Here goes:
I was just working on a big mailing here at the school...some of the students are Jaime R Hispanic... (parents own a successful restaurant), Maria S Hispanic..father barely speaks English, mother speaks it well, daughters are two of the very, very top students at school....Sylvana G Hispanic, applying to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and other excellent engineering schools, straight A's...Natalie R Hispanic( a total grade flake but adorable and popular and doing her best!)...Osvaldo C Hispanic, 4.0 average, voted FRIENDLIEST by the Senior class (though he is one of the most serious young men I have ever met) and star soccer player (I love this kid), Vanessa T Hispanic, Head of School's honors list (highest grades) ..(others I mentioned are on the Honor's List, too..that's over 3.8)
I could go on with Hispanic names at the school but that's a good list to start with.
As part of an assignment in class, Maria unfolded her family's story to me recently; she's first generation (as are probably ALL of these kids, if some aren't even born in Mexico or Guatemala, etc.) and so proud of her very badly-spoken father who met his wife when he was a teen and she was five years older and she wanted nothing to do with this 'teen aged kid'! He told her that if she married him she'd never regret it, that he'd work harder than hard for her and any family they might have. Maria's mom did marry him, they're still happily married and they have worked HARD and their daughters are TOTAL STARS. He's still living up to his promise to his wife he still treasures. And I'd wager a bet of a thousand dollars that he's never taken one free cent from our government.
ALL these kids speak English to where you wouldn't know it wasn't their family's first language. ALL their parents are so happy to have them in a private school which pays most of their tuitions because we're expensive. We love these children. They are Americans, they love America, they work HARD, they succeed.
Our school is probably 1/3 White, 1/3 Black, 1/3 Hispanic and quite a few Asians, mostly Eurasians....(quite a few mixed Black/White, too...QUITE a few, come to think of it)...
they all sit with each other at lunch and during sports...no "Black kids over THERE" and "White kids over THERE" like in most public schools...because they are all treated THE SAME and they FEEL THAT they are all the same.
We need these wonderful children in America ....they are the future. That doesn't mean the White kids whose families came over on the Mayflower aren't still also the future! And, certainly, nobody's ignoring the Black kids whose parents' parents were slaves! (I should write about some of our Black stars some day, too). They are all LOVED and NURTURED here and they are ALL AMERICANS.
Are all our Hispanic families legal? I had no idea until I just asked our Admissions person and we do not ask about legality; it's never occurred to Administration any more than it had occurred to me.
One more kid: Guillermo G Hispanic; his young uncle, aunt and two of the four kids gunned down in their home by an assailant they didn't know...3 months ago. His hero-grandfather died about six months before that. Guillermo is quiet and sweet and a brain. His grades haven't failed in this hideous turmoil; he didn't even tell us except one of our teachers read about the murders in the paper and we put two and two together.
He's surviving...nobody's whining or suing anybody. It's a tragedy and one that a lot of the Hispanic kids aren't strangers to..but Arturo will SHINE in all he does and he's had support from us all. I don't know all their stories but I wanted to share Guillermo's. He is looking into the Naval Academy, by the way.
I wanted to write this post because I want people to understand that not every Hispanic is here with his hand out, many Hispanics are learning English, many are very intelligent and doing GREAT. The kids I know of immigrant families ROCK. I love them. I sincerely love them.
These kids are living and contributing and succeeding in their home; America.
Z
24 comments:
I know and have known several children of immigrant families from several different countries.
All but one such student whom I encountered in private education and in homeschool groups have been excellent and dedicated students; those in public schools were, typically, not as excellent or dedicated.
I should add that I left the public education system in 1978.
When I see kids carrying Mexican flags to show pride in their heritage, it gives me pause.
All this nice talk about how wonderful these hispanic immigrants are denies a truth:
Many of them feel the SouthWest states were stolen from Mexico and want to see them returned. This militant element has grown stronger and stronger lately, and is shown by the flag of Mexico carried by these kids, (and by the U.S. flag being carried upside-down.)
We're sticking our fingers in our ears, singing "lalalalalal" when we think allowing others to break our laws is just an incidental thing.
Laws are there for a reason.
I fear it's already too late, and the only way to resolve this is through violence.
(Ask citizens in AZ, NM, and TX...
It has already started there.)
When has the word immigration come to include people who sneaked across our borders illegally?
It is the left, led by obama and his willing accomplices in the press, who make a living dividing us by race, creed and religion. America has always been a land of diverse origins. Your point is well taken that it should be about assimilation to American culture, starting with learning the language.
My grandfather was an immigrant.
