800-lb Gorilla Explained
AIM Column | By Bethany Stotts | May 14, 2008
America is not exceptional for its birth rates, but the beneficiary of immigrants’ large families.
With political fragmentation at home and distrust abroad, how can Americans successfully advocate for themselves? Several contributors for Understanding America: The Anatomy of an Exceptional Nation explained at an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) conference what they feel are the factors underlying foreigners’ skewed perceptions.
“The stakes for understanding America could hardly be higher. For
better or worse, America is the 800-lb gorilla in every room in the
world. When it has an itch, the world scratches,” write the editors of Understanding America.
“Today, American politics often seem to be polarized between those who
see this country through the eyes of a hard-core liberal or a
rock-ribbed conservative,” they argue.
Martha Bayles, a Boston College faculty member and
cultural critic, argues that Hollywood and the entertainment industry
have abandoned their original “tacit understanding” with the government
that, in exchange for open foreign markets, they would represent
America positively abroad. Many of the misperceptions of American
culture are perpetuated by this industry, she argues. She said of
television shows that Americans “are often portrayed as single people,
people on their own, mavericks, renegades, people with no particular
ties to any kind of community.” She added, “Now that is—we adjust for
that in America…But I think it is a severe distortion to people
overseas.”
Reading from a study of 60 Mexicans’ views on the U.S., Bayles quoted the author as saying
“People who watch U.S. television shows, attend Hollywood movies, and
listen to pop music cannot help but believe that we are a nation in
which we have sex with strangers regularly, where we wander the streets
well-armed and prepare to shoot our neighbors at any provocation, and
where the lifestyle to which we aspire is one of rich cocaine-snorting
decadent sybarites.”
This perception is so prevalent that Hollywood pokes fun at its own violent messages. In Rush Hour 3, the French cab driver refuses to drive Detective James Carter around Paris because he reviles
Americans’ violent behavior. For comedic effect, the cab driver later
adopts a “super spy” attitude and revels in the the glory of—like an American—being willing to shoot strangers for no reason.
Professor Orlando Patterson believes that foreigners are likely to misperceive American racial
politics because, unlike in many other nations, African-Americans have
been significantly integrated into the elite classes. “The contrast
with America is striking and we have a long way to go in terms of
claiming integration of our elites, but the role of Blacks and other
minorities in our political life has no parallel elsewhere,” said the Harvard Professor. “The myth of black homogeneity and the myth of persisting
racism, as well as the opposing myth [that racism has ended] …they are
all things which confound foreigners. The point is that there is
persistent racism in this country, but there has been extraordinary
change in white attitudes in this regard,” he argued.
Patterson observed that African-Americans have been primarily embraced
culturally but not socially. This leads to their dominance of the arts.
“So these are the paradoxes which I explored and which puzzles
outsiders because, as Martha pointed out, if you are a foreigner you
would think that America is at least 50 percent black if you are
exposed mainly to its popular culture,” he said.
Professor Linda Waite’s research unearthed a surprising conclusion—America is not exceptional
for its birth rates, but the beneficiary of immigrants’ large families.
“So you can argue—and we do argue—that, in a sense, this American
exceptionalism is free-riding on the fertility of immigrants, on their
labor, on their values and on their time. And that is especially true
for Mexican-American immigrants,” said the University of Chicago professor. She later continued, “And so in a sense, I argue in the
paper that American exceptionalism, certainly in fertility, is really
Hispanic exceptionalism.” According to Waite’s presentation, the
average U.S. fertility rate is at 2.1, but when broken down by racial
categories, the Hispanic dominance becomes apparent:
- Hispanic fertility is 2.82,
- African-American 2.02,
- Asian Pacific is 1.9,
- and Caucasian is 1.85.
However, as Waite discussed, when Mexican-Americans are measured
separately, their fertility rates jump to 3.02—above average even for
Hispanics. “So much of this higher fertility of Hispanic immigrants is
due to the higher fertility and family orientation of fairly recent
immigrants. It is really a flow of your immigrants into this country,
not the fact that there are people who were born some place else and
moved here when they were infants,” she said.
In other words, Professor Waite argues, it is Latin-American immigrant
populations that keep America’s workplace young and its economy
vibrant.
Bethany Stotts is a Staff Writer for Accuracy in Academia, and can be contacted at
11 Comments | Post a Comment
The original phrased used in the lecture was “white.” European-American would not apply given the criteria used by the speaker. Please view the transcript at AEI for more information.
>>She [Professor Linda Waite] later continued, “And so in a sense, I argue in the paper that American exceptionalism, certainly in fertility, is really Hispanic exceptionalism.”
