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Linda Chavez, writing in today’s Wall Street Journal, explains that Hispanics assimilate quite thoroughly [2] into American society and the American economy. Here’s her concluding paragraph, which makes an especially interesting point:
Finally, consider that ultimate indicator of assimilation,
intermarriage. One in four Hispanics marries a non-Hispanic white
spouse, but nearly one-third of all U.S.-born Hispanics who are married
have non-Hispanic spouses; and the percentage is slightly higher among
college-educated Hispanic women (35%). There is a curious, and
provocative fact buried in all this. The Population Reference Bureau
notes in its 2005 study of intermarriage that, because most children of
intermarriages are reported as Hispanic on Census data, "Hispanic
intermarriage may have been a factor in the phenomenal growth of the
U.S. Hispanic population in recent years, and it has important
implications for future growth and characteristics of the Hispanic
population." In other words, the widely cited prediction that by
mid-century Hispanics will represent fully one third of the U.S.
population fails to take into account that increasing numbers of these
so-called Hispanics will have only one grandparent or great-grandparent
of Hispanic heritage. At which point Hispanic ethnicity will mean
little more than German, Italian or Irish ethnicity does today.
Her entire article is worth reading (but, unfortunately, a paid subscription to the WSJ is required to do so). This article inspired me to send the following letter to the editors of that newspaper:
It’s inspiring to read
Linda Chavez’s report on how well Hispanics assimilate into America’s
society and economy ("The Great Assimilation Machine," June 5). This
achievement is especially remarkable given that the employment in
America of several million Hispanics – the "illegals" – is formally
prohibited. Imagine how much higher still their earnings and their
rates of employment, homeownership, and education would be if no
employer had to fear prosecution for the "crime" of hiring any willing
worker.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux