Yes, but . A closer reading suggests more disturbing conclusions missed, needless to say, by complacent commentators like, oh, U.S. News Michael Barone. Among women who were born in Mexico but gave birth in America in 1998, more than two thirds lacked a high school diploma. It s simply not clear.
Many commentators assume that assimilation happens automatically and always in benign directions.
The Latinos of 2000 resemble the Italians of 1900. Both, with reason, mistrusted government and every other institution but their own families. In America the first generations from both groups had little education and created few community organizations. Just as in 1900, many Americans today fear that minority groups will never be assimilated into American civic life or elevated to average economic levels. If we have the good sense in the 21st century to follow the precedents of the 20th to insist on the fundamental fairness of society and the legitimacy of its rules, to teach children to master the English language, to reduce the level of prejudice and discrimination, including racial quotas and preferences we can expect the new minorities to become as firmly interwoven into the fabric of American society as the old.