Since I don’t watch Meet the Press anymore, I only heard about Tom Brokaw’s comments second-hand, basically that he said something offensive about “brown grandbabies” and the Hispanic community. Peeps, I was NOT prepared for the full clip. It’s really bad. The conversation is about the shifting demographics of America, what’s generally called “the browning of America,” meaning that within most of our lifetimes, white people could and will make up less than 50% of America. The conversation was specifically about the Hispanic community, and Spanish-language immigrants. Here’s the clip:
.@tombrokaw's comments give credence to white supremacist ideology and are not rooted in reality. They have no place in our political discourse.
We call on Tom Brokaw to apologize. Not because we're offended. Because he should be sorry to have said it at all. pic.twitter.com/rJDLiTrNT9
— Latino Victory (@latinovictoryus) January 28, 2019
Here are the quotes:
Brokaw said when he “pushes” Americans on the subject of immigration, “They say, ‘Well, I don’t know whether I want brown grand-babies.’ That’s also a part of it, the intermarriage that’s going on and the cultures that are conflicting with each other. I also happen to believe that the Hispanics should work harder at assimilation. … You know, they ought not to be just codified in their communities but make sure that all their kids are learning to speak English and that they feel comfortable in the communities. And that’s going to take outreach on both sides, frankly.”
First of all, put aside the racism and anti-miscegenation for a moment and we’ll come back to it, I swear. But just at a political level, he’s wrong: a significant amount of Hispanic voters have always supported the GOP. President Bush got a lot of votes from Hispanic voters, and you know why? Because he sought them out. Brokaw is only right about the current Trump-led GOP, which is clearly ONLY for white voters. As for the racism and anti-miscegenation… it’s 2019 and a 78-year-old white dude was allowed on one of the most important political shows in America to discuss how his fellow old dudes don’t want brown grandbabies, nor do those fellow old dudes want *anyone* speaking Spanish, ever. This whole thing is a mess.
Brokaw tried to apologize and he just made it worse? Like, it’s really bad.
i feel terrible a part of my comments on Hispanics offended some members of that proud culture
— Tom Brokaw (@tombrokaw) January 27, 2019
Not as “proud” as white Republican bro culture, apparently. He kept going on and on and on
.@tombrokaw’s twitter apology is longer than a CVS receipt pic.twitter.com/mJMhVh36Oi
— Sam Sanders (@samsanders) January 28, 2019
Photos courtesy of WENN/NBC.
So disappointed as I really liked him. Another one cancelled..
The fear of mysegenation he described is true. Liberals are also racist. I am Mexican American, and Mexican culture is primarily conservative. The GOP could make most of them Republicans if they weren’t so rascist. As for Hispanics needing to “make an effort” that is all we do alredy in this
Country. I agree with his take on how Whites, NOT JUST OLD WHITE REPUBLICANS, BUT LIBERAL WHITES, and PEOPLE IN POWER FROM ALL CULTURES, YOUNG AND OLD, don’t want their kids marrying us. It happened to me in my ex’s African American family. I’m a professional who became pregnant with my African American boyfriend in my early 30s. His dad asked if I had health insurance. I was so offended. I was financially independent. When he found out where I worked and what I did and who I knew, he was shocked that I was so accomplished. I didn’t brag about what I did at family events, so he didn’t know. He assumed I was a secretary. It’s like having someone tell a minority, “You are so articulate!” I was a Mexican American woman hearing it from an accomplished African American man. I wish I could say that I disagree with him completely, but it would be a lie.
I’m just so confused with his (and the GOP) argument as a whole… on one hand “we don’t want to mix races and end up with brown grandbabies” (proud brown grandbaby here) and then it’s all “Assimilate into American society faster!” ?!!!!?!?
So you want brown people to stay in their lane but adopt everything that you are? When you look at America historically – a lot (not all) of those immigrant cultures were integrated into society… but it turns out those are only the rules if you’re originally from Europe.
@Christina, I hear your story and empathize with you. My story goes the other way, though — I have married into a Hispanic family, and while they could not be sweeter to my face, his mother has posted really racist things of Facebook (most notably a meme involving an emaciated, unkempt black woman dancing awkwardly to the hat dance song, with the caption, “What happens when you bring a black girl to the party” appeared the day after my husband and I attended a family gathering), and there have been many comments marveling over my speech patterns and how they’re so unlike *other* speech patterns… 😤
It’s so humiliating and painful, but it’s making me *extra* vigilant should we ever have children. I will not ever allow my child to be damaged by racist mind games within their own family, and my husband is super clear on the fact that he needs to be the one to set and enforce boundaries with them. I hope your ex is just as vigilant on the behalf of your child. Inter-minority racism is no joke!
And Tom Brokaw should have already been out of the game. He was a sexual harasser who *retired* but has been popping up all over the place to prove that he can after shaming and silencing his victims. F- him, f- his cohorts who protect him, f- anyone who gave him a platform and didn’t *immediately* challenge his incredibly skewed worldview. We need an ad campaign similar to the Dove and Gillette campaigns called “Grammies and Grampies and the brown/black/we-don’t-care babies they ADORE” because that’s typically what I see happening with non-a*hole grammies and grampies anyway.
Brokaw seems to forget that in the the 1900’s ethnically segregated neighborhoods were the norm. Remember Little Italy, China Town, Little Warsaw, etc? Immigrants want to live and work together because they miss their homeland. They miss their customs, they miss their food. Because they need a support network of people who understand them and their needs. The immigrants he accuses of failing to assimilate didn’t come to America because they “wanted” to, they came because they had to. Violence, oppression and starvation aren’t too far south of our border.
