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.MEXIFORNIA Victor Davis Hanson 18ing that for two centuries has helped other immigrants to theUnited States—language immersion, autonomy from governmentassistance, rapid assumption of an American identity, and eageracceptance of mainstream American culture—has either been dis-counted as passé or embraced only halfheartedly.The backward-looking new ideology about Mexicanimmigration is obsessed with the racial prejudice and economicexploitation of the past—a wound repeatedly scrutinized by com-fortable elites, but clearly not much of a hindrance to the millionsof impoverished Mexicans and Indians who still risk their livesdaily to reach the promised land of America, apparently glad toescape the wretchedness of their native land.When ethnic chauvinism is preached by our elites (who oftendo not really practice it themselves), it creates situations with realconsequences.Brothers with Mexican surnames get scholarships,while their half-siblings with equivalent records but non-Latinonames do not.Friends of four decades suddenly drift apartbecause one is made to feel that his commitment to assimilation issomehow retrograde or proof of false consciousness.Our sense ofhistory, both national and familial, is stolen from us—a longsuf-fering grandmother born in 1890 who worked hard is no longerremembered as a unique individual, but is categorized along withmillions of anonymous others as simply an agent of past oppres-sion.Most Californians of all backgrounds understand thesegrowing social and cultural costs that ultimately originate fromtheir dependence on seemingly limitless cheap labor—the Devil’sbargain we have made to avoid cutting our own lawns, watchingour own kids, picking our peaches, laying our tile and cleaning ourtoilets.But despite the benefits that flow from the bargain, theyare still ill at ease for having made it, although, because of fearsthat they will be disparaged as illiberal, they seldom voice openlywhat they feel.This situation led to successful ballot initiativesthat cut off aid to illegals, ended affirmative action and curtailed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]