There is one reason left for Mr. Tancreepo… sorry, Tancredo to say what he did about my hometown: bigotry. He claims that if one were to “just pick it (Miami) up and take it and move it someplace" that one "would never know you're in the United States of America.” It is true that Miami is a very colorful city. The majority of the population here is Hispanic and Latin culture is dominant here. I always joke that living in Miami is like living in the Melting Pot of America. It is here that all cultures merge and form something unique unto itself. Miami is Miami and there is nothing like it in the world — but third world?
Does Mr. Tancredo believe that a lack of white and black faces makes someplace a third world country? Any place that is Spanish must be third world? That is a very bigoted point of view if that is his intent.
''Moreover, the sheer size and number of ethnic enclaves devoid of any English and dominated by foreign cultures is widespread… Frankly, many of these areas could have been located in another country. And until America gets serious about demanding assimilation, this problem will continue to spread.''
Maybe he should take care of his own state first and let those of us in Miami worry about Miami. Those immigrants he is speaking of that do not speak English are mostly Cuban refugees who are not here illegally, but are “guests” of the federal government. He needs to remember that America is made up entirely of foreign cultures and should be working on uniting the country instead of this finger-pointing hunt for a new scapegoat.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - dee
Again - A rant and rave and someone who refuses to acknowledge that ILLEGAL immagrants have no right to be here or no rights under the constitution. THEY ARE ILLEGAL. ILLEGAL. Do you forget what that means? We need to round up all the illegals and get them out of here. We need to protect the people who come into this country the LEGAL way.
2 - Brad Schader
Dee,
I did not say one thing in relation to ILLEGAL immigrants. I am discussing calling Miami a thrid world country when he has never been here. I am talking about using aspects of Miami to attack illegal immigration and using LEGAL immigrants to do it.
"Those immigrants he is speaking of that do not speak English are mostly Cuban refugees who are not here illegally, but are “guests” of the federal government. "
And the 14th Amendment extends all rights to those who are here, not just citizens.
3 - Clavos
Brad writes:
Those immigrants he is speaking of that do not speak English are mostly Cuban refugees who are not here illegally, but are “guests” of the federal government.
Actually, Brad, most of them are Central and South Americans, who now collectively far outnumber the Cubans, and there are vast numbers of them who don't speak English; my Honduran housekeeper for one. The building maintenance guy (Dominican Republic) for another. My wife's physical therapist (Venezuelan). And sometimes in my local Publix you have to look for several minutes to find an English speaking employee.
There are also thousands of Russians in Sunny Isles Beach who don't speak English.
And BTW, the Latinos themselves joke that the reason they like Miami so much is that it's "so close to America."
Tancredo has his schtick (another good Miami language) and it plays well back home in Colorado, but he and others like him caused the Republicans to lose more than half the Latino vote they had in '04.
4 - Howard Dratch
Florida is a terrible place overall. I know. I was born in Tampa and didn't escape until I was college-age. But Miami is an island of sophistication (some, anyway), multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and, though still racist like the rest of the South, it is not as much so. The reason may be its great mix of people, origins, languages and cultures. The bubbas and crackers have not taken control.
Immigration in Miami is primarily not illegals, but refugees who have mostly become citizens, Europeans (they're white, right?), tourists, wheeler-dealers of all colors and languages and now even some performance, some art, bookstores and culture.
We go for the medical care which is world-class at the Ryder Trauma Center and Baptist Hospital as well as others. My excellet cardiologist and electrophysiologist are from El Salvador and Paraquay. I still let them play in my only body. Unlike when I was a boy, there are even universities making names for themselves. If I had to live in the American South, it is the only city to consider.
The sound of Spanish and Creole, German and Italian, Pakistani and Chinese may make some Americans sit up and bark like dogs but it has taken Miami from hick town to cosmopolis.
PS. I see Clavos beat me to it with similar thoughts and more knowledge of Miami. Bravo.
5 - dee
Wrong - Please review the 14th ammendment you obviously havn't - It defines who a citizen is, and says nothing about illegals being recognized as citizens.
"His pony’s trick is that he is very anti-illegal immigration.
That's from you - so you did talk about illegals. This statement is strange, its almost like your saying that being anti-illegal immigration is a bad thing. I for one support the laws of the land and LEGAL actions, not illegal ones.
6 - Brad Schader
I said he was a one trick pony. His comment does not factor into Miami because our immigrants are not here illegally. They are refugees that Miami could not deport if we wanted to because that status is a Federal thing and not a state issue.