This would seem to be a largely meaningless statement (well, outright BS, but…), but if “true”:
In Europe, they have Muslim “exceptionalism,” as the Europeans are not reproducing in numbers sufficient to keep native Europeans the majorities in their own countries. I’m reading that while America is trending left, Europe is beginning to wake up and swing to the right, eg, France and Germany!
What’s truly “exceptional” is all the kids born out of wedlock to teenage girls who lack the skills to be mothers when they’re still children themselves!
A side-note: A birth implies sex without a condom (the great liberal panacea), which in large numbers, would imply lots of young people with what are now called Sexually-Transmittted Diseases (STDs). (Well, “venereal” IS a big word, and it’s not like our schools are institutions of learning, anymore. Thankfully, the IRS is finally investigating Teachers Unions for tax violations of a political nature, of which they are clearly guilty as sin.)
From my reading, this is exactly what is happening. It would seem that there would be a certain amount of overlap, where a teenage girl could get pregnant and infected with a STD at the same time.
Does anyone remember when we were admonished in this country to limit the size of our families because we were running out of natural resources?
It wasn’t that long ago and many took heed and now we have smaller families. We did realize that this country has finite resources and that people needed to limit their family size so they could be able to provide for their families.
Somehow, now the ‘smart’ people and our government would like to portray this as a bad thing. We stopped having large families - so now they are saying we need more and more immigrants to make up for the shortfall.
Keep in mind these are people that use a lot of public assistance as well.
At one time, zero population growth was the aim, now it is a danger????
Exploding population growth is not a good thing - it wasn’t in the 70’s and it isn’t now. Our infrastructure is crumbling, our education system is horrid, our healthcare system is so expensive as to be prohibitive to many working people (not the illegals, however), etc.
The really sad thing is that so many people are buying this garbage.
LadyTexan:
Much of the fear about population growth is related to the Social Security system. It relies on a greater number of workers funding the welfare of a lesser number of retirees. As the population ages, there are fewer workers per retiree, so the so-called “surplus” funding created by the Boomers gets depleted.
The fraud is that there is no “surplus,” only a bunch of revenue bonds (i.e., promises to pay from future tax collections) because our Congress insists on spending more to buy votes that keep them in power. Politicians are raising the “breeding deficit” as smokescreen to cover their “fiscal discipline deficit.”
I could go on about the “healthcare crisis” but the model is the same: big government is expensive and bigger government spending and regulation only exacerbates the problem. Not sure who said it, but: “You think healthcare is expensive now, just wait till it’s free.” 
The only answer to government is: Laissez-nous faire! (sp?) Let us alone!
Hyphenated-American is Un-American! It is identity politics at its worst. It is people joining gangs in the hope that their gang becomes the majority in voting power so their thugs (er politicians) can grab power and rule to the advantage of their gang.
Well, thugs are the same regardless of the gang they lead. They only want power for themselves, and once in power, the gang’s wants don’t matter.
American means rational individualism! Individual rights, not collective rights. A Constitution that protects the individual from the government, not one that grants rights to the individual.
I don’t know about immigrants as a whole, but I do know about illegals. For the most part, they pay no taxes - at least no payroll taxes. That little tidbit is missing when we hear about how they are going to prop up SS. It’s hype and just plain lies.
There should be a fear of population growth. There comes a time when the lifeboat is full and we reached that some time ago. WE cannot continue to bring in more and more people and expect to maintain any standarad of living.
We do not have unlimited resources.
Water, fresh water is already a problem in parts of the country.
The quality of air is bad in many parts of the country.
Our infrastructure is overloaded, the water and sewage systems.
Yes, a hyphenated American is a bad thing. It is just another way the government keeps is divided. Their biggest fear is that the people will actually get together and compare notes. So they give us things like the hyphenated people, the mythical political parties, etc.
Healthcare will be much more expensive and much less effective when it becomes ‘free’, I agree.
I am noting a tie-in between illegal immigration and life after the Civil Rights Act was passed.
In both cases, what we were “sold” turned out to be false, while what we had feared turned out to be true.
In the 90s, Peter Brimelow’s book “Alien Nation” (not the TV series or anything to do with it) noted that in the 60s, when this scam was set up, Tedward “Killer Drunk” Kennedy assured Americans that all the bad things predicted would not happen, while all the good things predicted would. Tedward, as usual, had it bass-ackwards. All the bad things DID happen, while ALL the good things DID NOT happen. Ted should stick with what he does best: getting drunk and womanizing. He is a disgrace to his family and the US.
Also in the 60s, we were assured that Affirmative Action was a “temporary” measure, (they didn’t mention that “temporary” meant until around 2020), and that there would be no race-based criterion, but if two equal applicants of different races applied for the same job, the minority person would be hired. Is this Affirmative Action as you have personally experienced or read constant examples of?
