Recent research on this subject shows that immigrants to the US tend to make their kids learn English because they want them to become engineers and doctors instead of the things that are associated with Spanish speaking workers in the US. For this reason, the steady immigration has not resulted in a steady increase in the number of spanish speakers in the US.
Not where I live amigo.
In my little rural eastern Oregon town, I've watched a very significant fraction of clerk positions in stores switch to Hispanic help largely because they are bilingual. Very few of the whites around here have passable Spanish, so who would you hire when 20% of your customers don't understand English well?
Five years ago, the B of A didn't have a single Hispanic teller. Now its 75%?? Hispanic. Oddly enough, City Hall and Les Schwab tire centers were two of the longest hold outs, but they have started changing as well. In the case of Les Schwab, I always wondered how they escaped a lawsuit given the fact that it is an entry level job. How can you have ten 20 year old white guys and not a single Hispanic given the towns demographics? Once it starts shifting, it shifts rapidly though, last time I was in there, I think they had 3 Hispanics out of 7 guys on duty. Oddly enough, the local video store owner hired a young Hispanic girl thinking she'ed be useful. Turns out she can't speak Spanish because her parents raised her to speak only English. Bummer. One should ask such questions first rather than just assuming I guess. The girl was a very good worker, so the store owner ended up happy anyway.
The reason most former immigrants learned English is due to the fact that there was significant diversity in the immigrant source. Our immigrants now are dominated by Hispanics. People treasure their culture for various reasons, and language is an important part of culture. Our town BTW has celebrated the 5'th of May for some number of years now. Not as big a bash as the 4'th of July, true.
Another switch in the culture: Our high school just won the Oregon state AAA soccer championship and was IIRC undefeated all season. Coach is Hispanic, most the players are Hispanic. Not nearly the big splash that a football championship would have been. Lots of support from the Hispanic community though. I think the HS is now 50% Hispanic kids, although the town demographics are not nearly that high (25% maybe?).
Many people, especially the right wing have had a good laugh at France. I say look in your own backyard Amigo. |
