A sign on a fence invites the public to an event celebrating Venezuela's independence. Indeed, for every immigrant who comes to Miami, the Washington Post has noted, a white non-Hispanic will leave. I can't blame those who flee. It's tough being a monolingual gringo in a place where the residents have more in common with South Americans than with American southerners. Traffic jams and congested neighborhoods are the norm.
Drug gangs arrange dozens of drive-by shootings.
This column appeared in The Edmond Sun on June 11, 2000. Isabel Lyman lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. A former editorial columnist for the Daily Hampshire Gazette of Northampton, Massachusetts, her views have appeared in various national publications, including the Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily . Ms. Lyman may be contacted via e-mail by clicking here . Click here for an index of other Isabel Lyman columns.