P.S. Green, purple, magenta, or brown, when it comes to grandbabies my 79 year old mom will take them in whatever color they come because she loves, loves, loves them.
Osito, and Megan, you aren’t lying. My Mexican grandmother was incredibly rascist. I’m so sorry that you get that crap from his mom and that your man defends you. He BETTER defend you or he doesn’t deserve you. It is incredibly painful.
All of us need to hear each other. Just this weekend, I was guilty of reposting a meme critical of Trump, but it did it by saying the US is a great country because we elected the first Black President (Obama) and the first developmentally disabled president (Trump). It was stupid. A friend with a developmentally disabled child called me on it, and I apologized and took it down. She was correct, and I feel horrible because I know how much it hurt her on behalf of her child.
Brokaw needs to go away, but he doesn’t because these pundit shows know that ratings will increase when you invite a controversial figure to speak.
Osito I’m trying to reply to you:
I’m also married into a Hispanic family. I’m white. My sister in law is black, she’s also marrying this same family. The family is precious and wonderful, I am so proud that my two children have their Hispanic heritage and culture. But it nearly killed me to see that my black sister in law had some strange tension and issues when she came into the Hispanic family, and it was eye opening. After a while I saw it was clearly racism among some of the older members of the family. I am vigilant about racism in my own white family and I don’t give a f*ck about offending old racist uncles, I’ll call it out and I’ve fallen out with family because I’m not here for it. I’ve always been disgusted by it.
But I didn’t know it would be in the Hispanic family I married. Which sounds ignorant now, because I was just making assumptions.
But mostly I want to join you in the mission, the absolute MISSION of raising our kids to be free of this racism and ignorance. My husband is now more vigilant than ever in his family. We have made sure that our sister in law knows she is absolutely valued, respected and cherished for who she is. We are excited to raise all these “Brown grandchildren” (I still CAN NOT BELIEVE that shit came out of Tom Brokaw mouth on TV) together, to celebrate their diversity. And my children will always see, from me, that we don’t listen to racism. Even from our elders. Even from our friends. No one, ever. We speak up!!
Totally agree Christina. I lived in Mexico for several years back in the 70’s. My mother was born in Mexico of white Canadian parents, my grandfather worked in Tampico for one of the big oil companies. While I was growing up in Canada my mother used to babble constantly about how she missed Mexico, love Mexicans and their culture and couldn’t wait to go back. So my parents decided we should move there when I finished high school. Long story short I got a Mexican boyfriend and my parents were LIVID. They refused to speak to him and tried to get me to break things off with him. It was horrible. I eventually did break up with him but for other reasons (drinking problem) but I’ll never forget the hypocrisy of it.
@CharliePenn, your reply to Osito brought a tear to my eye. You are wonderful, and I admire you forever because of everything you said.
I’m laughing to myself because I know some racist hearts that have been changed * by “brown grandbabies”.
* Or at least opened up a little. Every generation gets a little better, but we have a long way to go yet.
No so different than others in his generation. GWB,Sr. used to talk (albeit fondly) of his “little brown grandbabies, by way of Jeb. Shocked me then, to hear that, still shocks even more now!
Last year, women at NBC were pressured to say that he did not sexually harass anyone.
I always thought that things would get better when this generation (Brokaw’s and Trump’s) dies off, but then we got the Covington kids … White supremacy is real. They are not letting it go.
Well, it’s not in their perceived interest to let go. That said, the GOP should be having a massive influx of Latin voters, due to demographic and societal stuff but seem determined to ensure that all those people create their own party instead. It’s almost like hate is an insanely destructive dead-end.
We also have the Parkland kids. Generation Z is the most progressive generation ever. By and large, there position has been “you do you.” Hopefully the Covington kids are an aberration and not a growing trend.
I’m really encourage by MOST young people, they seem to just get that people are all equal and shouldn’t be judged on race, gender, sexuality, etc, more than most earlier generations.
There are still children being taught to hate though, and right now is going to be especially bad.
I’m so encouraged by my kids. They make me want to be better.
I’m of this generation, and the truth is that this is not the case. We’re not that progressive. People who assume as much don’t know about things like Gamergate, about how web forums like 4Chan is responsible for some of the most violent and virulent racism that I’ve ever seen. My generation singlehandedly resurrected out and out neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements that, even a generation or two ago, would not have been a thing. For every Parkland kid, there’s an equivalent Ben Shapiro or Jacob Wohl or Tomatillo Laromie. They’re not so much a growing trend as they are a grown trend that isn’t going away. :/ It’s depressing.
Why would they “let it go”? It benefits them doesn’t it? They see equality as a punishment. People think the next generation will be better but it seems things are going backwards…we’ll have even more racists.
“I aways thought things would get better when this generation dies off. ”
What a disgusting thing to say. Generalize much?
Stick your head in the sand if you want to; the rest of us won’t. Brokaw, Trump and countless others of that generation keep trying to go back to that time (of segregation and no rights for people of color). You’re entitled to your opinion and I’m entitled to mine. Peace!
I always felt this way too. Racism will eventually die out, also not sure now. I also thought it was better to know where people stand. Now to be honest, I’m not so sure about that either. Trump has really brought the vocal crazy out in people, and I just want to say stfu to all these people. I kind of preferred when “polite” people just didn’t say it out loud. It’s like they knew it was wrong, and now they hear it so much it’s okay to have your say no matter how stupid your say is. Plus it just fans the flames of the crazies, and I’m tired of ignorant racist comments. So Brokaw STFU!!!!!
Uh, please tell me Chuck Todd didn’t just gloss over this? I can’t watch the clip but I’m really hoping somebody called him out for this. Jesus, between the racism and the sexual harassment he’s an even more trash person than I thought.
