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It's actually more possible then you might be aware of to get by on Spanish only and many people, especially in Western states do exactly that.
Yes, there is news and TV in Spanish. Univision, a Spanish language network is headquartered in Los Angeles. There are Spanish language newspapers. There are radio stations that are entirely in Spanish both spoken and music. You can get Spanish speaking people in hospitals, CA tax forms are available in Spanish and interpreters can assist with federal forms (they may be available in Spanish, not sure). Yes we have 911 operators available in Spanish. Most 911 dispatchers maintain a certain number of Spanish speakers. In fact, most teleprompters you call now tell you "for English press one. Para Español, empuje numero dos". Takes you directly to a Spanish speaking operator. Yes, mothers sing nursery rhymes to their children in Spanish too LOL.
Yes, you could get by in certain areas with speaking Spanish only.
Actually here in CA it is your civil right to have a government employee speak to you in your language, especially when dealing with health, legal matters, etc... I've had to get a translator for really obscure languages like Hmong, Tigrinya and Amharic (from Ethiopia). I had never even heard of Amharic before.
Some people get very upset about the Spanish button. Lol
You can check it very quickly too, there are many statistics about US immigration. In 2016 there were like 43 million foreign born people in the United States(excluding Puerto Rico and other US territories) more than 11 million Mexicans (there is reversing trend for some time with more Mexicans moving to Mexico than the other way). So generally speaking 1/4 of foreign born population are Mexicans.
Here are the racial splits between Australia, Canada and the USA, using Wikipedia. Let me know if there are more up-to-date sources for Oz or Canada.
AUSTRALIA (2011)
12% Asian (2.4 million)
2.7% Aboriginal (606,164)
1.6% African (380,000)
0.9% Latin American (180,000)
TOTAL NON-WHITE: 17.2%
CANADA (2011)
14.2% Asian (4,659,395)
4.3% Aboriginal (1,400,685)
2.9% African (945,665)
1.2% Latin American (381,280)
0.8% Mixed/Other (278,410)
TOTAL NON-WHITE: 23.4%
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (Census 2015)
17.6% Latin American (56,592,793) excl. 3,400,000+ in Puerto Rico
12.4% African (39,925,949)
5.4% Asian (17,416,714)
0.9% Aboriginal (2,929,516)
2.0% Mixed/Other (6,583,036)
TOTAL NON-WHITE: 38.3% (39.3% w/Puerto Rico)
I would like to add few things.
In case of Canada they had right now census in 2016. It should be the best census in canadian history with pretty much correct data. US had last census in 2010, next will be 2020 so I asume those numbers under census are statistics from ACS-they had before that statistics for 2013.
Not saying 4 years are long time, but in case of Australia and Canada as both countries with huge immigration(from non european countries) comparing 2011 to 2015 is not totally relevant/but o.k better than nothing. So we can add few % to both countries in category non white.
Now issue with categories
All 3 countries use different methods. In case of Asian I believe Canada includes whole Asia, while Australia and the US only South Asia, East and SouthEastern Asia/but not 100% sure.
Now this is supposed to be racial category right? US census categories make no sense in 21st century-what race is Asian....Japanese look totally different to Dravidian people from southern India for example.
Census is about self reporting-how many Latinos say for census purposes white, but they are mestizos....
In case of US it is called non hispanic white, in Canada visible minorities, white and Metis/First Nations are options.
So while it is true non white share in the US is much higher, statistics are skewed thanks to many Latinos counting as white instead of mestizo and large African American % that is unique to the US(americanized, US born, monolingual English speaking). Canada/Australia don t have such group, but have much higher foreign born % and also immigrants and their descendants % (1st and 2nd generation immigrants)
I don't think that having two official languages is evidence of diversity.
In fact, the demographics of Quebec are far more homogeneous than the rest of Canada and outside of the city of Montreal, Quebec is not very diverse at all.
