The mistaken idea that Hispanics don’t want to learn English or don’t embrace the American culture may finally dissipate, thanks to a recent survey of Hispanic Americans.

At a time when ethnic identity has been emphasized, it may surprise people to learn that more than 90 percent of Hispanics believe that U.S. citizens and residents should learn English, and about 85 percent of them think learning English is the objective of bilingual education.

A large majority – 65 percent – also think there are too many immigrants in the United States.

The survey of Latino attitudes, sponsored by the Ford, Rockefeller, Spencer and Tinker foundations, shows that economic self-interest and a commitment to become part of the American society are stronger than a sense of ethnic identity – just as with many other Americans.

As Rodolfo O. de la Garza, one of the survey’s authors, said, “They have been socialized . . . to view the world the way America views the world.”

One place to start using these results is in schools, where at least some teachers are rethinking the goals of the multiculturalism movement. Multiculturalism, a recent trend in education that emphasizes ethnic and cultural group identities, may have inadvertently isolated students from each other, some teachers now believe.

Ethnic pride is fine. But as Ronald Takaki, ethnic studies professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said in a recent Los Angeles Times story, “I think many people, especially in the post-Rodney King era, are beginning to realize that we can’t just study ourselves as separate groups.”



Comments are closed.