Dogmom!! THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT SCANDALS!!! He maintained full denial, no!? Thank you, thank you. I was staring at his stupid face w/his stupid glasses wondering why I felt like punching him in his damn face!!
Why does this POS get more chances? FIRE HIM!! Such an out of touch racist moron. I have lived in Southern CA for over 30 years. Through my former career, I communicated with many people from a variety of countries, many of them Latin American. It’s a crock that Latinos don’t learn English. Sure, you’re going to have some people who cannot or will not learn, but perhaps we don’t know their reasons. And that’s their business. I bet Brokaw didn’t mention that a lot of Latino people usually those in their 30’s or so catch hell from their elders (and complete strangers, I might add) for never learning Spanish because they grew up here. There is no way to make everyone happy. Everyone has their stinking opinions…so be it. I say, hey if you’re lunching with your family and all speaking Tagalog, who cares? More power to diversity. I love languages. If I’d been smarter, I would’ve studied them earlier.
Again, my babbling. It’s early here. But 1) FIRE BROKAW 2) Just let people do their own thing; speak their own languages – ask them to teach you a few words. That’s always fun. And 3) Someome mentioned CHUCK TODD, I believe? Girl, I nearly vomited when he appeared on Conan shortly after Drumpf’s inauguration. Chuck sat there flapping his gums, acting like this was someone we needed to give a chance to & he was also trying to highlight Drumpf’s talents. I twatted at Chuck Todd that night & told him that his interview on Conan disgusted me. So, yeah…I believe he probably rolled over and played dead when Brokaw started croaking out his bullshit. Pfft!!!
Ah, yes. Hispanics should just speak English and “work harder at assimilation”. Just like how white did when they first came to this country. Right…?
JENNS 100% – the hypocrisy is astounding, no?
His mentality is terrible even beyond the inherent ignorance, racism, and hypocrisy it reveals. One of the reasons most Americans can’t speak multiple languages is because we’re not regularly exposed to anything but English. At this point encouraging immigrants and their families to continue helping this practice is really only going to hamstring future generations of Americans.
The ability to speak multiple languages is incredibly valuable and will only continue to be so. The people who’ve just immigrated here may struggle to speak perfect English and assimilate, though I think that’s overblown honestly, but their children and grandchildren don’t. They’re raised with both and are usually able to switch between the two flawlessly.
Encouraging them to only speak English when in mixed company, for lack of a better term, just perpetuates this idea that Americans don’t really need to be bilingual because everyone speaks English. Meanwhile, in a globalized world, who would you hire… the dude bro who’s like “everyone speaks English now” or the bilingual child of immigrants who can converse with your customers and colleagues in their own language?
Ohplease, THANK YOU. Sadly I think A LOT of people live in ignorance never having been told that the Aztecs ALSO had VAST libraries of codices that were burned by the Spanish. This was a genocide like no other, the history and culture were literally BURNED. Some good info here if anyone’s curious https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/early-cultures/aztec-mexica/a/codex-borgia
Also, and I say this as a Texas resident: a lot of the US used to BE PART OF MEXICO. So the idea that all the Latino folks in the US should be assimilating is kind of crazy. I live on the edge of Houston and just taking a drive one weekend afternoon ran across a mess of historical stuff celebrating our departure from Mexican rule in the 1830’s. So, hey! Latino citizens of the US here in Texas are the ones who have CENTURIES of years of roots here, not the Anglos.
TX MOM don’t even get me started. I’m a Mexican American living in Texas who looks more Mexican and can’t even tell you how many times I want to shout WE WERE HERE FIRST to ppl when they say or I read, Go back to your country, comments!!!!! My God, the stupidity and ignorance is unbelievable. Sadly my mom was raised to believe to have an accent was bad and was punished in school if she spoke Spanish so she raised us to speak primarily English. It was such a disservice to us because now I struggle to speak Spanish and I know my fellow Mexicans judge me for it. I don’t think there’s enough discussion on how Mexican Americans struggle so much to fit in to be seen as Americans then we are judged by our own ppl for selling out and giving up our culture. We cannot win!!! I love my country, I was born and bred American but that doesn’t mean I don’t love my Mexican heritage. The current racism and hate in America just makes me more pissed off and lost in how to deal with it all.
TX Mom and JB, EVERYTHING YOU SAID. I look white. My Afro-Mexican daughter has been told to “go back to her country” in the liberal Bay Area many times. She looks part Asian.
Growing up in Southern California, I had a
Rainbow tribe of friends of all cultures working through all of this: White, Black, Mexican, Asian…. I am grateful to all of the people who accepted me.
Jb, you wrote, “how many times I want to shout WE WERE HERE FIRST”
This is kind of gross, since Mexico was also a colonial settler society (and, like the US, has a colonial-settler legacy of racism toward and marginalization of its indigenous communities, not to mention serious colorism in its society more broadly).
So, to put it bluntly: “You” (Mexico/Mexicans) weren’t there first, INDIGENOUS / NATIVE AMERICANS were. But their lands were STOLEN from them and renamed “Mexico” (even as their libraries and written histories were obliterated, their culture outlawed and destroyed).
Vesuvia,
Many Mexicans ARE indigenous or indigenous and Spanish + African or some variation. Calling what she said “gross” exposes your own blindspots.
@vesuvia
What? The majority of Mexicans are descended from the Indigenous people that lived there before Spain colonized. Sorry if that’s not indigenous enough for you *eyeroll*
“Many Mexicans ARE indigenous”
So? Many USians are indigenous or part indigenous as well. Doesn’t change the facts — both the US and Mexico are colonial settler states and both identities, USian and Mexican, are born of colonialism and white supremacy. (And both countries, not surprisingly, have serious racism problems.)
