Stirring The Nation's Melting Pot

LOS ANGELES

(CBS) By the year 2040, there will be 60 million Latinos in the United States.

All they had to do was take to the streets, together, this spring to force the question, yet again, in our immigrant history: is it different this time? Is this invasion a threat? Will we become them or will they become us, asks CBS Sunday Morning contributor Martha Teichner.

By the third generation, the vast majority of Latinos, nearly 80 percent, speak English. Many speak no Spanish at all.

So the good news is that if you look at those numbers, it's clear that Latinos are no different from the immigrant groups who preceded them to this country, but depending on your viewpoint, that's also the bad news, because anxiety over Latino immigration is all about numbers and their impact on American culture.

There are 40 million Latinos in the United States, more than 13 percent of the population.