LETTERS/CORRESPONDENCES

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Dear Mr. Beck:

Thank you for joining us on our morning program, "Washington Journal." It was a pleasure for us as well as our audience, and we appreciate the time you took to be with us.

Our goal on "Washington Journal" is to make government and politics more understandable and accessible to our viewers. Your analysis of today's issues contributed to that goal.

We look forward to seeing you again soon on "Washington Journal."

Sincerely,

Leslie Burdick

Producer

Thanks for making time for us at a key point in the immigration debate. Your book couldn't have been better timed. We've had a lot of favorable comment.

To the Editor of the Washington Post,

Gregory Rodriguez ("It Only Takes a Generation Or Three", July 4) provides important information to help us understand the individual immigrants arriving in the current wave and their proclivity toward assimilation. The short self-descriptions by three immigrants that you provided as a side-bar bolster his optimistic view and certainly make me feel a warmth toward these newcomers.

Perhaps most important in Rodriquez's comments are the reminder that those of us with ancestors who came in previous immigration waves should not be smug about their being som much more willing than immigrants today to give up old customs and culture. A large number of our first immigrant ancestors lived in ethnic enclaves, clung to their native languages and insisted on their own ethnic institutions. And history is rather clear that when immigrants arrived in the United States in large waves - such as today - they assimilated less quickly and threatened many Americans' sense of nationhood.

Rodriquez goes astray, however, in suggesting that since America always seemed to survive just fine and the descendants of those immigrants eventually assimilated, periodic expressions of concern by Americans about those waves of immigration were unfounded. He makes the fatal error of neglecting to mention that after concerns rose (he calls it nativism"), America stopped the immigration wave and greatly reduced the numbers of immigrants. During those periods of reductions, the most recent wave of immigrants and their children nearly always enjoyed spurts of full integration that very well may not have occurred if the numbers had continued at the previous high rate.

Today, America's immigration numbers have been rising steadily for more than four decades -- the longest such period in our history. The numbers are now four times higher than during the 1776-1976 period, and five times higher than during the last part of those two centuries. As the late Barbara Jordan and her bi-partisan federal commission concluded in 1995, the current numbers are too high for the good of Americans -- and especially for the full economic assimilation of those Americans who are foreign-born.

Rodriguez appears to want to label every person from Benjamin Franklin to Barbara Jordan as a nativist. A nativist is one who advocates discrimination against the foreign born in one's country. But Franklin and Jordan cared for all the people in their country and knew that while immigration at one numerical level could be good for the country, some numbers could be too high for the national interest.

Roy Beck

Director, NumbersUSA.com

To the Editor: 

Suzanne Espinosa Solis' interesting article ("California sees backlash against immigrants," 4APR94) unfortunately begins with a whining example of Rudi DiPrima who apparently thinks because he is blond and doesn't appear to be foreign that he should not have to present proof of legal residency in order to obtain a drivers license.

If the nation ever is to bring illegal immigration under control, it must be able to determine conclusively at key times -- i.e. application for a job or drivers license -- whether people in this country are supposed to be here. The only way for this to work in a manner that does not discriminate against legal residents who may look or sound foreign is to ask for documentation from everyone. It is a very small task for citizens to perform to help dry up the factors that entice foreign workers to come or stay in our country illegally. And, yes, many illegal aliens are blonds who speak English quite well.

Roy Beck,

The Social Contract, A Quarterly Journal

To: Roy Howard Beck, Cincinnati Enquirer

Dear Roy,

Many thanks for a beautiful story on Quality Circles and productivity. We ran it on the national budget. Nice piece of writing.

Jerry Langdon, Administrative Editor

Editor, Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Dear Editor:

A resident of the Grand Rapids are, Mrs. Pat Hart recently brought to our attention an excellent series of articles on solid waste which ran over the past summer in the Grand Rapids Press.  The series, written by Roy Howard Beck, is a text-book example, in our opinion, of responsible community journalism designed to infirm and stimulate local discussion of pressing issues.

Mr. Beck's in-depth explanation of the alternatives available to the community is concise, comprehensive and easy to understand and we think it an excellent example of the best in environmental writing.

Congratulations.

Sincerely, 

Frank M. Corrado

Director, Public Affairs Office

P.S. - Would suggest you enter Mr. Beck's work in EPA's Environmental Quality Awards competition next spring. Look for the entry form.

Dear Roy – 

Thank you so very much for your time and energy during this year’s Summer Institute of Journalism – The students were very grateful for you help. It’s amazing to read about how many of them realized they knew some much less than they’d thought!

I look forward to future ‘cooperation’ with you – Again, thank you for taking the time to invest in “our” students.

Blessings on you in our Lord Jesus Christ –

Marie Rose

Mr. Beck,

Thank you so much for all the time you put in at the Summer Institute of Journalism. I appreciate your patience in editing (& re-editing) my story about the veteran.

All that time paid off. My paper printed the entire 1800-word story.  They put a huge graphic with it and gave it a full page. I’ve had lots of comments on it – I’m surprised at how many people read a byline.

Thanks again,

Mycah Jordan

Dear Mr. Beck,

Perhaps it would be more appropriate to type a formal latter to thank you for all the time and effort you spent on my (our) behalf, but typed letters are so impersonal and I wanted to thank you, well, personally.

My dad loved his Father’s Day gift (the autographed copy of the National Review) and I am eager to see you and Mr. Buckley on Firing Line next month.

Currently I am in Canada vacationing and keeping my eye out for stories. The editor I worked with during the ‘Summer of Journalism’ has promised to keep publishing anything good I send him – as long as it has a strong local angle. 

Thanks again, Mr. Beck, for the late-night editing and all your help on my stories. God Bless.

Sincerely,

Casey Hailey, (Colorado)