“The majority of Mexicans are descended from the Indigenous people that lived there before Spain colonized.”
Sure, Jan. That’s why it would make NO sense for us to talk about Mexico persecuting its indigenous peoples. Oh wait! https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22417&LangID=E
Also, just for you:
http://theconversation.com/study-reveals-racial-inequality-in-mexico-disproving-its-race-blind-rhetoric-87661
Anyway, nice try deflecting from the truth: the government of Mexico claimed Texas before the US government but colonizers are colonizers, regardless of the European country that spawned them. the ONLY legitimate “native” inhabitants are the indigenous peoples who lived on that land long before Mexico was a gleam in the Spanish king’s eyes.
Hey, Vesuvia–
Native Americans had no libraries and no written languages; otherwise, right, they were first–before the Spanish, before the French, before the English, & etc.
Hey “BeanieBean”, ever heard of the Maya? Their LANGUAGE? Their WRITTEN DOCUMENTS that were burned by the Spanish?
I hate when people spread misinformation.
“Work to assimilate “ – but only as far as makes us comfortable. Otherwise, stay in your place: don’t you brown people dare think you’re white, or try to marry anyone white and mix your brown genes with ours!
This infuriates me. My (Irish) husband’s sister has just welcomed her first with her Vietnamese husband – and all the grandparents can talk about are the baby’s “Asian” eyes! Ugh.
In all seriousness why would he say this? Is he losing it? Is he trying to appeal to Trumpers?
No, that’s what he/they believe. People are just not hiding their thoughts anymore. Trump made it okay to voice them.
+1 – it’s what they believe.
And I say bring on the comments! It’s good to get an accurate list of problematic people. Honestly, as much as it hurts, I think having Trump in office exposed all the bad seeds. No ones keeping their racist views to themselves. Now we know exactly how deep the racism goes so we can deal with it appropriately .
Yeah, I had one person tell me that too. Said it was changing demographics in America. I said what’s wrong w that? He said, no, i mean, they will come over here and feel grateful to the Democrats and vote for them. He brought this all up at our neighborhood community dinner we have once a month. It was my first one, now idk if I should go to the next one. After a few more exchanges, he walked off. I think he’s pissed at me.
This x1000.
Yes, I think this is correct. I can’t find it now, but last night I saw a tweet from a Latinx journalist who noted that Brokaw never acknowledged the Latin/Hispanic American contributions of the “Greatest Generation” in his book with the same name.
He’s been trash for a while, but he’s just making it obvious now.
@Snowflake: Sounds like the trash took itself out.
Jamie—arrgh, Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation” craze fueled a fair amount of racism and nationalism we’re getting now. As well as that “Every generation since ours are wimps” crap.
Why is he even on TV? Does anyone really care what a crusty old white man who used to read news on TV thinks?
Oh that’s deep and abiding levels of baaaaaad.
Good lord when will these old white men learn its time to retire?? He’s 79! For the past three years I have not been able to get this quote from The Dark Knight out of my head, “You either die a hero, or you love long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Christopher Nolan was a f**king prophet.
LOVE that Nolan quote. Going to save it. Muchas gracias, amiga/o!
It is amazing how many of them just won’t let go and retire. The egos!
Are you kidding me?
What a bunch of unintelligible nonsense!
Honestly I can’t imagine what Tom’s argument is.
oh no, this is disappointing but not surprising….
It’s not even an apology. It’s the worst sort of “if you were offended” non-apology, yeah-I-said-it-and-I-meant-it B.S. Brokaw should have just thrown in the word “snowflake” and made it official.
This shouldn’t really be surprising coming from an old, privileged, white guy and yet somehow I’m still astounded by how deep the racism, sexism and xenophobia run, even in the supposedly well educated and previously presumed thoughtful.
Sorry he can’t back pedal now.
Amazing what comes out when one isn’t scripted, eh? I happen to see that show it was a lazy Sunday , his comments were cringe worthy.
It’s so crazy the nonsense these people spout. They lump all Hispanics into a single demographic and (just like African-Americans), Hispanics come in all colors, shapes and sizes. It’s not a one size fits all. And many Hispanics are very conservative and staunch Republicans. Also, no one complained when European immigrants came to this country and failed to “properly assimilate.” My sister-in-law’s parents were from Italy and lived in the Bronx for over fifty years and never bothered to learn English. And that’s true for many ethnic groups in New York. Why such angst and handwringing over the brown people only?
Hispanics are the ones being singled out about assimilation and the use of their native language…like someone else said on the comments, vast parts of the United States were once part of Mexico, the Pilgrims didn´t “assimilate” so I guess the rules only apply to those who are darker than the average WASP-looking American. There was a time Irish weren´t considered white in the USA, Italian and German Americans were deemed suspicious thus they had to stop using their native languages and their children grew up learning English only…as those once marginal groups assimilated into mainstream white America, they forgot they were once oppressed and proceeded to oppress the next in line…I saw a documentary once about the Hasidic population in New York state and how those children have very limited English fluency because they go to Yiddish speaking schools. I have yet to see someone critizece that practice, I guess people in power fear to being accused of anti-semitism, but the fact is the Dept of Ed. is looking the other way. Being bilingual is such an asset. In many other countries it is the norm, and people are much better off because of it…it doesn´t matter English is the lingua franca of business globally, there is so much value in being able to communicate in more than one language, it opens doors to potential client, employer, business partner´s relationships that otherwise would be on a more superficial level.
Folks, this is why the media keeps “both sides”ing everything. This is why Trump got complicit help from the media to win. Why HRC’s butter emails clogged the arteries of the 2016 election. Media is filled with old WASPs and run by old WASPs and the token POCs are generally uncle toms.