The 14th does cover non-resident aliens as well. YOu need to study it more it seems. It says a state cannot deprive a person of basic rights guarenteed to them by the Feds and that it applies to citizens and people who are "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." If American laws apply to you so do American rights.
7 - Brad Schader
The rights of the Constitution apply to all people within the borders of the country. The rights are not given to us by our government, our government recognizes the rights ALL PEOPLE HAVE.
8 - Brad Schader
Brad, most of them are Central and South Americans, who now collectively far outnumber the Cubans,
I will have to take your word on that. Last I heard Miami was 60% Cuban.
9 - Clavos
Dee writes:
Wrong - Please review the 14th ammendment you obviously havn't - It defines who a citizen is, and says nothing about illegals being recognized as citizens.
But it DOES (as Brad wrote) extend "to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." It does not say "citizen;" it says "Person."
You might try reviewing it yourself.
10 - Clavos
Actually, it's about 66%. But that's the figure for all Latinos; not just Cubans, according to the Census Bureau.
And foreign-born are about 60%.
These figures are for the City of Miami.
For Miami-Dade county, they are:
Latinos: 60%
Foreign-born: 51%
11 - dee
The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
The 14th ammendment defines who a citizen is. It does not extend to any and all people who live here, you have to be a citizen, therefore illegals are not citizens. The ammendment in itself is vague, and there are numerous laws that define who an actual citizen is. The "guts" as you will. It definately does not cover illegals or any "person" as ya'll say.
12 - Brad Schader
Dee,
You are missing the "GRAND POINT" and that is that Miami is not overrun with ILLEGALS- these are resident aliens and refugees. They are here LEGALLY.
13 - Brad Schader
Clavos,
I stand corrected. I confused the total Latin population with the Cuban numbers.
14 - dee
Can someone at the very least denounce the fact that people who sneak into this country do no deserve to be here. If just baffles me that people are so quick to defend others who do illegal things.
15 - Brad Schader
Dee,
THis is about Tancredo labeling Miami as a third world country because of the Latin population. He did not speak on the legality, he spoke on the language and culture. No one here has said one word to defend an illegal immigrant.
16 - Brad Schader
''Moreover, the sheer size and number of ethnic enclaves devoid of any English and dominated by foreign cultures is widespread… Frankly, many of these areas could have been located in another country. And until America gets serious about demanding assimilation, this problem will continue to spread.''
There is nothing in this statement or any other he made about legal status.
17 - Clavos
Dee # 11,
Here is the entire text of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment:
Amendment XIV
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. (emphasis mine)
It doesn't say any citizen, Dee; it says any person.
18 - Judy
I live in Fort Lauderdale. I try to go to Miami as little as possible. I feel very uncomfortable when a majority of people there speak Spanish. It IS a third world country and it is creeping into Broward. We went to Miami Metro zoo last week with my son, and half the people there were speaking Spanish. I have to tell you quite honestly, I want to be with "people like me", just as the the Hispanics want to be with their own. "White Flight" is happening here, and I have to say I am tempted to join the exodus. Birds of a feather....as they say.
19 - TNT
OK I live in Ft. Lauderdale. You know just up the cost about 30 min from Miami. I used to live in Miami until I felt uncomfortable enough to get the smarts to leave. If you have lived in Miami for 35 years you must know what is going on but it sure sounds like you don't. 80% of all Caucasians/non Spanish speaking citizens have left Dade County for points north. Many have moved to Broward and Palm Beach counties. Why? No longer feeling welcome in there own city that opened up it's doors to the same immigrants that are pushing them out. Thanks guys! Those leaving don't speak the local language...Spanish. Forced out by immigrants legal and otherwise who refuse to assimilate and become true Americans. Instead they call themselves Cuban Americans or Mexican Americans or just insert whatever Latin or S. American country you come from before American. My ancestors came from England but I don't call myself British American. Why do they feel the need to be called something other then just American?
"White Flight" (that also includes Blacks and Asians) continues as we speak. Nobody wants to talk about it including our governor cause it's bad publicity for the area. We have to keep up that stellar image of an all welcoming diverse city.
I once walked into a restaurant in the heart of Miami and tried to order some food. Not one person spoke English. Finally someone walked up to me and in broken English told me I needed to learn Spanish because that is what we speak here. I have been told by Cubans (some face to face but mostly online because it's anonymous and they can be bold and truthful) that they are and will always be Cubans who just happen to have American papers. When you become an American citizen you take an oath to renounce your allegiance to the country you came from and swear allegiance to the USA.(Google the "Oath Of Allegiance) Is that all lies, smoke and mirrors?
