I would like to comment on the “Your View” opinion piece “Assimilation.” I would first like to start off by suggesting the author of this piece actually learn and understand what assimilation is. Through a simple Google search, assimilation in the American culture is defined as “a much contested notion whereby on entering a new country immigrant groups are encouraged, through social and cultural practices and/or political machinations, to adopt the culture, values, and social behaviors of the host nation in order to benefit from full citizenship status.”

The author of the piece that appears in the TR made a reference that assimilation has gone by the wayside due to “When you have multiple languages that can’t communicate you don’t have a country.” This is erroneous. Clearly, by the improper use of grammar, the author themselves are not fluent in English. Does that mean they are not assimilated? No. Assimilation has nothing to do with language.

They further go on to say that our politicians couldn’t write a script any better on how to destroy a country in the name of compassion and cheap labor. Again, these are assumptions based on feelings and not facts.

We can all agree China is a super power. How many languages are spoken there? 302 in a country of over 1.5 billion people. Yet, they can communicate with the people just fine and maintain their country to their standards. The author fails to realize assimilation is for the immigrant, not the natural citizen of the United States.

I am quite shocked that the TR would even publish such a piece. I am all for free speech, but when that speech is riddled with hate and racism, the local town newspaper should not be a platform to express it. If the author is so concerned about people speaking another language besides English, may I suggest they be part of the solution instead of feeding the hate machine of racism.

Volunteer your time as an ESL teacher or, better option, learn a second language yourself so you can better communicate with your neighbors. If neither of those options work for you, then quietly sit down and keep your opinion to yourself. Personally, I love living in a community that has multiple languages besides English, but racism has no part in our community and has no part in our local newspaper. Do better.