Never believe mainstream media has a liberal bias. It has a conservative infection.
+1000!!!
I request we add the ability to like and/or upvote, solely for this comment.
Exactly!!!!!
Exactly
Yup.
Yes, indeed.
I thought, “No way it can be that bad,” and there it was. *sigh*
I’d love to see a racial demographic breakdown of Latino voting in the US because I highly suspect white Hispanics are the ones more likely to vote red. A lot of the same colonial politics are at play in South America.
As a side note, I’m actually of the minority that believes Spanish should be a requisite language taught in most schools from a young age. Not only is it the second most commonly spoken language in the world, but Latin America is one of our major trading partners.
Spanish was the first European language spoken in the Western hemisphere.
Was it? The Vikings got to Newfoundland in the 11th century.
But the Vikings never established a permanent settlement. Nice try.
With modern technology we’re in a global society, I believe Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese should be taught in the US, starting in preschools. My friends daughter is 12, reads, write and speaks fluent Spanish and Mandarin because language classes were offered at a young age.
Agree.
And it’s irony that children in wealthier school districts have access to these 2nd-language programs; their bilingualism is lauded, while children of immigrants in poorer school districts (and Chinese grad students at Duke U, per a current story) are told to stop speaking the very same languages that others are trying to learn.
Back in the mid 60s (yes, I’m prehistoric), in my school district, a second language was mandatory: in Elementary, from 3rd gr. through 8th, and in HS, from 7th- 12th gr. I took 5 yrs of French in elem. school, then in HS, 4 years of Spanish (along with French again in my Senior Year). It’s never been considered a “hindrance” in my life!
Currently and historically, 2/3 of Hispanics identify and vote Democrat.
The Hispanics in America shouldn’t waste their time learning English — they should be learning Mandarin. And they shouldn’t be forced to assimilate, they should do the opposite and only patronize Hispanic- or other minority-owned businesses. It’s what all minorities should do, and then in two more generations they will control the country.
Why stop at European languages? Especially if it’s going to start people arguing about which is older, New Spain vs Vinland… Why not teach Cherokee, or Navaho? I mean if we’re going to virtue signal about teaching the children.
This really hurt my heart. I am Mexican American married to a wonderful white man -whose parents are Trump loyalists- and I have always believed that once we have children, they will be loved the least by them. Brokaw’s assessment is despicable, but in reality, he isn’t wrong. How many times have we seen people harassing Spanish speakers for speaking Spanish in public?
Oh, @Ostone, I feel your pain. I’m sitting here with rage tears – I have two grandchildren I adore. One is brown, so this feels VERY personal. I get that Tom is part of “the Greatest Generation,” and things were very different because I know what came out of my parents’ mouths when I was growing up and they were liberal. When I told Mom she was going to be a great-grandmother, she was already in the throes of dementia and made a comment that I shut down instantly. Any qualms she had went out the window when she met her great-grandson. She adored him from the jump. I want to read that man out like nobody’s business right now…
Ostone, I’m in the same matrimonial situation, married to a wonderful white man whose parents are Trump supporters, but they have fully accepted my child and love us both. We never discuss politics. It’s sad and weird.
Sadly, this isn’t too far off the mark for a great many racists. If interracial marriage and children were enough to put racism to bed, then that would have happened. But instead, it’s become a cudgel for a racists to use when they’re rightfully held to task for their prejudices. “I can’t be racist, I have a [insert poc relation here]!” It’s depressing.
WTF is wrong with people???? I’m currently reading Michelle Obama’s book and there is a passage where she talks of how the task of assimilation has always been placed on monorities. His comments just bring her point home. There’s no mutual respect here. “They need to learn our language” BS but we don’t need to make the effort to learn and respect theirs is classic white patriarchal talking points. For someone who’s been on the planet for 78 years he is completely out of touch.
He needs to hang it up and NBC needs to stop stroking his ego by inviting him onto these shows to spout his banal insights as if they are God’s own wisdom. As a commentator, he is trash. He is no Dan Rather, as far as old news guys go. I saw this live yesterday and gasped and expected the internet would pick it up. He did get some pushback from Yamiche Alcindor, who was also on the panel and clearly not impressed with his commentary, but for the most part everyone awkwardly ignored it/deferred to him like they always do when he makes an appearance on NBC.
As for assimilation, what about adaptation and accommodation? Why does the minority get to dictate what “American” is?
The real kicker to all this is that not only do self-identified Hispanic or Latino Americans assimilate at rates HIGHER than other ethnic identity groups, they also tend to be, generally, more conservative overall than other immigrant populations.
Also, why is Gropey McGroperson still being given a platform to spout his poorly informed nonsense at all?
millionaire teevee newsreader; (i’m assuming) has one of his residences on the upper east side (the very wealthy, white enclave in manhattan), the other being in the very white montana; driven to/from work every day by a waiting limo (no yellow cabs/subway for him); lunches/dinners at the most popular/expensive eateries…
yeah, he knows all about assimilation. also noteworthy he didn’t single out Russians (go to brighton beach sometime) or Chinese…
‘Murica needs to send some of the grandpas to bed—Brokaw stat—and Emperor Zero.
Seriously. JFC.
I am seriously so sick of these mediocre losers being given a platform. Men like Brokaw would never have made it that far if they had grown up in today’s world–and they know it.
His notion that Hispanic culture is one singular entity fills me with rage. Not to mention that, as far as this pendejo is concerned, it’s none other than one undifferentiated mass of refusal to assimilate, “brown grand-babies,” and a lack of English skills.
One: we are many cultures and from that, there is a lengthy list of responses to each of his stupid remarks.
He can make as many apologies as he wants but he has said what he truly thinks and knows, and that’s all I need to know.