Okay, so after realizing the reality of the situation, we are told that it’s OUR fault because we’re racists and xenophobes.
Personally, I believe that in any large group with a common trait (race, gender, religion, etc), you will find the good, the bad, and the ugly. Hitler was white…and he’s about as ugly as it gets!
There are black people I respect…and those that I wouldn’t want living within 100 miles of me. (I can think of white people I feel the same way about in both respects.) Obama, playing the race card constantly by bringing it up himself, is simply not presidential material, although he is a communist sympathizer. Check out his gang…er, staff. Look into his mentor during his formative years in Hawaii: Frank Marshall Davis, anti-American, pro-Russian (worked with Russia), and a member of the Communist Party USA. Add in the assorted terrorists and lunatic “reverend,” and any rational person who knows the truth couldn’t possibly support the guy.
Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? I’d surely prefer him to bi-polar hothead Insane McCain. The last time I checked, he’s black, too.
I have zero problems with legal Mexican immigrants PERIOD. They are hard workers from what I hear of the guys who hire ‘em and have them do things around my house, eg, a new roof… and they didn’t leave all the trash lying around the sides of the house (many roofers leave it lying there), but cleaned up and did an excellent job. What’s not to like?
I have BIG problems with illegal immigrants, especially when illegal immigration tends to be associated with terrorists, drugs, and illegals, at times escorted by Mexican Army vehicles. This is not only illegal, it’s unconstitutional.
Check out Article 4, Section 4, which specifically states that “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion;...” Note: Invasion. (The upper case is in the original.)
Okay, we’re not supposed to believe in Intelligent Design (the old teological argument: if there’s a clock, there must be a clock-maker; “teleological” is defined as “exhibiting or relating to design or purpose especially in nature”), but they want to sail the ethanol and Global Warming hoaxes past us? They take us for fools…and entirely too often they’re entirely correct!
Climate Change? Uh, exactly how do we stop something that’s been going on as long as the earth has existed?
Informed Americans realize that we’ve been duped by our politicians, since we seem to have run slap out of America-loving patriots.
“Conservative” is being turned into a slur. As a Conservative, I believe we should be one nation under God (given that free expression of religion is the first right granted us under the First Amendment), although I have no problems with members of other faiths unless they want to bomb Israel and the Great Satan (this, of course, would be us), taxes should be low, while our military should be strong, and the gov’t should keep it’s collective nose OUT of the capitalist system of economics that made us the the great country that everyone else in the world wants to immigrate to. I don’t want factories dumping toxic waste into our rivers and lakes, but beyond the obvious atrocities, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
That’s why we’re in trouble now. Gov’t (under Jimmuh Cottuh) decided that people who can’t afford a mortgage should be able to get one, anyway. So, our financial geniuses finally got around to really screwing the pooch under Bush. Jimmuh is clearly senile and should be institutionalized, preferably in an asylum for the criminally insane, where he belongs. Short of that, he should be charged and convicted of violating the Logan Act: private citizens (such as Jimmuh, who enjoyed one horrific term in office) are forbidden to negotiate with foreign powers, as has with the MidEast terrorist regimes lately and with North Korea while Clinton was defiling the Oval Office. John Kerry did the same thing by going to Paris to encourage the North Vietnamese delegation.
I don’t blame Mexicans for wanting to come to America: I would, too…but there’s a legal process for this, which is ignored, just as the illegal immigration is ignored as much as our corrupt politicans can get away with. You will probably remember the disaster that was the McCain/Kennedy “Amnesty” Bill…and how it crashed and burned when a large number of Americans let their elected officials know exactly what they thought of it, probably suggesting that this was NOT the way to get their votes!
I hope Hillary stays in the race as long as possible so that she will have every opportunity to expose Obama as unfit for president and certainly not Commander in Chief of our military.
I’m not a McCain fan: he just happens to be the least of three evils. At least he promises to work for more tax cuts and not letting the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010.
I’m gonna miss Laura, though.
We have been led down the garden path for many, any years.
Back when the Civil Rights (which was anything but civil or right) was put into place, anyone even suggesting many things were not right, were attacked in a most vicious way.
It was much the same when people began to speak out against illegal immigration. When I first found the internet and began speaking out about illegal immigration, it was amazing the names I was called - unbelievable.
What was so amusing, if there is anything amusing about it, was hearing the rhetoric change over the years as the flood reached other areas of the country. One could have traced the flow of illegals just by the change in attitude when people began having to live with and support them.
