--- title: "2 Assimilation Quotes By Richard Rodriguez" description: "2 Assimilation quotes by Richard Rodriguez. Plus more from Richard Rodriguez and more Assimilation sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/richard-rodriguez-6515_america_mexicans-who-come-to-america-today-end-u_2002583.jpg" --- > [Mexicans who come to America today end up opposing assimilation. They say they are "holding on to their culture." To them, I say, "If you really wanted to hold on to your culture, you would be in favor of assimilation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/mexicans-who-come-to-america-today-end-up-opposing-assimilation-they/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/richard-rodriguez-6515_america_mexicans-who-come-to-america-today-end-u_2002583.jpg) > [The fact that we're all hyphenating our names suggests that we are afraid of being assimilated. I was talking on the BBC recently, and this woman introduced me as being "in favor of assimilation." I said, "I'm not in favor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/the-fact-that-we-re-all-hyphenating-our-names-suggests-that-we-are/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/richard-rodriguez-6515_assimilation_the-fact-that-we-re-all-hyphenating-our_2121514.png) ## Other authors on Assimilation - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-norbert-elias-71917.jpg) Norbert Elias 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assimilation/norbert-elias/) ## More by Richard Rodriguez > [“Human unhappiness is evidence of our immortality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/human-unhappiness-is-evidence-of-our-immortality/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [In the Sacramento of the 1950s, it was as though White simply hadn't had time enough to figure Brown out. It was a busy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/in-the-sacramento-of-the-1950s-it-was-as-though-white-simply-hadn-t/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Books should confuse. Literature abhors the typical. Literature flows to the particular, the mundane, the greasiness of paper, the taste of warm beer, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/books-should-confuse-literature-abhors-the-typical-literature-flows/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Mexico is sex and Canada is mind. There is much about Canada that I find admirable - the treatment of immigrants, for example, particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/mexico-is-sex-and-canada-is-mind-there-is-much-about-canada-that-i/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [My decision was sparked by affirmative action. There was a point in my life when affirmative action would have meant something to me -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/my-decision-was-sparked-by-affirmative-action-there-was-a-point-in-my/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Who knows what Yale thought it was getting when it hired Richard Rodriguez? The people who offered me the job thought there was nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/who-knows-what-yale-thought-it-was-getting-when-it-hired-richard/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [I have a good black friend who is a doctor, but he didn't become a doctor because he saw other black men who were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/i-have-a-good-black-friend-who-is-a-doctor-but-he-didn-t-become-a/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [In some ways I consider myself more Chinese, because I live in San Francisco, which is becoming a predominantly Asian city. I avoid falling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/in-some-ways-i-consider-myself-more-chinese-because-i-live-in-san/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [I think the universities have co-opted the intellectual, by and large. But there is an emerging intellectual set coming out of Washington think tanks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/i-think-the-universities-have-co-opted-the-intellectual-by-and-large/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [You don't know Mexico, man. You have trivialized Mexico. You are a fool about Mexico if you think that Mexico is five blocks. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/you-don-t-know-mexico-man-you-have-trivialized-mexico-you-are-a-fool/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [After the second chapter of Days of Obligation, which is about the death of a friend of mine from AIDS, was published in Harper's,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/after-the-second-chapter-of-days-of-obligation-which-is-about-the/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [What has happened in the last generation is that Tijuana has become a new Third World capital - much to the chagrin of Mexico…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/what-has-happened-in-the-last-generation-is-that-tijuana-has-become-a/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [We're looking at complexity. We're looking at blond kids in Beverley Hills who can speak Spanish because they have been raised by Guatemalan nannies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/we-re-looking-at-complexity-we-re-looking-at-blond-kids-in-beverley/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [Intimacy is not trapped within words. It passes through words. It passes. The truth is that intimates leave the room. Doors close. Faces move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/intimacy-is-not-trapped-within-words-it-passes-through-words-it/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [For me, diversity is not a value. Diversity is what you find in Northern Ireland. Diversity is Beirut. Diversity is brother killing brother. Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/for-me-diversity-is-not-a-value-diversity-is-what-you-find-in/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assimilation/richard-rodriguez/#itemlist", "name": "2 Assimilation Quotes By Richard Rodriguez", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mexicans who come to America today end up opposing assimilation. They say they are \"holding on to their culture.\" To them, I say, \"If you really wanted to hold on to your culture, you would be in favor of assimilation. You would be fearless about swallowing English and about becoming Americanized. You would be much more positive about the future, and much less afraid. 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