Hijo de …
¿Puta?
Everybody wants brown babies. And sorry folks, future humans will see skin evolution. It’s called science Tom.
Yes. To all that you have said here. Precisely.
What’s that term that is used sometimes… Now I remember “dog whistle”
Is Tom Brokaw now working as a Fox News commentator ?
He’s been shown to be a leering, out-of-touch, sentimentalist for some time, coasting on a reputation that was never as strong as that some of the true news greats and lost in his own misguided belief in his “Greatest Generation.” What he said was just awful and his speech and Twitter use are slightly incoherent, too. I wonder if something else is going on and the filter is a little ‘off’ at this point.
To add to what everyone else is saying, it’s not true that the children of immigrants don’t speak English. They do, and more recent 2nd generations pick it up at faster rates than ever (if I recall correctly).
Between this and the Duke U prof passive-aggressively slurring students speaking Chinese “too loud” in their own space and cooking “too close” to faculty offices, What Is Wrong With People?
Because you know if Brokaw or the Duke prof heard people speaking recognizable French, they’d be like all, “Ooh la la, how sophisticated! Bilingual people are smarter!”
Never liked him, particularly after his “Greatest Generation” nonsense. So I’m not all that surprised here.
Minx…right?
Everyone knows the “greatest generation” is Generation X (slackers all of us).
Word. Haha
We’re definitely the first generation that doesn’t make much more money than the previous generation, yet we are the generation that is most in-debt. Pretty cool legacy that they left us with, huh?
So glad I’m not the only one who thinks the ‘Greatest Gen’ stuff was marketing to sell his books etc. My parents, aunts and uncles were in that generation and I deeply appreciate everything they endured and fought, but they never saw themselves and their peers as anything more than people trying to do the right thing, and I think it would be the same in any given generation faced with great challenges. Survivors of the Great Depression and the war, if they made it through intact, were also able to benefit from enlightened social policy such as the GI Bill, which allowed them to further prosper. It wasn’t any innate quality. Brokaw believed his own hype.
Who ARE—_thank_you. My mom is of that generation and she dismissed it as bunk from day one. Given that she’s African-American, she has good reason to regard this hype with a grim eye.
Ditto. The Greatest Generation BS made me gag. Ole Tom needs to be taken down a notch or twelve. We should all complain to NBC? I don’t know. Until now, I had no fucks to give about his show.
You beat me to it, Minx. His Greatest Generation garbage is what made me despise him.
But his comments here are completely predictable/on-brand for a crusty old white dude who thinks a generation that both embraced and enforced racism is somehow the “greatest”. Ugh.
Pendejo
An old crotechty white man is revealed to be a racist white supremacist
I’m shocked I tell you, shocked
Also his apology basically was “I’ve always been good to you people”
Eff him
Yes, his apology was garbage. So awful.
How are Hispanics being blamed for not assimilating while simultaneously blamed for giving white people brown grandchildren?
What does assimilation mean to Tom?
Are Hispanics expected to give up their Catholic faith? Oh wait, those Irish and Italian are Catholic too. Hmmm.
Ok! Yeah, they must learn English! But Hispanics need to not intermarry because again brown grandchildren.
Ummm wouldn’t inter-marrying with White English-speaking people promote children of Hispanic descent to learn English?
So Hispanics are supposed to try harder and demand their kids act “white” and speak English but no brown baby-making with
whites.
Good observations.
It seems like everyone forgot about him sexually harassing women, too. Maybe he should have been canceled awhile ago.
Wiki says Tom’s mom is Irish-American.
Maybe Tom needs to revisit how the Catholic Democrat Irish (whoa like those Hispanics!)….
How the Irish were treated by the mainstream at that time!
He’s so gross
His racist comments during the 2008 race were much more subtle than these but they were there. Obama was the other and McCain was a true American hero.
And this clip shows why Chuck Todd is the worst. He just lets that racism go unchecked on his show. Just shameful.
As a white person, I have told my Latino husband time and time again that I believe most white people, especially white men, to be racist regardless of their political affiliation or what they say publicly. This situation seems to prove my point.
FULL MISCEGENATION
It is so sad and frustrating to see how white supremacy is just the default standard in both Canada and the USA.
In Canada, my kids go to a school that has an increase of English language learners every year. The school is currently around 20% students who have a first language other than English. There is a wide variety of languages, religions and ethnicities.
Sadly, although the public school system likes to advertise itself as “inclusive”, in practice, it only “includes” people who conform to white, anglophone culture. Every sign in the school is printed in English letters. Every communication sent out is strictly English. They don’t even use internationally-recognized “no” symbols (like the “peanut-free” symbol). I mean, who puts up a sign saying “NO PEANUTS” and fails to add the universally-recognized symbol in a school where 20% of the families can’t read it? When I complain about how the school’s practices exclude 20% of the population the staff just roll their eyes and say they are “following board policy”.
White supremacy relies on a two-tiered system where “certain folks” are excluded or denied access to equal treatment. I see subtle signs of it all over my neighbourhood and it angers me when I see it used to harm the most vulnerable children. If an English-speaking child has an allergic reaction, they can usually still ask for help. If a child who can’t speak English has a reaction because his friend (who also doesn’t speak English) brought the wrong snack to school well…tough luck kid. The staff are just as likely to tell the child to stop misbehaving as they are to recognize the signs of an allergic reaction. I can’t wait to move away from here.
Time for mixed race people to take their rightful place in the demographics map as a collective who don’t have to choose a side. There are significant numbers and purchasing power. What else explains the fact that a movie as shitty as Aquaman can do a massive $$$$$ at the box office? Let’s be clear, this was going to happen thanks to modern technology (air travel) and European progress (slavery and indentured servitude). My family’s been mixed race for four generations and there’s no way to sort that shit out so, we need to get used to it.