While I think we need to seriously rethink our legal immigration process, I don’t think Mexicans work any harder than anyone else. Some work hard and some don’t. Some are great people, some are not. As you say, they are just a group of people, some good and some bad. As for the roofers, I’m wondering if they were truly legal. Most roofing companies around here employ illegals. My roof was damaged 3 years ago. I still can’t find a company that doesn’t hire illegals to re-roof my home.
The subject of illegals, as people, is something I do know something about. I had a ringside seat to an area becoming inundated with them. I say my neighbors put out of work. I saw the schools fill with children of the illegals. I saw neighborhoods taken over and the cities allowed illegals to do things they would not allow citizens to do in the way of zoning violations. I saw many things change in the town because no one was willing to stand up tot he behavior of these people. These people worked for THE CORPORATION in the area and everyone was afraid of loosing their jobs.
I know a lot of them. I love some of them. I would send them all back to Mexico tomorrow if I had the choice.
People want to come to this country for many reasons, certainly freedom is still a part of it. Right now, though, the main object is financial gain and the fact they know they will be given all many of benefits if they just make it here. Without those benefits, the illegals could not stay and produce as many children as they do.
Not an original thought, but Mexico is a rich nation. It has many, many natural resources, great climates for many kinds of agriculture, beautiful beaches for tourist industry. If these people want a better life, we need to encourage them to stay in Mexico and demand that those 5 rich families loosen their grip on everything down there and allow the people to share in the wealth of the nation.
It is to our advantage, Mexico’s and the world, that we do something about illegal immigration. It is the most serious and most destructive thing facing this country today. WE can survive a terrorist attack - God forbid - we did and we can again. We can survive a depression - God forbid - but we did and we can again. We cannot survive an invasion of millions of people who have no love for this country, no respect for this country, no desire to be a part of this country, no respect for its people. An invasion that is being encouraged by the leaders of their homeland. One of those leaders made a speech here in America quite a few years ago and told his ‘people in America’ to go to the polls and vote - ‘and when you vote, vote with Mexico in mind.’
That we cannot survive.
Coming back to Martha Bayles’ comments about media and America’s overseas image:
I must agree. But I find it odd that most Americans can’t seem to see how serious the problem is.
The way you entertain yourselves (TV, movies, etc) is just not understood outside America. Your movies and TV shows are filled with foul-mouthed sex-obsessed hicks venting juvenile emotions; businessmen are almost always corrupt; military people are trigger-happy war-mongerers; your cities are gang-infested, with lone loonies preying on random victims… It’s not a pretty picture.
We used to believe that travel broadens the mind. But that’s not necessarily so, especially when foreign consumers of American media-mulch visit the USA. Why, the cars are just the same as they are in the movies, the people look and speak just like they do in the movies, the buildings and street scenes are just like in the movies ... ergo, Americans are boorish, bigoted, personally and socially corrupt, racist, arrogant, &c;, &c;.
I don’t know how a free society cleans up its act, but your apparent inability to distinguish freedom from licence is doing you a lot of damage.
(I’m an African living in Africa.)
I cannot argue with you on the state of this country right now.
There used to be a question of ‘does art imitate life or does life imitate art?’ Many in this country, imitate our ‘art’ - which is as you say, filled with foul-mouthed, sex obsessed people. I do take exception to the inclusion of ‘hicks’. I consider myself proudly a hick and right now, some of us old hicks are still holdouts.
It’s not only movies, music, TV - it is the books. I read mainly for pleasure, escape if you will, mostly whodunits. There are so many writers today who are pretty good at writing those mysteries - but they seem to have to add a lot of sex, unnecessary violence, and deviant behavior. These things have very little to do with the story, the mystery. Certainly to the extent some do, the idea could have been expressed without going into explicit detail. There are a lot of books I purchase and then cannot read because of this. It is almost like the publishing houses demand that there be a certain amount of that in order to get it published.
Back when they first began using the ‘f’ word in movies, it was funny to watch. In the first 20 or so minutes of the movie, the word would be used a hundred or more times. Then it pretty much disappeared from the dialogue. It was like they had to insert it so many times and they got it out of the way in the first few minutes.
There was a copy of a speech that made the rounds some years ago in this country. It was purportedly a speech made by Stalin (or one of the Russian leaders of the 50/60’s). It stated more or less, that the communists would never have to fight the US. All they had to do was take away their belief in country, in God, turn them on to promiscious sex and drugs and they could walk in and take over the country. We are just about ripe for the picking, I’d say, perhaps not by communism, but by anyone who chooses.
May 15 at 11:28 am | #1 | Link
I notice you use ‘Hispanic’, ‘African-American’, ‘Asian Pacific’, and ‘Caucasian’. Rather than Caucasian, please use ‘European American’.
Thanks
Art