December 31, 2008, - 2:51 pm
Yo Soy Boy Scoutano: Illegal Aliens Are New “Boy Scouts of America”
By Debbie Schlussel
I have mixed feelings about the Boy Scouts of America’s new target for recruitment.
The Boy Scouts are, sadly, a dying organization. The group has been denied funds and come under attack from the United Way and gay activists because it tried to protect young boys from possibly predatory gay scoutmasters and also because it does not allow atheists.
And so–because it has been severely defamed and lost interest among the general American population of boys–the group has decided to actively recruit Hispanic immigrants to the scouts. There’s nothing wrong with going after legal immigrants’ kids, and the Boy Scouts would be a good influence on them to help them become fully American.
But the Boy Scouts of America are not discriminating against whom they recruit, and they are knowingly going after illegal aliens. Plus, the Boy Scouts are reversing what made it a good organization.
To wit, instead of influencing these kids to understand and absorb themselves into American culture and adopt good values, the Boy Scouts is being absorbed into the Hispanic illegal alien culture. For instance, the Boy Scouts of America now has its brochures translated into Spanish, discouraging young Boy Scout from learning English in America. And the group is combining Cub Scouting with soccer. No offense, but most American boys are not into soccer, and certainly not as much as Latino countries are. This encourages separatism, rather than an acceptance of American culture–say baseball, or the REAL football.
Oh, and by the way, there’s sort of an affirmative action going on here beyond all that. The Boy Scouts have made it their goal to double Hispanic Scout membership by 2010, the Boy Scouts of America’s Centennial.
But why not double inner city membership in the Scouts, where it is needed regardless of whether the residents are Black or Latino? And why not in rural and suburban America?
There is a reason the Scouts are not succeeding with non-Hispanic boys. And it has everything to do with marketing and life lessons. The Scouts are doing a terrible job with the former and do such a great job with the latter.
Remember when it was cool for a boy to dream of becoming an Eagle Scout?
They need to find a way to make it cool again. And that doesn’t mean Spanish brochures and recruitment of illegal aliens.
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For the record, I was a Girl Scout Brownie as a kid. We had a special Jewish troop for all of the girls in my class at Akiva Hebrew Day School, where I went to elementary and middle school. My mother and our family friend, Sheila Guyer, ran it from the Guyer family home’s baseement. And I enjoyed it a lot.
Also for the record, our brochures were not in Hebrew and the Brownies never did anything to cater to Jews to get us to join. We did it because it was fun and something common to many American girls our age. The only thing Jewish about it was that we were all Jews. Oh, and we only baked and ate kosher food. Plus, no meetings on Jewish holidays.
The Girl Scouts are a whole different animal from the Boy Scouts. The Girl Scouts has been very PC in the last decade or so, and always bowed to political pressure. Until this latest recruitment of immigrants–legal AND illegal–the Boy Scouts didn’t waiver from important traditions.
Baden Powell is rolling in his grave.
I went through the Boy Scouts, from the ages of 12 – 18. And cubs before that. From it I learned citizenship and leadership. Also lessons in morality and ethics. What is reported here is just sick.
But Debbie, you’re off base on the involvement of American youth in soccer. As a kid, I was also involved in Little League baseball. AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) has killed Little Leage and it happened without needing hispanic participation. AYSO let in both boys and girls and starting at a younger age than Little Leage. Plus I think soccer just appeals to little kids more than hardball because at the entry level it requires zero skill. It’s just a bunch of munchkins running around with a coach reminding them which direction to kick the ball! Like the waterskiing tee-shirt from Kidde says, “If it was easy, they’d call it wake boarding”.
I do completely agree that Cub Scouting should not be combined with soccer – that’s nuts. It’s like my local KFC merging with A&W. Now, I can get a Papa Burger and a Bucket of Original Recipe through the same window – oh boy! At least that’s just fast-food economics and not multiculturalism.
Richard on December 31, 2008 at 3:29 pm