Esther Cepeda: The language of assimilation

This article compares some of the assimilation stories about German immigrants in the 1700s and Latino immigrants now.     - - Donna Poisl

BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA / Washington Post

CHICAGO -- Back in the mid-1700s, German immigrants were the bane of my favorite founding father, Benjamin Franklin, who believed they'd never assimilate into the predominant culture of the time.

Franklin believed the immigrants were "generally of the most ignorant, stupid sort of their own nation" and thus unable and unwilling to learn English. "As few of the English understand the German language, and so cannot address them either from the press or the pulpit, ‘tis almost impossible to remove any prejudice they once entertain," he wrote, complaining that few of their children were taught English, they imported books from Germany, printed materials in their native language and even "the signs in our streets have inscriptions in both languages, and in some places only German."
http://journalstar.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/esther-cepeda-the-language-of-assimilation/article_8b7848f4-e70a-5b7c-8a52-1bdfdfb7b49a.html
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