I have reason to believe he was illegal, coming here on a sabbatical and staying, thus our name unchanged at Ellis Island (until the fall of the USSR, I knew every Bonderenka in this country).
When he came here, there were no social programs or threat of abuse of the same.
A number of my nieces and nephews are surnamed Rodriguez and four have served in the military (I've "adopted" two nieces).
The question isn't immigration or ethnicity, it's the strain of illegal immigration on our society.
The cost of those who, unlike in your story or mine, burden our socialist paradise with crime, drain our social services and take jobs from legal immigrants and Indians.
People tend to display their anger at immigrants. We are a nation of immigrants. What people are upset about, is illegal immigration. On the very first day in the United States, illegal immigrants have broken our laws. We cannot welcome them if we are a nation of laws. Still, blaming illegal immigrants denies the truth of this matter: our laws, and our lawmakers are inept. It is somewhat like blaming the prostitute, rather than the John who hires her.
At some point, we must (as a nation) draw the line. If we do not do that, then there is no reason for a border, or the hundreds of millions spent each year on border security. We must be the laughing stock of the third and fourth world. So here we are once more, at a juncture where the good hearted among us are demanding humanitarian amnesty. It didn’t work in the past; why do we think it will work now or in the future?
If we refuse to draw the line now, because of our humanity (or some other agenda), then we are not going to solve our illegal immigration problem. But hey, keep voting for your inept politicians ….
Poncho
Ed, if your Grandfather came via Ellis Island then he was NOT illeagal
I'm hoping my story underlines the fact that these kids are not those who carry Mexican flags (that is an abomination whose meaning is the very essence of my post. The kids I know would never do that.)
Most of us, me included, are rightfully upset, angry and frustrated with the millions here who snuck in, broke our laws (though we have allowed it, of course) and are living off of us.
This is not the whole picture; hence, the reason for my post.
I hope it's being read. Thanks.
'Hispan-a-phobia' is simply a geographical phenomenon.
If Gabon, Sudan or Bulgaria shared an unprotected border with the U.S., then we would not be so worked up by illegal Hispanics, but rather by illegal Sudanese, Gabonese and Bulgarians, since those countries are hell holes and not fit for human habitation.
Mexico is a hell hole, and good people who want the best for their families merely have to walk across an abandoned and barren invisible border, rather than buy plane or boat tickets, and subsequently deal with border agents. Until Mexico gets its act together, it will remain a hell hole, and good people will continue to flee anyway they can to earn money for their family.
Such is the human condition.
Biden in Munich today: Assad of Syria needs to step down because he "no longer fits the needs of the Syrian people". hey, ya THINK!?
There's a way of not condemning a man who so badly needs condemning.
Poor America..boobs like this speaking for us.
I'll be Assad is shaking in his showed to think Biden doesn't believe he's fitting the needs of the Syrians, huh?
Z,
Like it or not, it's al-Qaeda affiliated groups rebelling against Assad in Syria. Now we all know Democrat presidents like to provide air support to al-Qaeda fighters (see Clinton in Serbia, Obama in Libya) but I don't think we should get involved in Syria until Assad runs out of sarin gas and needs more.
beamish, I'm with you on this one.
if anybody's a war movie fan, TCM has DESTINATION TOKYO on..and it's fabulous. It's almost half over, but well worth the ending.
And, by the way, on the submarine in this film, it's Christmas Eve and some of the sailors walk thru the sub singing IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR and HARK THE HERALD...all the men are so happy and warmed by the sentiment.
Today, the singing sailors would be arrested.
I agree, Z. The problem is not the people, it's the system. My "hispanic" friends are some of the hardiest working, close knit family types who always have a smile on their faces and always there to lend a hand.
xo
Andie
Thanks, Andie...yes, very cheerful, very hard working (particularly Salvadorans, many have noticed)...
By posting this, I'm not approving illegals swarming into America and taking advantage of us and not learning the language (limiting themselves in their futures$$), etc., but I am certainly showing another side which it appears a lot of people aren't aware of.
Thanks, Andie. xxx
Unfortunately or not, illegals and most hispanics share the same generalizations and stereotypes that blacks do in this country.
When 50% of the country, in a matter of a few short years are on the federal rolls for "assistance", one has to come to the conclusion that many, many illegals are on the receiving end too. After all....they supposedly they come here poor and impoverished, don't they?
And they know full well that it's easier to dip their beaks into our resources than it is in the failed homelands.
Demographics bear that out and so do the crime statistics.
The truth is that where both groups go....crime increases. That is the reality of unchecked and illegal migration. It increases our problems.
