Somebody needs to have a chat with Tom Brokaw

Somebody needs to have a chat with Tom Brokaw

by digby


panel (except Hugh) responds to Tom pic.twitter.com/d1O2W6kg6I

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 27, 2019


This was just awful:
CHUCK TODD:

The problem is in Wyoming and in South Dakota, they think they need a wall. And in Texas and in Arizona, they don't.

TOM BROKAW:

I know.

CHUCK TODD:

Right? Like it’s --

TOM BROKAW:

And a lot of this, we don't want to talk about. But the fact is, on the Republican side, a lot of people see the rise of an extraordinary, important, new constituent in American politics, Hispanics, who will come here and all be Democrats. Also, I hear, when I push people a little harder, "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.

I also happen to believe that the Hispanics should work harder at assimilation. That's one of the things I've been saying for a long time. 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.

"Brown babies"

"Intermarriage"

"Assimilation"

Jesus.

I don't know who he's hanging around with but they are among the most racist of the right wing. Even my racist relatives aren't complaining about "brown babies." In fact, there are quite a few "brown babies" in out family these days, and I don't think we're unique in that. The "intermarriage" trope is a real throwback.

I do hear about the speaking English thing but that's just the old ignorance. Most Latinx immigrants learn English and their kids sure as hell do. These people don't know any immigrants and listen to Fox news and Rush all day so they think this is true. They are the ones "codified" (I think he means cloistered?) in their little bubbles not the immigrants who have to go out and work around anglos and other native-born Americans all day long. They believe a lot of things that aren't true.

But what in the hell is Tom Brokaw's excuse?