California: ¿a colonial-settler entity?

[David Walters <dwalters@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Jose's post points out a truism about the the US and the West of the US
specifically.

A few points...

The state of New Mexico IS majority Latino at least by sur-name...

In California, Jose writes:

"And I was thinking of this looking at the polls on the drivers license
issue in California. Hispanics who are registered voters are
overwhelmingly FOR; Anglos are AGAINST."

No one would dispute this. However, it's also true, as far as electoral
politics is concerned, that an overwhelming majority  of Latinos (or
"Hispanics" as the press calls them) are also AGAINST the Recall and
FOR Bustamante...and for Anglos it's the opposite. So we have a ways to
go on political development, no doubt.

I once mentioned this before but there has also been shift in how
Anglos see Latinos and "whose is a Latino", with sur-names no longer a
real criteria. I have witnessed over the last 20 years, and the trend
is a lot longer than that, where Chicanos and 2nd and 3rd  generation
immigrants are increasingly becoming "Anglicized", or "White", sort of
like what happened to the Irish. It's a slow but discernible trend.
More and more Chicano workers for example don't speak Spanish, oppose
bilingual/bicultural education and are considered "White" by Anglos and
African-Americans. It's effects politically, the recent recall election
notwithstanding, have been showing up in all sorts of polls and votes,
from immigration rights (Prop 187) to votes for Republicans (Former
Gov.Wilson's first election). Just a thought...

David


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