And even liberal news networks have to acknowledge this from time to time.
As do the makeup of our prisons.
What we object to is the strain on all of our states social service, which are collapsing under the strain and imposition of undeserving immigrants.
And while illegals get a guarantee of "assistance" particularly hispanics ( why have we made them the countries new pets over European immigrants? ) we have millions of our own citizens struggling in NJ and NY to get electricity and basic needs for 3 month's after a natural disaster?
Has Mexico, Guatalema or Honduras sent foreign aid?
And while you wager a $1000 bet that your hand picked favorites haven't taken a dime from the US...I'd wager the same amount that 99% of them would never fit into the mold which you lay out here.
The fact is we're getting the dregs, the impoverished, illiterate and yes the criminals. The dregs have no marketable skills other than packing lettuce, fruit , nannies or maids in hotels.
Your subjects are a rare exception and not the rule, with all due respect.
Yet this is what the liberal press holds up to us as the exceptions , that they think will legitimize a "dream act" or our having to accept without question all illegals and their illegal offspring.
To me...it's the Cubans who've really had the need to escape and they've proven their value, hard work and dedication to America as they have truly assimilated.
Most of the illegals and immigrants today just want " Reconquista".
I've never seen that from the huge majority of Cubans who are here. They certainly don't go about waving Cuban flags with the message that the Mexicans dishonorably display.
By Anonymous' lights, where we get the dregs, I'm reminded of the movie "Idiocracy".
Instead of encouraging STEP based immigration, we're going to end up with generations (as if we don't have already) of people who won't understand watering crops with "toilet water".
Z said...
Anonymous, then this post's for you, isn't it.
You're a regular commenter, aren't you. Can't you write that with your screen name? Why not?
Yes, as I've said COUNTLESS TIMES, all Hispanics aren't like my kids at the school; MANY ARE. It's time we stopped treating all of ANYTHING in one lump.
These kids are everything I say they are, and there are many more like them. Many of them work 1000% harder than our rich white kids at school do, by the way. And get FAR better grades.
We have to all learn that they're not going anywhere.
Our laws STINK..they're not responsible for that.
Ed...bravo. And these kids' families are the least LA RAZA jerks in the world. I'm very sure they hate La Raza as most of us do.
And yes, it's too late, and OUR FAULT MOSTLY, for what's happened and a gradual earning of citizenship, after 10 YEARS or so, and NOT put above those already waiting, must be started.
"I want people to understand that not every Hispanic is here with his hand out".
I understand and appreciate that fact. However, it doesn't change the reality that a great disproportion of these folks are big time DemocRATS and, so far, have a very high birth rate. That can and, hopefully, will change . It's also interesting that according to PEW RESEARCH the net migration from Mexico has fallen to zero or less (please check the link below). I was doing some research, awhile back, and learned that Mexico's economy is growing at a faster rate than ours. According to the latest CIA stats the US GDP growth rate is @ 1.8%, 157th in the World and Mexico's GDP growth rate is @3.9%, 104th in the World.
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/04/23/net-migration-from-mexico-falls-to-zero-and-perhaps-less/
Here's a giggle:
"President Obama’s illegal-alien uncle—busted in 2011 for drunken driving—is banking on the strength of his moral character to help him win permanent resident status in the U.S., agreeing yesterday to a Dec. 3 immigration-court date before the same judge who granted asylum to his sister.
Onyango Obama, a Kenyan national who was ordered deported in 1992, is fighting to stay here under a federal immigration law that allows permanent residence for illegal aliens who entered the U.S. before 1972 and have demonstrated “good moral character.”
Obama declined to say what he thinks of his nephew’s new immigration-reform plan, which offers illegal immigrants a shot at citizenship.
Obama, the half-brother of President Obama’s late father, had been living quietly in Framingham and working as a liquor-store clerk until his arrest on drunken-driving charges in 2011. The case was continued without a finding."
Working as a liquor store clerk? Isn't like letting a junkie dole out methadone?
He's been languishing here illegally since before 1972, was ordered deported in 1992, and is still here?
Why do we even need an INS / DHS / ICE? They have ignored his violation of US law for at least 40 years?
Can I not pay taxes for 40 years, and they will ignore that because I have good moral character?
How is DUI, and violating US immigration law, indicative of good moral character? If he has such good character and he's qualified to stay here, does he also qualify for affirmative action government jobs?
Maybe he could work at DHS?
Imp....can you imagine if Bush had had a relative here illegally who was a criminal? MAN.
I'm stopping comments to this post.
thanks, folks.
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