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I disagree. There are losers from every culture, be they immigrants or not.
It's complacency. Americans just don't get it. Their grandfathers may have, but generations removed born here don't. I know so many cubans as well as other immigrants who came here with nothing who are worth millions, I can't tell you how many. It is as if Americans born here walk in another dimension that blinds them to the opportunities this country has to offer. At it's worst the streets are still paved with gold. People risk their lives to come here, to what others have had handed to them as a birth right and don't have any idea what they really have. It is really sad. If only an American born here could see this country through their immigrant grandfathers eyes. See what he saw and what brought him here.
Who are the "undocumented" immigrants in Florida anyway? Mexicans, Haitians? Because most of the Hispanics here are US citizens, as MiamiRob pointed out.
there is no such thing as an undocumented immigrant. There are legal immigrants and criminal invaders. If you are not here legally, you are a criminal. Pretty simple, really.
there is no such thing as an undocumented immigrant. There are legal immigrants and criminal invaders. If you are not here legally, you are a criminal. Pretty simple, really.
I was just asking a question, not trying to get in an argument on semantics. Call them whatever you want.
It's complacency. Americans just don't get it. Their grandfathers may have, but generations removed born here don't. I know so many cubans as well as other immigrants who came here with nothing who are worth millions, I can't tell you how many. It is as if Americans born here walk in another dimension that blinds them to the opportunities this country has to offer. At it's worst the streets are still paved with gold. People risk their lives to come here, to what others have had handed to them as a birth right and don't have any idea what they really have. It is really sad. If only an American born here could see this country through their immigrant grandfathers eyes. See what he saw and what brought him here.
The problem I have with TODAYS immigrants is that they are illegal. When most of our previous generations came, the border was open. Hence no crime committed.
A crime is a crime is a crime, no getting around it. Also previous immigrants from earlier times, didn't come here and ask for teachers to be provided in their schools who speak their language (IE I give you Charlotte NC and spanish) previous immigrants didn't ask for a hand out and or assistance.
Section 8 housing, free medical, food stamps and the like.
Therein lies a huge difference when people start quoting about the immigrants that founded this country. Huge huge huge difference.
ASSIMILATE it can be your friend.
People want to come here, fine, do it legally, learn English, and don't use America's welfare system as your means to survive. America isn't asking you to forego your own language and your own customs, but don't expect the US to keep bending over backwards to accomodate yours.
Also, don't forget that the immingrants that came here years ago WANTED to be Americans. They wanted to live here. This was their home. My great grandparents insisted that their children speak English at home.
The immiigrants that came here years ago knew there was no going back. They weren't just staying here. They were giving up their old lives, not just parking themselves here for a while.
This is an appropriate discussion for today. How many of these immigrants we a talking about will be celebrating the 4th of July? Will they be honoring the Founding Fathers?
Last Independence Day I saw people driving around waving Mexican flags and hoking their horns. Yeah, that's a great way to assimilate, and show you want to be an American.
The problem I have with TODAYS immigrants is that they are illegal. When most of our previous generations came, the border was open. Hence no crime committed.
A crime is a crime is a crime, no getting around it. Also previous immigrants from earlier times, didn't come here and ask for teachers to be provided in their schools who speak their language (IE I give you Charlotte NC and spanish) previous immigrants didn't ask for a hand out and or assistance.
Section 8 housing, free medical, food stamps and the like.
Therein lies a huge difference when people start quoting about the immigrants that founded this country. Huge huge huge difference.
ASSIMILATE it can be your friend.
People want to come here, fine, do it legally, learn English, and don't use America's welfare system as your means to survive. America isn't asking you to forego your own language and your own customs, but don't expect the US to keep bending over backwards to accomodate yours.
Illegal immigrants are not starting car dealerships or pool companies or moving companies and employing thousands of employes. They don't meet payrolls and paying millions in taxes. I don't care about illegal's in regard to what I said, they don't apply. Immigrants come here and are successful and those born here don't have a clue to the value their own country. That was my point. If you want to blame all your problems on immigrants you are welcome to do so. It won't make your life any better, Moderator cut: Personal Attack/Trolling/Flaming It's just a convenient excuse.
Last edited by doggiebus; 07-03-2009 at 05:36 PM..
Interesting...seems that most people want to reduce this to a hatred of "illegal immigrants." I can't help but think that there's a healthy dose of dishonesty being shown here, since Florida simply does not have the same problem with illegal immigration as states such as Texas, Arizona, and California that border Mexico. The vast majority of Cubans are legal. Puerto Ricans are US citizens, the last time that I checked. And the majority of the remainder of Florida's Latino community consists of legal and documented immigrants - citizens and citizens-to-be - from Central and South America. Florida's illegal alien community is relatively small, and it is not causing the state to fall apart at the seams.
So...can we stop the pretense? If hearing Spanish makes you cringe, you don't have a "problem with illegals" - you have a problem with people of a certain background, period. And my point is that, in this day and time, we should not hesitate in condemning this type of racism, bigotry, and intolerance. It is absolutely no different than the woman who, upon seeing a group of middle-class Black teenagers, instinctively clutches her purse in fear.
It's complacency. Americans just don't get it. Their grandfathers may have, but generations removed born here don't. I know so many cubans as well as other immigrants who came here with nothing who are worth millions, I can't tell you how many. It is as if Americans born here walk in another dimension that blinds them to the opportunities this country has to offer. At it's worst the streets are still paved with gold. People risk their lives to come here, to what others have had handed to them as a birth right and don't have any idea what they really have. It is really sad. If only an American born here could see this country through their immigrant grandfathers eyes. See what he saw and what brought him here.
It may be that the immigrants as a group have higher risk tolerance than non-immigrants. It may not be an America issue. Although I agree that there are a lot of ignorant and uneducated people who grew up here.
A better comparison would be to compare the mentality of "native" Americans to Mexicans, Europeans (or whatever) who decided to stay in their home country.
And as far as the people claiming "reverse racism", please. For every one thread that I could find on here in which a Latino is complaining about civil transgressions committed by people in other racial/ethnic groups, there are two dozen threads in which the majority is, more or less, equating Latino immigration to the end of "our country" as we know it.
The Latino immigrants of this generation are no different than any immigrants to America in the past. They come here to establish a better life for themselves and their families, obey our laws and pay taxes, and enrich our collective society with their traditions and customs. The only anti-American forces in this debate are the people who want to wall themselves up in their 99% white communities (which makes me wonder why they haven't moved to Nebraska or Kentucky yet, as opposed to staying in South Florida and being miserable because they have to - *gasp* - live around people with a different skin tone...)
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