An Absorbing Topic

In a world where people outsource their opinions to sloganeering politicians and self-appointed “super-knowledgeable” political soothsayers and pundits, facts often get in the way. Hard truth is that most followers of such slogan-infested vectors seldom let the truth into their lives in the first place. With “news” shows filling 24/7/365, and with their being an absence of truly interesting stories even to fill the three hour “programming block” rollover, “analysts” have been used to generate ratings and fill the void – whether you buy into MSNBC’s left twist or Fox News’ right slant. Talk radio, with its share of spectrum-impaired “experts,” who reinterpret facts so that the interpretation replaces the actual facts, generate adherents who are much more likely to listen to the interpretation rather than reach their own conclusions based on the raw data. In fact, because we can “filter” our sources of information rather thoroughly in this communications age, we can pretty much eliminate raw data entirely, and relegate ourselves to “interpretative facts” only.

And one of the most slogan-infested topics, one that generates rage and outrage, is immigration. I’ve blogged heavily about the need to import scientific and engineering expertise, as our university output falls short, but perhaps we should take a look at down and dirty, ordinary immigration to this country, and see whether our values and way of life are being denigrated and polluted by these outside influences. The topic, then, is “assimilation.” And American attitudes seem to hold that immigrants cloister themselves in non-English-speaking ghettos, suck the life blood out of welfare and health benefits and don’t even begin to meld into the American dream.

So I suspect the first question has to be how one might measure whether an immigrant has succumbed to the American value system and begun to participate in that dream thang. The Center for American Progress began a statistical analysis, using the latest Census data, to find out exactly how “assimilated” ordinary immigrants – the not the high-powered engineering superstars and their ilk – actually are after they have lived in this country more than a decade or two. The standards that authors, Dowell Myers and John Pitkin, applied in their September 1^st report tracked the “usual” yardsticks of citizenship, homeownership, English skills, job status and earning a better income.

They noted: “Integration is occurring fastest in the areas of citizenship and homeownership, with high school completion and earnings also rising. The share of foreign-born men earning above low-income levels in our country, for example, rose to 66 percent in 2008, the last year for which complete data is available, from just 35 percent in 1990 when the immigrants were recently arrived. And Latino immigrants in the first 18 years of U.S. residency swiftly attained the hallmark of the “American Dream“—homeownership, with 58 percent achieving this feat in 2008, up from only 9.3 percent in 1990. This is a substantial leap. While lower than the 66.6 percent homeownership rate for non-Hispanic native born men, the homeownership levels for Latinos and other foreign-born immigrants rises as their time in the United States lengthens.

“Not surprisingly, the rates of assimilation in education and occupation are higher among immigrant children, especially among Latinos, than among adult first generation immigrants who have less access to education because they are newly-arrived workers… The college graduation rate among immigrants is also on the rise since 2000, demonstrating that immigrant children are more able to pursue opportunities for educational advancement. Lesser access to education and learning centers for immigrant adults also means a lower English proficiency rate, especially among Latinos, due not just to their work and income status, but also because language classes are not evenly provided across all states and have lost funding in recent years. But immigrant children are bridging this language gap exceedingly quickly.”

Most folks concentrate on the recent arrivals – hence the anti-immigrant bias – and few have the patience to witness the longer-term changes. How about Arizona, where immigrants are as welcome as a bad case of herpes? “Indeed, in Arizona—the state that now has immigrants in the crosshairs of its law enforcement officials—Latino immigrants have proven much more successful than some assume. After 18 years of U.S. residence, 66.6 percent are homeowners, 59.2 percent speak English well, and 57.9 percent earn better than a low income.” Same report.

Me, hey, I know my folks were born in Eastern Europe, and I am grateful they came to this country, got solid college educations, and made something of themselves, clearly benefiting their new nation. My step-dad was a proud intelligence officer during WWII and rose through the ranks of the U.S. State Department. My real dad was a prominent journalist in Wilmington, Delaware, and my mom an accomplished analyst and linguist with the State Department as well. And right now, I’m trying to figure out whether to grab a pizza, perhaps and enchilada, maybe some sushi… or maybe it’s those Chinese ribs and egg rolls I’m craving. Hey, the food is good, and the people who brought that choice to my country seem to have added more than just a lot of great meals.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I love to roam the ethnic parts of Los Angeles looking for visual, edible and spiritual treats!