In the Hispanic Challenge, Samuel P. Huntington makes a passionate argument about why he believes that Latin@s, particularly Hispanic immigrants pose a threat to the American culture. This argument focuses on separating Latin@ immigrants from other immigrant groups and then examining how they pose a cultural, social, and political threat to America. Although Huntington provides a compelling argument, his simplified understanding of the Latin@ identity and a unified American culture led him an inaccurate understanding of Latin@s in American society.
In this article Huntington creates a narrative that makes it seem as if all Latin@s in America share a single identity. He then uses Mexican immigrants as the representation of this single identity. Although Huntington does acknowledge the …show more content…
In The Hispanic Challenge, it is assumed that all Latin@s follow similar paths in American society. (Huntington, 2000: 42) Although there are trends for Latin@s assimilation and life trajectory, there is not one, single, path. Many Latin@s occupy different positions in American society. This is determined primarily based on class background (Vallejo, 2012: 4). Huntington creates a binary between linear assimilation theory and no assimilation. He doesn’t examine more complex means of assimilation like spatial assimilation or delayed assimilation. Although many Latin@s fit into Huntington’s description, he fails to account for the growing Latin@ middle class that is primarily successfully assimilating into the dominate American culture. (Agius, 2012: 177). Huntington also uses rhetoric that makes is seems as if all Latin@s are new immigrants, in reality, Latin@s have had a significant presence in the United States since the annexation of Mexico in 1848 (Gonzalez, 2011). Although there was a significant rise in Latin@ immigration in the middle of the 20th century that has mainly continued, many Latin@s have been in the United States for centuries. The
In this article Huntington creates a narrative that makes it seem as if all Latin@s in America share a single identity. He then uses Mexican immigrants as the representation of this single identity. Although Huntington does acknowledge the …show more content…
In The Hispanic Challenge, it is assumed that all Latin@s follow similar paths in American society. (Huntington, 2000: 42) Although there are trends for Latin@s assimilation and life trajectory, there is not one, single, path. Many Latin@s occupy different positions in American society. This is determined primarily based on class background (Vallejo, 2012: 4). Huntington creates a binary between linear assimilation theory and no assimilation. He doesn’t examine more complex means of assimilation like spatial assimilation or delayed assimilation. Although many Latin@s fit into Huntington’s description, he fails to account for the growing Latin@ middle class that is primarily successfully assimilating into the dominate American culture. (Agius, 2012: 177). Huntington also uses rhetoric that makes is seems as if all Latin@s are new immigrants, in reality, Latin@s have had a significant presence in the United States since the annexation of Mexico in 1848 (Gonzalez, 2011). Although there was a significant rise in Latin@ immigration in the middle of the 20th century that has mainly continued, many Latin@s have been in the United States for centuries. The