Brokaw Says He Feels Terrible About Commentary Offending Hispanics
Share
NEW YORK — NBC’s Tom Brokaw says he feels terrible that his comments on “Meet the Press” Sunday that Hispanics should work harder at assimilation “offended some members of that proud culture.”
“Also, I hear, when I push people a little harder, (people who say) ‘well, I don’t know whether I want brown grandbabies.’ I mean, that’s also a part of it. It’s the intermarriage that is going on and the cultures that are conflicting with each other.” — NBC’s Tom Brokaw
The former “NBC Nightly News” anchor tweeted in response to a social media backlash to what he had said earlier in the day during a discussion of the proposed border wall.On the show, Brokaw said that many Republicans fear the rise of a new constituency in American politics “who will come here and all be Democrats.
“Also, I hear, when I push people a little harder, (people who say) ‘well, I don’t know whether I want brown grandbabies,'” he said. “I mean, that’s also a part of it. It’s the intermarriage that is going on and the cultures that are conflicting with each other.”
The 78-year-old journalist said he’s been saying for a long time that Hispanics need to work harder at assimilation.
“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,” he said. “And that’s going to take outreach on both sides, frankly.”
Brokaw received some immediate pushback from another panelist on the political talk show, Yamiche Alcindor of PBS. “I grew up in Miami, where people speak Spanish, but their kids speak English,” she said. “And the idea that we think Americans can only speak English, as if Spanish and other languages wasn’t always a part of America, is, in some ways, troubling.”
Brokaw’s Comments Are Both Xenophobic and Factually Incorrect
The web site Latino Rebels and its founder, Julio Ricardo Varela, pointed out online that a 2015 Pew Research Center survey found that nearly two-thirds of Latinos in the United States were born in the U.S. Hispanics make up 18 percent of the nation’s population.
“We as a community are creating the new America right before your very eyes, Mr. Brokaw. Sorry if it doesn’t fit your perceptions of what America should be like. That future is bilingual, bicultural, at times in English, other times in Spanish. Our community is defining this future. Not you.” — Latino Rebels web site
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists also tweeted that it voiced its concerns about Brokaw’s “inaccurate commentary” to NBC.Pew also found, in a 2016 survey of young Latino adults, that 41 percent say that English is their dominant language, 40 percent say they are bilingual and 19 percent speak Spanish primarily.
Brokaw’s comments are both xenophobic and factually incorrect, Varela said.
“We as a community are creating the new America right before your very eyes, Mr. Brokaw,” the Latino Rebels web site said. “Sorry if it doesn’t fit your perceptions of what America should be like. That future is bilingual, bicultural, at times in English, other times in Spanish. Our community is defining this future. Not you.”
NBC News had no comment Sunday on Brokaw, who has served in something of an emeritus role at the network since stepping down as lead anchor in 2004.
On Twitter, Brokaw said that he’s worked hard to knock down false stereotypes and pointed out that all sides need to work harder at finding common ground. He said he believes in “dialogue not division.”
RELATED TOPICS:
Sell-off Worsens Worldwide and Dow Drops 1,000 After China Retaliates Against Trump Tariffs
Economy /
27 minutes ago
Visalia Man Arrested in Child Exploitation Investigation
Crime /
32 minutes ago
It’s Time to Love Your Desk Lunches
Food /
42 minutes ago
Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him
Politics /
15 hours ago
China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects
Economy /
16 hours ago
Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks
Economy /
17 hours ago
Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Samantha Jenny Audelo
April 4, 2025
Most Wanted Person of the Day
Suspect Name: Samantha Jenny Audelo
Suspects Date of Birth: January 18, 1986
Physical Descriptio...
Crime /
4 minutes ago
Categories
Latest
Videos

Crime /
4 minutes ago
Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Samantha Jenny Audelo

Crime /
12 minutes ago
Russell Brand Charged With Rape, Sexual Assault

Economy /
27 minutes ago
Sell-off Worsens Worldwide and Dow Drops 1,000 After China Retaliates Against Trump Tariffs

Crime /
32 minutes ago
Visalia Man Arrested in Child Exploitation Investigation

Food /
42 minutes ago