Sociological Concepts the Colombians --

Sociological Concepts The Colombians -- the Dillingham Flaw The term Dillingham Flaw, "coined by social thinker Vincent Parrillo, refers to the erroneous way of comparing people from one time period with people living in the present" ("Dillingham Flaw," 2006, World Prout Assembly). The name originated from the study of Senator William P. Dillingham, who concluded from 1907-1911 data that "immigration from southern, central and eastern Europe was detrimental to the U.S." because of these immigrants' lower IQs ("Dillingham Flaw," 2006, World Prout Assembly).

These studies were based on recent immigrants with poor familiarity with English, and who had not yet benefited from the U.S. free public education system. Education beyond a rudimentary level was often not possible in their home nations, and many immigrants were working hard to make a living for their children, rather than getting an education in the United States. The Dillingham Flaw is still applied to many recent economic immigrant groups in the United States.

For example, Latin American immigrants from Colombia may be tarred with the taint of participating in their nation's drug trade, simply because their home nation is associated with drugs. Furthermore, it is usually poorer persons who engage in the planting coco, out of economic desperation, while people who immigrate to the U.S. often do so in search of greater opportunity, not to engage in illegal activities. If anything, they come to the United States to escape the violence and danger associated with such activities and drug production.

Some stereotypes have been used against virtually all recent Latin American immigrants, such as the idea, for example, that they are illegal immigrants or low-wage workers with poor educational backgrounds. But to take just one example, Colombia contains within its borders a wide variety of persons of different socioeconomic and educational levels.

To view all Colombians, indeed all Latin American immigrants as part of the same economic stratosphere would be erroneous, although this would not strictly be an application of the Dillingham Flaw, as many of these high-wage workers might be recent immigrants to the United States themselves, but come to participate in educational or job opportunities of their current level and class. A more benign but still relevant application of the Dillingham Flaw might be to assume that all persons of Latin American extraction have the same political affiliation.

A recent or lower-class worker might have more sympathy with the Democratic Party, or more strongly identify with candidates of Latin extraction. A Latin American immigrant or second generation immigrant with strong conservative views on social policy, or who owned his or her own business might be more responsive to political appeals from the Republican Party and care less about the ethnic background of a prospective candidate, unlike his or her parents.

Thus, it would be in error for a candidate to assume that he or she was guaranteed or not guaranteed 'the Latin vote,' given the diversity of persons within that supposed voting monolith.