I am so sick of political correctness. At least Mr. Tancredo is brave enough to bring the topic into discussion. For the record I don't believe Miami is a "third world country. But it sure is becoming less of an American city as the years go by. Want to know why you don't here people like Tom speak out more? Well, first and foremost many of them have left as I stated earlier. Also, people like you call anyone who dares to have a different opinion on the subject a xenophobe or a racist or an immigrant hater. It scares them back into the closet and their opinions are muffled.
The PC warm and fuzzy description of Miami goes something like this, "Miami is a perfect example of diversity and multiculturalism in action. Where "immigrants" from all over melt into a diverse multicultural and multiethnic tropical playground." It's diverse all right. Filled with people and cultures from all over Latin America but becoming void of Anglos and American pie. Is that your idea of diversity? Se hablo Espanol? Not me! That is why I and hundreds of thousands of others like me don't live any farther south then Ft. Lauderdale. We refuse to be forced to learn a foreign language in our own country. Isn't is supposed to be the other way around? Oh but not to worry. I met another Cuban who moved up here because as he said, there were to many people from Central and South America moving in and he wanted to get away from that. Well, it that is not the pot calling the kettle black. No racial pun intended.
Whether you want to hear it or not things are not peachy keen down here. It's your job and mine to start getting real and speak the truth even if it's politically incorrect. Miami is just an example of what is and will probably happen to many other places all over this country as we roll down the population explosion highway from 300 million to 600 million in less then 100 years. Mainly due from our liberal immigration laws which will get even more liberal in the next Congress. But nobody want to talk about that because we don't want to hurt "immigrants" feelings. PC will destroy this great country sooner then you could ever imagine. Are we having fun yet?
These problems are not going away in fact they are worsening because immigrants are coming here in ever greater numbers which leads to a lesser need to assimilate. You need to start understanding that and talking about it unlike Jeb who thinks everything is hunky dory. Or is he just saying that because if he doesn't and instead speaks the truth, he will be racked over the coals by the Latino community who he needs desperately if he wants to go further with his political aspirations.
BTW, I'm a Democrat who had a Cuban partner for eight years.
20 - Clavos
My family's been in South florida since 1958. When we first arrived, there were no Latinos, and Miami was long past its tourism heyday of the forties; the area was literally dying economically.
The Latinos (Cubans first) started arriving in 1960, and the economy started accelerating almost immediately; new businesses opened everywhere, unemployment began to decline, construction began to boom (and still is) and the whole air of shabbiness and disrepair disappeared within a few years.
In the sixties, there was a hiccup in the growth and reawakening process as crime and the drug business grew as well. Fortunately, law enforcement was stepped up, and the bad days were relatively short lived. Since the sixties, crime in Miami has been declining annually.
What brought all this prosperity? New immigrants, eager to make their way in their adopted country, in the finest of American traditions.
As for the Cubans, probably more than 85-90% are citzens, and most of the ones who are not are relatively recent arrivals.
The Cubans are now outnumbered by all the rest of the Latinos-about the only latin country without a large contingent here is Mexico-probably because they prefer the Southwest and CA.
We also have substantial communities of Russians (second in the US), Brits, Spaniards, Central Europeans, Puerto Ricans, Brazilians, Argentinians, Haitians, Jamaicans, Bahamians, Nicaraguans, Costa Ricans, and people from virtually every other Caribbean island.
In fact, 51% of the people in the metro area were born in another country.
Demographically, the metro area is 60% Latino, 19% native born white, 19% African American, and 2% all others.
It's actually quite exciting-almost like New York must have been at the turn of the twentieth century. There are wonderful ethnic restaurants all over the place, lots of art and theatre (in four or five languages), great clubs (South Beach) and the city never sleeps. The biggest downside is the traffic, which is horrendous almost all day long.
It's a very vibrant and interesting city in a gorgeous setting, and an exciting place to live.
And we continue to enjoy an unprecedented economic boom, with one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the nation.
I wouldn't dream of leaving.
21 - STM
I went to Miami for an extended period in the early 80s. It was recommended that I learn Spanish first. I would have, except I started dating the Spanish teacher so we never got around to the second lesson although I did learn the odd word. That put me at a distinct disadvantage, especially in the old South Beach area where I was staying.
Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun (especially on the boat owned by the really rich people. I'd like to apologise now if they're reading this for stealing both the ham AND the turkey, but I'm from a convict country and can't help myself) and met plenty of interesting people, including the jewish cab driver from New York who had semi-retired to Miami with his wife and who had been to Australia during WWII.
He refused to accept my fare ($25, which was a lot of money in those days), and insisted on buying me a pastrami sandwich (one of the best things I've ever eaten, including the stolen meat) from his favourite delicatessen. Nights often seemed to be punctuated by gunfire and sirens. I wonder if any of that kind of stuff would happen in the South Beach of today?
22 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Ah, for the good old days.
When I was a youg snotnose, not yet bar mitzvah, I (along with my parents) visited the neighbor lady who had stood in as my grandmother in my childhood. I called her Nanny. She had moved to Miami Beach with her husband, leaving her apartment in Williamsburgh to be rented to yet another Puerto Rican.
I remember some of the conversations we had. Her sister Helem had moved to Florida also and worked in a bakery, always saving the good stuff for her sister. Once my father went along with us to the bakery and Helen bragged about how bagel (the neighborhood was known as Bagel Beach) only cost a nickel instead of eight cents like in New York. My father, ever the good communist that he was, reminded her that there were no unions in Miami Beach. One of my first lessons in economics.
My cousin Raquel took me to vist her relatives in Miami, refugees from the communist takeover in Cuba. I think the relative was a nephew or something. We drove out to their nieghborhood where he had settled, running parking lots, and employing Puerto Ricans, for whom he only had contempt. Castro had confiscated his umbrella factory in la Habana.
He had a beautiful house. It was Hanukkah. The fellow had a big Christmas tree and looked a bit uneasy when he saw me staring at it. Then he gave me a piña colada, the first one I had ever had.
23 - S.T.M
I think my memories don't come close to yours Ruvy ... but geez, I had a good time. I think, from what I can remember. I spent all my money and had to sell my surfboard (I never got to use it in Miami) to get enough money to get back to San Francisco and on the plane home. All this after a fear-and-loathing delivery car trip across the south from San Diego. In Miami, I also have vague memories of a night that began in a bar and ended with me waking up to a bright, humid morning on the side of a highway with a golf cart next to me (which I assume I'd taken for a little drive at some stage of the proceedings) ... I was so hungover I just moved to a park next door and went back to sleep. It was rush hour. A woman with two kids saw me and pulled her children away quickly and left the park. Later, I realised the hair on one side of my head was flat and the other side was sticking up, plus I only had one shoe.
When the police came they asked me if I knew anything about the STOLEN golf cart. In all honesty, I could look them in the eye and tell them I didn't. But I also didn't tell them that I was from a country full of the descendents of thieves and rogues. I just hope that if it WAS me, I wasn't driving it on the proper side of the road, as they don't in America and you have to keep to the right.
24 - Clavos
STM,
I wish I'd known you in those days! That sounds like my kind of revel!
I just hope that if it WAS me, I wasn't driving it on the proper side of the road, as they don't in America and you have to keep to the right.
Probably wouldn't have mattered where you drove it; even to the police. As Dave Barry, a popular local humorist and columnist for the Miami Herald once wrote in a piece about the local traffic:
"Miami is a city populated by people from all 23 (?) Latin American countries, and each one drives according to the customs of his home country."
And it's true. If you see someone ahead of you on the multi-lane expressway (pronounced ehprehway here) suddenly stick their arm out the window, languidly wiggle their fingers, and then cross four lanes at once, they're probably Brazilian; that's exactly how I see them drive in Rio and Sao Paulo.
BTW, an interesting piece in this morning's paper points out that the people like Tancredo, who don't like the way Miami looks today, had better get used to it, because that's the way the whole country is going to look in a couple of decades. For evidence, the author points to the rapidly growing Hmong population in Minnesota, and the influx of Africans in Maine.
Funny how a nation full of immigrants is so resistant to the most recently arrived ones...
25 - Nancy
Miami can be a very fun place; it's been awhile since I've been down there, but I enjoyed it. My area, like Miami, is hugely mixed. It's like living in a giant 'fiesta' bowl; we have everyone from Afghanistan to Zululand here, and then some. I find the multiplicity of cultures (& especially cuisines) to be a wonderful thing. There's always something to learn, something to do, something to see, with all these different peoples.
To my mind, the illegals issue is not connected with the above. I welcome the variety of people - as long as they're here legally. The issue of illegals (which are becoming an overwhelming nuisance here as well) is entirely separate & apart from the issue of lots of different cultures etc. in an area.