ARTICLE BY SAL OSIO With Discussion Questions

The American WASP - A Master Race? By Sal Osio, JD/HispanicVista.com

 

Samuel B. Huntington is an academician, the Chairman for the Harvard Academy for

International and Area studies. In his recent book "The Hispanic Challenge," a digest of

which was published online, he has ignited a maelstrom of dissent and concern. At the core

of his essay is his conviction that Hispanics, particularly Mexican-Americans, pose a

threat to the United States: "The Unites States ignores this challenge at its peril."

He concludes that American Hispanics ". no longer think of themselves as members of a

small minority who must accommodate the dominant group and adopt its culture."

His hypothesis is that the strength of America is grounded by WASP Americans - White

Anglo Saxon Protestants. His theory is that WASPS have been able to dominate America

by subjugating non-WASPS - Catholics, Jews and, in general, other Americans who do not

trace their ancestry to England - thus retaining the American identity. Assimilation by

non-WASPS to the dominant culture, ethics and values, which he assumes to be WASP,

he claims, is the essence to America's strength and well being. Accordingly, assimilation

by adopting the dominant culture preserves "the American dream." He then asserts

that Hispanics, primarily by retaining their Spanish language and cultural heritage,

have not assimilated and pose the threat to America.

 

 Huntington's thesis is dangerously close to Nazi Germany's philosophy promulgated by

Alfred Rosenberg, who rationalized the Nazi credo that Germans were the Aryan race -

the "Master Race." The Nazis justified the extermination of Jews, Gypsies and other

non-Aryans, an ethnic cleansing political strategy, in order to protect and preserve the

purity of the Aryan race. The similarity between theorist Rosenberg and Huntington is

daunting. And it has the same ominous potential consequences in the hands of America's

White supremacists.

 

The implication is clear: WASPS must rise to the Hispanic challenge. In the alternative,

he states, America will be split into two cultures - one English the other Spanish, similar,

he says, to the disabling status in Canada with a French and an English speaking and

cultural society. And he asserts that America must become/remain monolingual and

preserve its dominant WASP culture, identity, ethnicity , and values. To support his

WASP supremacist theory, Huntington identifies early Americans as WASP. He

suggests that the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, government and institutions

are based on "Protestant values of individualism, the work ethic, and the belief that

 humans have the ability and the duty to try to create a heaven on earth" – the American

idientity is WASP. To buttress his case he identifies Thomas Jefferson - a known agnostic

and free mason - as the Protestant model who authored the American democratic philosophy.

 He neglects to mention that Jefferson was primarily influenced by and embraced the

doctrines of French philosopher Jean-Jack Rousseau (1712-78) who is credited with the

formulation of liberty, justice and equality for all men, the social contract between

government and the governed wherein the people are the source and the beneficiaries of

power – the concept of democracy. And it need not be pointed out that the only commonality

between Russeau and WASP is the "W." Huntington makes light of our early hypocrisy,

word versus practice, wherein we enslaved the Black minority of Americans and held them

 in indentured servitude through the last century. And he implies that this non-WASP

segment is not a problem because they have assimilated and are a stagnant minority,

therefore, not a threat to WASP cultural dominance. He explains that residents from the

U.S. annexed territories from Spain (e.g. Florida), France (e.g. Louisiana territories) and

Mexico (Southwest) also assimilated and became subservient. He assumes, of course,

that immigrants from Europe, Asia and Latin America, including Euro-Americans from

France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Poland and other countries, abandoned their heritage

and submerged themselves to the WASP dominant culture. Never mind, St. Patrick's

Day and the American Irish culture and tradition. In short, he does not conceive that

America has evolved from a melting pot of immigrants into a culture and society that

uniquely blends cultural values and traditions, which have created a bond that has become

 the American identity, which has replaced the earlier characterization of the WASP culture,

 and which now defines 21st Century America.

 

Having committed himself to a WASP America, Huntington predictably identifies Hispanics

 as a non-conforming group, and, therefore, the threat to the United States. They speak

Spanish, he says. They multiply. They live in Hispanic populated communities. They have

their own media. Their own political agenda. Their own religion.  Their own food. Their own

 organizations. And soon, they will take over the United States and dominate WASP society

or create a bifurcated country. OUCH! Primarily Huntington relies on the premise that

Hispanics speak Spanish. He views this as a schism with mainstream WASP America.

