Minorities become a majority in Broward (Palm Coast: crime, taxes, to live)

[rkumar3]

I agree with above comment. Being a foreign born 'minority' I can share my perpective. I take pride in who I am but it does make it difficult at times to deal with people when they try to sterotype you for being from 'that part of the world'.

It was also sad to see when I see people who have been living here for years and don't make any effort to learn English and make this their 'home'. They forget that this country was built on the foundation of immigrants, however the idea is once you move here, follow the local laws, pay taxes and become part of the system. I remember having discussion with some hispanics from Miami who were trying to justify that there is no need for people to learn English and my only comment was how would you feel if you walk into a gas station/grocery store in your native country and the person behind the counter expectd you to speak English instead of the local language!

Obviously illegal immigrants is a complete NO NO!

[lulu]

All right...!!! ditto on the above...

I always think about Whoopi Goldberg - I just love the woman cause she says things that are so true...she says stuff like, "Why am I considered an African-American, when I've never been to Africa??" and the other was..."Why am I considered black when I'm really brown??" and the other was why are there so many racial boxes here in the U.S. of all places , when there should be only one that says "AMERICAN" .
Gotta love her...

[lulu]

As we all know...(sorry to some) with me I'm an offspring of a so called hispanic majority of minorities... (whew...everyday it gets more complicated - what tongue twisters!!)
but even being born here I'm still considered a Hispanic race. When we went to school and I went here in the U.S. (maybe it was too long ago??), I remember there were white, black, Native Americcan Indian & Asian in our school books but now cultures are defined as races.
My family at this point even thinks is kind of comical, this kind of coming from the "Land of Immigrants" where this is & has been a huge melting pot for over 200 yrs. Even the Latino label is really an anglonization invention that means south of the border, but that S.FL has accepted because in sense we do have latin roots. But when I've visited Europe and you speak to people that are from Spain, Italy or France they consider themselves Latin, which is essence is the true meaning of anybody having Latin roots.
That reminds me one of our latest wave of immigrants down here that are Brazilian and don't have an identity... it has come out on the press on how confused they are & in a way are being forced to mark "hispanic" or "black box" when they don't speak a word of spanish (only portuguese) and some are white. Make any sense..?? Of course not...
I just wonder, where all of this is going to end up like....

[lulu]

rkumar3..
Yes it's difficult, but you know it's part of life & I just simply ignore comments from other groups, except my own. I've been called traitor, and stuff like that cause I tell them we have to concentrate on 1 language to be able to literally get along. Very simple... It's the glue that holds us together. Even if they are all yapping happily without even noticing (the majority do it without malice) and there's a none spanish speaking person in the group, I point that out & tell them to please speak English - it's only a human courtesy. To the ones that refuse, I simply tell them, how'd you feel if in your home country they'd impose a different language on your people?? Most think about it and do come around...It's not like one is saying you can't speak it, but speak it at home.
I also encounter lots of spanish speaking people that indeed do want to learn English but they find it sooo....difficult (believe it or not spanish is richer in words but is easier) and tend to watch spanish t.v., remain within their own groups because it's naturally more comfortable to speak in their native tongue. Just last week I was telling 2 different people that truly want to learn , "hey look...if you want to learn you must & I mean must stop watching those channels & mix with our english speaking groups or you'll never learn..." To one of these people I have refused to speak in Spanish to her & told her that if she wants to speak to me, it will only be in English. She's embarassed due to the accent and stuff but it's a start and she's trying - I'm sure she'll come around soon enough.

[RAINBOWWAVES]

I think that holds true thru out the entire state and there are also a ton of ghettos as well. There is a ton of crime because of it. I have spoken to true Floridians who said that truely beautiful counties are now pretty much ghettos, with run down homes and trailer parks and destroyed properties. I was reading a tourist book and i couldn't believe my eyes, it said that one peticular county, Fort Pierce should be avoided after dark...LOL. If anyone disputes that there are tons of ghettos now in Fl, they are looking thru rose colored glasses. On a beautiful road here, we saw these ppl throwing thier garbage out the windows of thier car, (mexicans). We took down the plate number and called police. The bigger a county gets, the more crime too.

[lulu]

I just hate ghettos of any group, as they breed racism & they tend to pin one group against another ...to me the best neighborhoods are the ones that have a diverse group that are nice, intelligent, decent human beings & concentrate on family values. The kind where everybody is a good neighbor to one another & don't focus on superficial things.

[mich2fla]

The whites in this country will become a minority sometimes in the next 30 years!

[robivi3]

Mitch2, that will be great, then the rampant reverse discrimination can end! The opportunities denied to the minority white workers in Miami Dade County Governmant alone are staggering, there are even lawsuits filed at one agency (4000 employees) because whites there number only 8.8%. It is felt by nearly all whites, many of whom have a college education.

My wife is Colombian, my step mother is Colombian as are most of my circle of friends so I see it from both sides. In general Colombians do not tend to Ghettoize to me, they blend well. On the other hand, a little anger is felt when I hear the cry of "discrimination" from the majority. I say God forbid that this Country should ever mimic Latin America. Having been to Brazil and Colombia I love the topography, one thing I love about Colombia is that there are few "private beaches" where whole oceanfronts are cut off from the public for miles like they are on on Miami Beach. But God Forbid that we should imitate those countries, for the average Joe life their is dog eat dog. If people would only change their standards and expectations when they arrive here helllish communities like Miami Dade County would not exist. I know that many Latins look at me like I am crazy when i say that, alot of them tell me that it is really a nice place to live compared to where they came from, and one lady, a friend of my mother-in-laws told me that the 'drivers are so nice here". MY LIVING MOTHER OF GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lady, are you nuts?! No, I didn't say that, courtesy would only allow an "ok". Kudos, to those who have the guts to break the mold and go to other places, that takes guts for anyone no matter who they are to leave the "comfort zone".

[lulu]

Everything is relative...Miami is indeed paradise compared to the driving conditions of Central & South America. I have avoided driving in those places cause it's literally risking one's life (tons of crosses in some places) And....those cops always asking for "mordidas" (bites) when they see you have a rental car or seem like a foreigner. I gotten stopped even twice in a day & it's usually like $10 U.S. dollars a stop, can get pretty expensive. Yep..Miami is a drivers paradise, ha, ha...

[robivi3]

Lulu I can see it all from both sides, being somewhat mixed and my kids being half latin. so it love/hate/can't stand/like this/don't like that for me. We have to keep the peace. Eventually the landscape will become American. At some point i imagine runaway immigration will end, the problem is that mexico's economy is not pumping out many jobs and frankly Mexicans are intelligent laborers who work quietly and do their jobs. i can tell you that they require little instruction, from the number of "Mexican" roofs done here after Wilma and the number of "American roofs" done in Sunrise lakes (30,000 residnets in huge condos). I know many American roofs had to be redone several times while the Mex roofs were redone ONCE and passed. Anyone in Sunrise knows that to pass inspection here after once is amazing.