You wouldn’t think of former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw as someone who would anger Hispanics. But he did — media Hispanics, to be precise — when he planted both feet in the Racist Danger Zone. Not only that, he also made comments that insult Republicans (so what else is new?), but more about that later.

Tom Brokaw was appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning, when he made these remarks. And, boy howdy, did he step in it!

“Hispanics should work harder at assimilation. That’s one of the things I’ve been saying for a long time. They ought not to be just codified in their communities but make sure that all of their kids are learning to speak English, and that they feel comfortable in the communities, and that’s going to take outreach on both sides, frankly.”

Well, them’s fightin’ words to the delicate ears of the socially conscious media panel. Yamiche Alcindor of PBS was also on the “Meet the Press,” and she fired back:

“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.”

Soledad O’Brien huffed about how Tom Brokaw was “Just. Wrong,” whereupon conservative Brit Hume pointed out how no one dare criticize non-whites:

He was just wrong: data shows extremely high levels of assimilation among first gen latinos. Even higher among second gen. In fact, by second gen they struggle to speak Spanish. So. He’s. Just. Wrong. https://t.co/KKmmVCEPXk

— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) January 28, 2019

The folks at ABC’s “Good Morning America” were apoplectic:

But did you notice Tom Brokaw’s slam at those on the “Republican side,” whom he says “don’t want brown grand babies”?

“I hear when I push people a little harder, ‘I don’t know whether I want brown grandbabies.’ I mean, that’s also a part of it.”

For the record, my son-in-law is Hispanic, of Nicaraguan-Colombian background. However, neither of my grandchildren are “little brown ones” — even my grandson, who, except for his complexion, is the spitting image of his father. He even shares his dad’s aptitude for math and science. I’ve found that genetics is a funny thing: it doesn’t always work like you learned in high school.

But even if my grandkids were “little brown ones,” I wouldn’t love them any less — or my son-in-law, either.

Credit: pixabay. Creative Commons Public Domain. 

I also recall this exchange between my daughter and me when she began dating the young man she eventually married:

“Mom, do you care that Nick’s Hispanic?”

“No. I only care how he treats you.” 

She never brought it up again, and neither did I. True conservatives care more about character than skin tone.

But according to Brokaw, the “Republican side” really doesn’t like Hispanics because. . . racist. Well, of course he says this. It’s an article of faith among the elite media types that if you’re on the right, you’re a bigot. Racist, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic — take your pick.

Yet while Tom Brokaw is groveling all over Twitter with multiple apologies to angry Hispanics — who want their pound of flesh — he doesn’t apologize to conservatives. But we’re not demanding it, either. While Stuart Varney of Fox News didn’t care for Brokaw’s comment about “brown grand babies,” he doesn’t expect an apology:

“He said what he said. Stand by it. Don’t be swept off the scene because you offended the ultra-sensitive.”

Varney also called for a “new free speech movement.” He’s right, you know, but I’m not seeing one on the horizon. Frankly, I don’t think we’ve even hit peak outrage yet.

Featured image: cropped; Ryan Somma at flickr. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0.