate response; to say Hispanics as a whole don't is a silly generalization given the assimilation of older Hispanic groups like Chicanos. Like any group, there are some folks who are more obstinate in assimilating than others. I had friends form different parts of the world whose parents were very set in their ways and only spoke enough English to get by. My first language was Spanish, since it was my parents native tongue, but I was like many of the other second generation Hispanics who learned English in school and easily assimilated into a blend of US and Hispanic culture. What's interesting too is Hispanics are treated as a monolith when they have wide ranging cultural views.

 

[Mach]

Stating that some don't assimilate would have been a more accurate response; to say Hispanics as a whole don't is a silly generalization given the assimilation of older Hispanic groups like Chicanos. Like any group, there are some folks who are more obstinate in assimilating than others. I had friends form different parts of the world whose parents were very set in their ways and only spoke enough English to get by. My first language was Spanish, since it was my parents native tongue, but I was like many of the other second generation Hispanics who learned English in school and easily assimilated into a blend of US and Hispanic culture. What's interesting too is Hispanics are treated as a monolith when they have wide ranging cultural views.

I agree. He was throwing "both sides" a bone, and missed. I think most adults coming, end up having the most trouble. That's just reality, always has been for non-English speakers. Not even sure how it's ever relevant. We have continuous immigration, which means there will always be some number of non-English speakers, but that's a transient thing, it's not like it's communities just sitting there speaking Spanish only generation after generation. It's so absurd to even imagine if anyone doesn't get that.

Worse, he appears to be saying cultural assimilation is one way. That's just not America. We have an enormous number of cultures and traditions scattered around the country's communities. How is any one better/worse, I don't see the point. I mean, poor communities, sure, but that's not their first choice I don't think...or is he saying that's just a matter of willpower, pulling oneself up by bootstraps, when they have no boots?

He was making big proclamations without any real evidence/justification. He's definitely from an older generation too. I really think the younger generation may get it easier in a way that some who didn't experience that for most of their years, have trouble understanding. Or maybe I'm guilty of it too right there

 

[Omega Man]

You don't gotta tell people what to do. They don't need your advice.

You mean like bullying people into believing that their commonly-accepted impartial understanding of "melting pots" is somehow racist?


OM