Working their way to middle class
Re “The brown and the gray,” Current, Feb. 4
David E. Hayes-Bautista’s call to invest more in educating Latino immigrants is misguided. Money cannot buy a culture of academic achievement. But, in “La Nueva California: Latinos in the Golden State,” Hayes-Bautista makes clear what I see around me, which is that Latino immigrants are working their way to middle-class status via blue-collar jobs. The only people elitists like Gregory Rodriguez regard as successful are people with master’s degrees and media jobs. They don’t see the manager at a Denny’s, who may make $80,000 a year, or the Hispanic immigrant contractor who makes $120,000 a year. Everybody sees things from their own perspective.
As a 60-year-old gringo, I am not worried that the Latino immigrant population will be unable to shoulder the burden of supporting my generation.
MIKE BURNS
Bakersfield
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
