In a discussion held on November 16, 2010 with Gustavo Arellano (author of Orange County Weekly’s column “¡Ask a Mexican!”) Tom Tancredo said:

In the United States, we have enormous numbers of people who are absolutely committed to a sort of “cult of multiculturalism,” the idea that there is nothing of value in the United States, that people coming here from any country, not just Mexico, should retain their allegiance — not just cultural ties — but allegiance to another country, because who would want to be part of America?

This broadbrush treatment of Hispanic immigrants lies at the base of Tancredo’s creed. According to Tancredo (the nearly successful Colorado gubernatorial candidate), Mexican immigrants do not have the same motivation as did his Italian forebears two generations ago.

This is in stark contrast to Tancredo’s grandparents, who he feels, left the old country behind. Anything less, is the dreaded “multiculturalism” that is sure to destroy the United States. So opines Tancredo.

Gustavo Arellano challenged Tancredo’s assertion, stating that “we love to lionize the immigrants of the past while reviling the immigrants of the present.” Arellano also read from the government’s 1910 Dillingham Commission’s 42-volume study which was clearly critical of Tancredo’s Italian ancestors:

… the new immigration as a class is far less intelligent than the old. The old immigration came to be a part of the country, while the new comes with the intention of profiting in a pecuniary way and then returning to the old country.”

Tancredo’s personal reflections are quite telling:

And my parents, who were first generation-Americans? It meant they couldn’t speak Italian, because their parents wouldn’t let them. And and it was in a way, I’m sad about that. Because I wish that I were bilingual. I had a hard enough time with the only language that I have.

Tom Tancredo could have been bilingual, but his grandparents determined that their native language had no place in their new country. To their credit, most Hispanic immigrants are not making the same mistake now, keeping their language and culture alive for their children.

As Gustavo Arellano explained to Tom Tancredo:

But Tom, listen to a Mexican. Listen to a Mexican whose parents, again, only spoke Spanish at home. They could speak to you in English, but they prefer to live their lives in Spanish. These are Mexicans who try to instill in this son, Gustavo, and my fellow siblings, yes you are a Mexican, yes, be proud of your Mexican roots but …

I technically am probably much more American than I am Mexican. I am not an exception, I am the rule. Millions of people of my generation, sure, we have sentiment for our culture, Mexican culture, Mexican society, but at the end of the day, we’re still here in the United States.

An admitted “anchor baby” now grown, Gustavo Arellano further challenged Tancredo’s distorted view of assimilation:

And what exactly, though, do you ask of us? I went through college, graduated from high school, got my masters’ degree, I pay taxes, I vote…

So then, what more do you want? I’ve had friends that have served in the military. The first casualty of the Iraq War in Orange County was Jose Angel Garibay, who was an illegal immigrant who came to this country and only got his citizenship after he died in the Iraq War. So what exactly are you asking of us in terms of: at what point to Mexicans become Americans for you?

At what point indeed! I recall vividly the disturbing scene in the mini-series Roots, in which the newly imported African slave, Kunta Kinte was beaten mercilessly until he would answer only to Toby, his name of American assimilation.

If the American dream means anything worthwhile, it must include the right of our immigrant peoples to bring their cultures, values, and even their languages into a land forever made sweeter by cultural diversity.

Whenever we as a nation violate that, we violate our own values to our own loss.