Well, depending on your point of view, having a largish part of the country that speaks another language and is more or less foreign to the larger anglophone whole, can be considered diversity.
While very predominantly French, Quebec outside of Montreal is still more diverse than people think, it's just that people of other origins are so well integrated you can't really tell them apart from everyone else.
In any event, the African-American community, often cited as an example of diversity, isn't really that diverse within itself either. Neither are Mexican-Americans.
It's actually more possible then you might be aware of to get by on Spanish only and many people, especially in Western states do exactly that.
Yes, there is news and TV in Spanish. Univision, a Spanish language network is headquartered in Los Angeles. There are Spanish language newspapers. There are radio stations that are entirely in Spanish both spoken and music. You can get Spanish speaking people in hospitals, CA tax forms are available in Spanish and interpreters can assist with federal forms (they may be available in Spanish, not sure). Yes we have 911 operators available in Spanish. Most 911 dispatchers maintain a certain number of Spanish speakers. In fact, most teleprompters you call now tell you "for English press one. Para Español, empuje numero dos". Takes you directly to a Spanish speaking operator. Yes, mothers sing nursery rhymes to their children in Spanish too LOL.
Well, I was referring to uptake of Spanish language culture and service byt people of non-Hispanic origin. I doubt Iranian families in LA sing nursery rhymes to their kids in Spanish, or pass driver exams at the DMV in Spanish.
Anyway, everything you just described and way more is available in French in Canada. In Quebec, French is usually the main and often the only language of "delivery". Most any person who lives their entire life in Quebec while in Quebec will basically never run into a situation here where they can't get absolutely everything they want and need in French.
Well, depending on your point of view, having a largish part of the country that speaks another language and is more or less foreign to the larger anglophone whole, can be considered diversity.
While very predominantly French, Quebec outside of Montreal is still more diverse than people think, it's just that people of other origins are so well integrated you can't really tell them apart from everyone else.
In any event, the African-American community, often cited as an example of diversity, isn't really that diverse within itself either. Neither are Mexican-Americans.
There are many sub-cultures within both of those groups. The media does a good job of portraying them in their stereotypical roles and perpetuating the idea that they all speak the same and eat the same foods. They don't.
Off topic--I love Quebec. One of my favorite places in North America.
Still with the "Canada has French, and the U.S. has Spanish" myth, consider this...
Some years ago, a small Texas town called El Cenizo made headlines across the U.S. when it declared that Spanish would be its operating language.
Now, why would this be such a big deal if all these places that are always mentioned like Miami, El Paso, etc. are already conducting their day-to-day operations in Spanish?
The answer? Because they aren't.
Back here in Canada, consider there are 1100 municipalities in the province of Quebec. Of these, well over 1000 operate in French only. (About 85 Quebec municipalities have bilingual status and operate in French and English.)
In New Brunswick, about 50 municipalities operate in French, and between 10-20 in Ontario also operate in French. (A number of municipalities in these two provinces also operate bilingually in English and French.)
I told you, while there is no official language at the federal level, many states do have official languages and Texas has English and can be rather hostile at times to it's Spanish speaking community.
The reason it doesn't look and function exactly like things do in Canada is because there are no official languages at the federal level.
Yes, you could get by in certain areas with speaking Spanish only.
Actually here in CA it is your civil right to have a government employee speak to you in your language, especially when dealing with health, legal matters, etc... I've had to get a translator for really obscure languages like Hmong, Tigrinya and Amharic (from Ethiopia). I had never even heard of Amharic before.
Some people get very upset about the Spanish button. Lol
Exactly. How many places in Canada, Australia etc. could/would do this? If this isn't diversity then there is no such thing.
There are many sub-cultures within both of those groups. The media does a good job of portraying them in their stereotypical roles and perpetuating the idea that they all speak the same and eat the same foods. They don't.
Off topic--I love Quebec. One of my favorite places in North America.
No worries. I wasn't taking it badly at all!
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