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Tom Brokaw Argues That Hispanics Should ‘Work Harder At Assimilation,’ Pays A Heavy Price On Twitter

Tom Brokaw says Hispanics should 'work harder at assimilation' (NBC 'Meet The Press' screengrab)
Scott Morefield Reporter
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Tom Brokaw paid a steep price on Twitter for calling on Hispanics in the United States to “work harder at assimilation.”

The former NBC anchor’s comments came during a Sunday “Meet the Press” panel on the topic of what could bring Americans together. (RELATED: Tucker Gets Into Heated Exchange Over Immigrant Assimilation)

WATCH:

Brokaw said:

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 constituency in American politics, Hispanics, who will come here and all be Democrats. I hear when I push people harder, I don’t know whether I want brown grand babies. That’s also a part of it. It’s 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. That’s one of the things that I’ve been saying for a long time, that they ought not to be codified in their communities but make sure that all of their kids are learning to speak English and they feel comfortable in the communities. And that’s going to take outreach on both sides, frankly.

The discussion continued unabated, but PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor did push back on Brokaw at the end of the segment:

I would just say that we also need to adjust what we think of as America. You’re talking about assimilation. I grew up in Miami, where people speak Spanish, but their kids speak English. And the idea that we think Americans can only speak English, as if Spanish and other languages wasn’t always part of America, is, in some ways, troubling.

Alcindor’s comments, however, were mild compared to the ripping Brokaw received from the Twitter mob:

The former NBC anchor later apologized for his statements:

His apology was not accepted:

Brokaw also got into some trouble with those on the right who took issue with his “brown babies” comment:

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