And finally, we need the Tina Fey treatment of Robin Diangelo’s White Fragility book please.
Hear hear.
Choose a side? Are Indigenous people–whose land was stolen– on the wrong side with the descendants of slaves? And then the “other side” is composed of racists? And then you don’t choose a side? What are you saying here? One side is the side of genociders & the other side fights for human rights “mixed race” people benefit from. Oh and black folks and Indegenous folks are often mixed race so will you be joining that already existing “collective”?
that’s right, you mixed race people calling yourselves black or passing as white need to come out of the closet now. Time to stop denying any of your heritage cause society wants to stick you in box. Also, intersectional feminism won’t work without you.
Wow. I used to really like him, this saddens me. At first, I thought he was just sort of explaining their (the GOP’s) perspective, not claiming it as his own, but the more he went on, it was just bad. Damn, Tom, thought you were one of the good ones.
Codified in their communities. Wow. When white neighborhoods are safe places for black and brown people maybe they will feel less hesitant! Did you all know about the history of the neighborhood where LA Dodger’s stadium is now? I had no idea until this morning, listening to the radio. Terrible.
I’d say its time to cancel Brokaw but at 78 his time is already limited. He’s proven time and time again to be clueless and racist, why is he still given a platform?
Someone above me said that Liberals are racist. As a biracial Latona who grew up in a liberal big city… I can confirm this is true. Outwardly people were accepting and friendly, but if you weren’t white good luck getting into the inner circle. Lots of people made it clear they wouldn’t date anyone but other white people. Ugh. It has to get better right?
It looks to me like the “brown grandbabies” comment was reporting what other people have said (which! is his JOB!). So I don’t fault him for that.
His statement about assimilation is his own opinion, which he stated clearly and to which he is entitled. I don’t entirely agree with him (and for what it’s worth, my in-laws are Hispanic, IbegyourpardonSPANISH (northern New Mexico is very firm on that point) I’ve done cross-cultural studies within my own family, and hoo boy are there conflicts that have to be resolved!). I do think that immigrants need to learn English, but since when does learning another language mean you have to give up your own culture? And since when does it mean you need to give up your birth language? It doesn’t. And I’m not seeing that in these comments.
I AM seeing a certain amount of knee-jerk response to what is being identified as “coded language”–“oh he used that phrase he must be a racist!” And yes, often it IS coded language, but piling on someone for discussing prevalent attitudes doesn’t help–it only means that we can no longer discuss those attitudes, which are harmful and NEED to be aired out.
And I am willing to bet that saying this will lead to me being accused of racism, too. Well, so be it. I do not and have never claimed to be pure as the driven snow: my work is to see clearly, and to identify my own biases and prejudices and root them out as I find them. I am in my sixties, and it is an ongoing process.
reminds me the whole duke professor telling Chinese students to speak English in the lounge thing. It’s funny how being multilingual is only seen as a good thing if you’re white. If you’re not white, don’t dare speak anything other than English. If you’re rich and white, then omg you can speak another language? That’s so cool. Think of how many rich white peeps always bragging about how they’re little ones are learning Chinese.
Tom Brokaw is not a liberal.
In real life, he is a grumpy old privileged white man, who likes that privilege very much, thank you. And expects it to continue for him and his.
Public persona is rarely reality.
Looks like he accidentally said aloud what he really feels. But he will get a pass and remain on the payroll, no doubt. Unlike Marc Lamont Hill, for example, whom CNN fired about a minute after his “free palestine” remarks.
Also, people who think it is easy to assimilate should try doing so in any other skin color but white and then report back.
He sounds like a lot of my now-deceased elderly relatives, who were “the normal amount of racist” for their age. That isn’t an excuse for Brokaw’s comments; rather, it underlines just how ingrained this type of unsubtle racism is for the “Greatest Generation” (a semi-literary term Brokaw coined for White people his own age). We are living in a nightmare, but it didn’t happen overnight: these racially-charged anxieties set the groundwork.
I’ve never cared for the man. He gave the commencement speech at Northwestern in 2004, for which I started a betting pool (how many times would Brokaw utter the words “the Greatest Generation”? Three times, it turned out). I think he’s arrogant, self-aggrandizing, and incapable of deep analysis. In stark contrast, Dan Rather cares about his fellow Americans and about the news.
I’m Australian. I’m white with mixed race children. A few days ago I was at the playground with my daughters and sitting behind me was an older lady with a friend and two young granddaughters. The ladies were discussing,in front of the little girls, their fact that their father is indigenous. They marvelled that not only are the girls fair and blue eyed, but that Dad doesn’t ‘look’ indigenous at first glance. They then went on to say that surely down the generations there he’s sure to come an ‘unfortunate throwback’. I couldn’t believe the casual racism they displayed in front of their own grandchildren. It was such a glaring example of how easily people’s racial identity can be used as a tool of shame.
Yep. Last week I told a friend of my husband’s I’d recently spent two and a half weeks in Melbourne, and she immediately shot back “I’d love to visit, if not for all the racism!” She felt she wouldn’t be safe there. Australia is a wonderful country, but the racism is shocking. (Here in the U.S., too, obviously.)
You should have read the guy at Stonekettle Station blog respond to Brokaw. It was a solid burn.
I’m a teacher, and especially in the past few years we have a fair amount of non English speakers come to our middle school as new students. They literally have to learn English. They come to my class with no translator (we have too many languages to even attempt such a thing for each student) and are immersed in our language. And within a year the amount of English they know is very impressive. To claim children are not learning English is certainly not the case in my town.
