Latinos in the USA, "We do not feel that we belong".

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

I make no bones about it, I do not like the the Republicans.
I feel far more at home in the Latino community than at any "white" functions.
I am afraid of the police, just my hangup.
But when asked, a group of 70+ Latinos said that "We do not feel that we belong".
When I listed off my hangups and issues nearly everyone agreed with me.
For the rest of the evening I spoke nothing but Spanish and by the end was applauded for several minutes.
Finally it hit me, "I" do not belong!
I have grown up afraid of the white kids and have adopted the Latino community, or the other way around, take your pick.
Most want to support America, it is just that it seems like the US is giving preference to every place but the US.
Jobs and aid are being sent out of the country and immigrants are being given preference over people who have been here the entire time.

There were other issues brought to the table but the bottom line is that there was massive support for quite a few common goals.

[kc7jty]

¡Qué lástima!

[W4RLR]

When I was overseas, I did not belong until I made the effort to at least learn survival level of the local language, explore the places that tourists did not, and actually made the effort to try to live as the natives did.

Many of those who feel that they do not belong also alienate those who have lived here for generations, with demands for services in their language instead of the language of the native populace, cries of taking back territory "wrongfully stolen" from them, and honoring the flag of their native country instead of the one they say they want to "belong to". And they wonder why they get the cold shoulder.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Yes, but there was no Mexican flag, and I started in Spanish, nearly a shock to at least half of them who simply assumed that I speak only English.
The meeting, if you want to call it that, was about the direction America is taking.
This was all a bunch of people who were born in the United States and quite a few of who have ancestors who were here before there was a United States.
Quite a few know little Spanish so it was a surprise to find that I can speak Spanish.
I am the one who carries the Mexican flag at the MLK marches.
I am the one who mounted a Mexican flag on a motor grader in the late 1970s in Houston.
But to be fair, I carried an American flag in the Zocalo square in Mexico City, nobody cared one way or the other.
It is all in how you see it.
I look at the globe and at pictures from space of planet earth.
From space it is pretty much a marble, land and water, that is it.

[n2ize]

When I was overseas, I did not belong until I made the effort to at least learn survival level of the local language, explore the places that tourists did not, and actually made the effort to try to live as the natives did.

Many of those who feel that they do not belong also alienate those who have lived here for generations, with demands for services in their language instead of the language of the native populace, cries of taking back territory "wrongfully stolen" from them, and honoring the flag of their native country instead of the one they say they want to "belong to". And they wonder why they get the cold shoulder.

That's true... many people will give someone the cold shoulder when that someone forces them to face the truth.

[KC2UGV]

When I was overseas, I did not belong until I made the effort to at least learn survival level of the local language, explore the places that tourists did not, and actually made the effort to try to live as the natives did.

Many of those who feel that they do not belong also alienate those who have lived here for generations, with demands for services in their language instead of the language of the native populace, cries of taking back territory "wrongfully stolen" from them, and honoring the flag of their native country instead of the one they say they want to "belong to". And they wonder why they get the cold shoulder.

It appears the local language in many areas of the Mid and Southwest is Spanish...

[WX7P]

It appears the local language in many areas of the Mid and Southwest is Spanish...

Bullshit.

The percentage of undocumented latinos (that's what you meant) in those areas is not appreciably higher than anywhere else.

I'm getting really tired of the latino bashing that goes on in our society. If the jobs weren't here, they wouldn't come. Why not put more pressure on the business community that hires these people?

Even in racist Modoc County where I used to live, most of the field workers are undocumented, and the big farmers get away with treating the workers like shit. The community hates the field workers, but without the money they put into the local economy, that place would dry up and blow away. The local white people are either rich or on some bullshit disability or on welfare and won't take the field jobs. I trusted the Mexicanos more that the white people up there because I knew they wouldn't rip me off. They are hard working REAL people, much like the white immigrants that came to California during the Dust Bowl era.

[KC2UGV]

Bullshit.

The percentage of undocumented latinos (that's what you meant) in those areas is not appreciably higher than anywhere else.

I'm getting really tired of the latino bashing that goes on in our society. If the jobs weren't here, they wouldn't come. Why not put more pressure on the business community that hires these people?

Even in racist Modoc County where I used to live, most of the field workers are undocumented, and the big farmers get away with treating the workers like shit. The community hates the field workers, but without the money they put into the local economy, that place would dry up and blow away. The local white people are either rich or on some bullshit disability or on welfare and won't take the field jobs. I trusted the Mexicanos more that the white people up there because I knew they wouldn't rip me off. They are hard working REAL people, much like the white immigrants that came to California during the Dust Bowl era.

And, what does that have to do with local language and customs of an area? There are parts of Buffalo where the local language is Puerto Rican dialect of spanish, and if you drive down some of the streets, it would remind one of certain areas of San Juan.

And, you'll note, I didn't mention if they were hard working or not. However, given the trouble illegal (and legal) immigrants face to even get into this country, I'll work on the assumption they are; and would make fabulous additions to our American population.

[WX7P]

And, what does that have to do with local language and customs of an area? There are parts of Buffalo where the local language is Puerto Rican dialect of spanish, and if you drive down some of the streets, it would remind one of certain areas of San Juan.

And, you'll note, I didn't mention if they were hard working or not. However, given the trouble illegal (and legal) immigrants face to even get into this country, I'll work on the assumption they are; and would make fabulous additions to our American population.

It was the way you presented your comments. Since when is speaking another language other than English a crime? You made it sound like speaking Spanish is some kind of infraction.

This is the kind of crap the country used to hear in the early part of the last century with the "invasion" of Italian immigrants. They're white, and we don't hear about them now, do we?

[KC2UGV]

It was the way you presented your comments. Since when is speaking another language other than English a crime? You made it sound like speaking Spanish is some kind of infraction.

This is the kind of crap the country used to hear in the early part of the last century with the "invasion" of Italian immigrants. They're white, and we don't hear about them now, do we?

My only comment was "It appears the local language is spanish in many parts of the mid and southwest." That was in response to "Many of those who feel that they do not belong also alienate those who have lived here for generations, with demands for services in their language instead of the language of the native populace".

If I came across as that being a crime, I'm sorry. Must have been a disconnect somewhere there. I am well aware there is no Official Language in the US.