 

And he overlooks the fact that Spanish speaking Hispanics are primarily foreign born. He

 ignores factual data, readily available, such as the McKinsey Quarterly (1998) and a similar

study by VNV Spectra in 2003, that only 28% of America's 40 million Hispanics are Spanish

 language mono-cultural (the foreign born 1st generation) and that 59% are acculturated

 (2nd generation) and that they become assimilated from the 3rd generation onward - not

unlike other immigrant groups. In 2003 a study by RAND Corporation found that Hispanics

climb up the economic ladder in successive generations, similar to other immigration groups:

". counter to the prevailing view that there is something in the system that holds Hispanic

 immigrants back." The Pew Hispanic Center, National Survey of Latinos, 2002, relying on

the 2000 U.S. Census, finds that 78% of 3rd generation Hispanics are English language

dominant and 22% are bilingual, in contrast to 4% and 24%, respectively, of the 1st

generation (foreign born). The study also found ". that native-born Hispanics expressed

an overwhelming preference, 71%, for English language . with another 20% choosing both

English and Spanish equally."

 

 So much for the assumption that Hispanic immigrants retain their native language ad infinitum.

What either confuses Huntington, or he chooses to ignore, is the difference between

acculturation - the preservation of the cultural traits while adopting a complementary set of

 skills from the > mainstream - and assimilation - the replacement of native customs with

 the mainstream culture. Through the 3rd generation, Hispanics tend to acculturate and,

 thereafter, to assimilate. The acculturation phase is readily explainable - the annexation of

 the Southwest territories from Mexico and their proximity to the Border, and, in South

Florida, the Cuban immigration of the 60's and the proximity to the Hispanic Caribbean.

The Hispanic Challenge - if a challenge or threat at all – is the path of acculturation leading

to assimilation - from the 3rd to the 4th generation immigrant, and beyond.  This process is

now accelerated through convergence. According the U.S. Census Bureau (1994) over 26%

 of 2nd generation Hispanic women and over 33% of 3rd generation Hispanic women marry

 outside their ethnicity. Is there a threat from a group who is following the path of

assimilation into the American mainstream, like other immigrant groups did before them,

only because they are growing in size or because their ethnicity is not WASP?

 If Huntington fails to make a valid claim to his thesis that Hispanics are a threat to the

United States, is his revival of the WASP configuration not a political statement?

Exclusionary, and a call to arms against an immigrant group?

 Is it the rationale for a white supremacist movement? Does Huntington have a hidden

agenda . to promote the sale of his book through inflammatory propaganda, which will be

embraced by white supremacist America and hate groups . a significant readership? Is the

affiliation with Harvard coincidental? Or does Harvard University endorse Huntington's

 views? Would he have any credence were it not for his affiliation with Harvard University?

 The real issue, which is a concern to all of us, particularly to the American Hispanic

community, is illegal immigration. Hispanic statesmen have addressed this issue

repeatedly on HispanicVista.com commentaries. The consensus is that the solution is

simple: Enforce existing sanctions against employers who hire undocumented workers.

 However, the consequences to the agricultural and service sectors of the U.S. economy

 would be so catastrophic, without the labor subsidy, that the application of existing law

may not be an option. Accordingly, other solutions need to be considered,  including the

President Bush proposed Guest Worker Program. Why didn't Huntington address the

 real issue? After all, the problems on which he based his underlying thesis are essentially

 related to foreign-born undocumented Hispanics laborers from Mexico and Central

America. It's obvious that Huntington prefers burgers, fries and catsup to tacos, beans

 and salsa. But, would he not be well advised, like modifying his thesis, that he change

 his eating habits after checking out the dietary consequences of his diet preference?

 

The cultural contribution by Hispanics to our society, much the same as the contributions

of other immigrant groups before them, enrich our nation and bestow a distinctive flavor

 to the American culture. Multiculturalism is an asset, not a threat or liability, that

enriches our social experiment and defines our American identity. Dare we imagine an

 America without the soul of our Black brethren, without the spirit of the Irish, without

Italian music, without German sciences, without English literature, without French

cuisine, without Japanese electronics, without Indian meditation, without Chinese art

 ... and without Mexican fiestas, mariachis, margaritas and apetitos?

 

 Sal Osio received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California

School of Law. He is a past Director of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, and

Vice-Chairman of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. He taught U.S.

Mexico business and financing at UCLA. He is Chairman of HispanicVista.com

READ THE ABOVE ARTICLE BY SAL OSIO:

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS FULLY

 

 1. What is the theory of minority groups particularly Latinos as proffered by Samuel Huntington?

2. How does Sal Osio counter the argument that Hispanics are a threat to American culture?

3. What links can you identify as regards the writing of Samuel Huntington and Allports Theory of Contact?

See the streatming video and the lecture info on Allport’s Theory and make sure you connect the analysis to this theory.