National Review editor Rich Lowry wrote a thoughtful piece on the recent controversy concerning comments former long-time NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw made on Meet the Press.
Here’s what Brokaw said:
Hispanics should be working harder at assimilation…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.
Brokaw has since said this:
[I] feel terrible a part of my comments on Hispanics offended some members of that proud culture.
Lowry came to the defense of Brokow. Writes Lowry:
It’s also been a trope to accuse Brokaw, as Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro did, of xenophobia. But saying immigrants should assimilate is the opposite of xenophobia — it is an expression of a belief that they can be and should be fully part of the American mainstream.
Lowry references Michael Lind, and his 1995 book The Next American Nation. Lind has written and spoken extensively on immigration and assimilation.
Ultimately, Lowry concludes, “Reducing levels of immigration would aid in assimilation, if that is still considered a universally desirable goal."
Readers may also be interested in T.A. Frank, “The Democratic Case for Restricting Immigration” and John B. Judis, “What the Left Misses About Nationalism.”
Nancy Pelosi announced this morning that California Attorney General and former House Member Xavier Bacerra would be delivering the Spanish language response to President Trump’s State of the Union address.