Perhaps someday we will all be brown and we won’t have to worry about all these racists.
Christina and CharliePenn, thank you both for your kind replies! I think that there’s no waiting for one generation to die off in order for progress and equality in our society to emerge unhindered: As you can see from our responses, and the responses of others in this thread, WE are the forces for positive change and healing that our children depend on to protect them and allow them to grow and thrive. It’s not that we won’t make mistakes, but we’ve learned how to respond to valid criticism and how to make amends, and it’s not sniveling “Sorry if you were hurt! I can’t possibly be x-ist! I really respect at least one of your kind of people!”
And we stand up for what’s right, even when the scary evildoers are people we love. We speak truth to *that* kind of power, too. The power that pretends it isn’t power — the disapproving looks and comments of the aunts, grandmothers, grandfathers, and in-laws that everyone, *especially* the younger generations, notices. The children will look to their parents to confirm that what they are seeing is true, and then they will perform whatever their parents have modeled for them to respond to it. Thank you both for reaffirming that we can see what we can see: that microaggressions are real; that they can come from people who should be on your side; that we can and should face it with as much strength as we show when we talk about “resisting” this administration. We’re resisting ALL of it. We’re resisting when it comes from within.
Maybe that’s what conservatives don’t see — how much we/progressives/PoC /women/all those intersections self-interrogate. How much we try to root out what classism and racism and misogyny and homophobia and patriarchy and privilege have implanted in us as a means to an end that isn’t healthy for anyone. We’re not asking anyone to make changes that we haven’t made/aren’t making for ourselves.
But I’ll quit rambling now, guys. Thank you for this conversation. It actually really warms my heart, even though the topic is not a comfortable one.
It’s always struck me as so weird how white Americans like Tom Brokaw and his ilk will stand so firmly against immigration, especially when it’s “those dirty brown illegals who are coming in to our country and mooching off of our welfare state,” but they simultaneously live off the fruits of the labour those same people provide, sometimes quite literally.
For instance, I read an article recently about Devin Nunes and his family. His family owned a dairy in California, which they then subsequently moved to Iowa for reasons unknown. A reporter went to investigate, and then found out that the vast majority of Iowa dairy farmers in the area regularly hire undocumented immigrants to work on their farms in order to save costs. These farmers were so afraid of this information becoming public knowledge because it would invite undue scrutiny into their business practices and potentially have consequences for them. When asked why they didn’t simply hire American citizens or legal immigrants to work for them instead, they flat out replied that “no American wants to do this job for this sort of pay.” A majority of them vote Republican, but when asked about the anti-immigration policies of the Republicans, they simply shrug and state that they “disagree with that opinion.” Even when the Republican that is most likely to be representing them is Steve King, a notorious white supremacist who many of them openly dislike because “he doesn’t get it and just wants to deport our workers.”
But the part of this I keep coming back to is when one of the dairy owners just said straight up that “no American wants to do this job.” This is a refrain that I’ve heard again and again in multiple articles that talk about how labour shortages are causing problems for American industries, from the fisheries in Oregon, to the fruit farms in California, to the dairies in Iowa, to the meat packing plants in Middle America. All of these industries rely overwhelmingly on undocumented immigrants to boost their profit margins. American agriculture would simply not be sustainable without undocumented immigrants who literally put food on the table for millions of people across the country. The same people who complain at length about how illegal immigrants are bringing the nation down and should be booted out tomorrow. The same people who couldn’t be a**ed to pick fruit or pack meat, or clean toilets, or cook food in restaurants, or any of the millions of other jobs that undocumented immigrants do daily, that these red-blooded Americans won’t do because the pay is too low and therefore not worth it.
And i honestly gotta ask, how in the fck can America be a country where they’ll demand your existence and your labour and the benefits it brings, while simultaneously sh!tting all over you for all of those exact things?
I told a friend recently there was an article about 10 years ago in Ebony that was talking about the browning of America. Then there was a huge convention somewhere and a reporter of color was covering it. He was shocked to see doctors, lawyers, teachers, and you name the profession at this convention. The discussion at this convention was about the browning of America. Many white people actually stated they could not live in a country if their racial group was not the majority. It really hurts their souls and minds to think this country racial makeup is changing. That is why South America is so threatening to the USA. They are truly worried about this country looking like Latin/South America. They may not say anything publicly and these thoughts are in their minds. Thus, Trump-the wall-merit based people to USA. I truly feel this country will go to war in South America to change governments to keep these people in their own country.
Hispanic brown baby grandchildren? That man will more than likely get Afro American brown grandbabies, because that’s what happened to my Grandad who had the same attitude.
Life has a strange way of making us think about what we value, if we’re luckly.
My husband and I were watching Meet the Press when he said this, and both of us sat there with our mouths hanging open. Not that we were surprised to hear an old white guy say such things (I mean, we do live in Texas) but that he just aired it all out like that, with no thought as to “SHOULD I say this???”
He’s an old racist, PERIODT. All old white guys, unless proven to be one of the few good ones, should be CANCELLED. And I’m a middle-aged white lady, married to a middle-aged white guy (but he’s definitely not racist or sexist or classist–one of the very few good ones).
I don’t have time to read all the comments, but did you forget what Geo HW Bush said about Jebs children? They’re the little “Brown Ones”…
Despicable. He was just a reporter to me. I mean I never knew he was rascist but then I saw him doing Presidental elections. And who was running for office since – when? I saw the Nixon/Kennedy election. So with the exception of Obama- all old white guys. I never knew who Brokaw was. My best friends are Columbian, Mexican and my last boyfriend was from El Salvador. I used to live in Southern CA, so lots of immigrants. I met lots of people from other countries and they became my friends. No biggie. So happy to have my friends. ❤️