Former NBC Nightly News Anchor Tom Brokaw had to apologize for the Hispanic assimilation comment he made on NBC’s Sunday morning show “Meet the Press.”
“I also happen to believe that the Hispanics should work harder at assimilation…That’s one of the things I’ve been saying for a long time. You know, 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.”-Tom Brokaw
Brokaw not only apologized, but offered several tweets to qualify the apologize.
i feel terrible a part of my comments on Hispanics offended some members of that proud culture
— Tom Brokaw (@tombrokaw) January 27, 2019
Is Brokaw’s call for assimilation all that bad or out of line?
For decades, Americans have called on Hispanics and Latinos alike, to assimilate more by learning the English language, and to speak it more fluidly.
Yes, the Pew Research Center cites that 62 percent of Hispanic adults living in the U.S. do speak English, and or are bilingual.
But what about the other 38 percent?
According to the very same Pew Research Center, there are some 58 million Hispanics currently living in the U.S. (2017 Pew statistics)
This means that there are some 22 million Hispanics that do not speak English or are bilingual.
Think about it.
There 22 million Hispanics do not speak English and live among a predominantly English-speaking population.
Did Brokaw have a point? Was the veteran news man correct in calling for Hispanics to expedite assimilation?
