Links

Monday, June 7, 2010

Another Personal Editorial

New Immigrants


OK, so I'm just passing this along.....




Maybe we should turn to our history 
books and point out to people like Mr. 
Lujan why today's American is not 
willing to accept this new kind of 
immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 
when there was a rush from all areas 
of Europe to come to the United States, 
people had to get off a ship and stand 
in a long line in New York and be 
documented.
Some would even get down on their 
hands and knees and kiss the ground. 
They made a pledge to uphold the laws 
and support their new country in good 
and bad times. They made learning 
English a primary rule in their new 
American households and some even 
changed their names to blend in 
with their new home.


Some would even get down on their hands 
and knees and kiss the ground. They made 
a pledge to uphold the laws and support 
their new country in good and bad times. 
They made learning English a primary rule
in theirnew American households and 
some even changed their names to blend
in with their new home.


They had waved goodbye to their birth 

place to give their children a new life and 
did everything in their power to help their 
children assimilate into one culture. 
Nothing was handed to them. No free 
lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to 
protect them. All they had 
were the skills and craftsmanship they had 
brought with them to trade for a future of 
prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when  
World War II broke out. My father fought 
along side men whose parents had come 
straight over from Germany, Italy, 
France and Japan. None of these  
1st generation Americans ever gave any
thought about what country their parents 
had come from. They were Americans 
fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor
of Japan. They were defending the United 
States of America as one people.
When we liberated France, no one in those
villages were looking for the French 
American, the German American or the 
Irish American. The people of France 
saw only Americans. And we carried 
one flag that represented one country. 
Not one of those immigrant sons would 
 have thought about picking up another 
country's flag and waving it to represent 
who they were. It would have been a 
disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed 
so much to be here. These immigrants truly 
knew what it meant to be an American. 
They stirred the melting pot into one 
red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are with a new kind of 

immigrant who wants the same rights and 
privileges. Only they want to achieve it by 
playing with a different set of rules, one 
that includes the entitlement card and a 
guarantee of being faithful to their mother
country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an 
American is all about. I believe that the 
immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in 
the early 1900's deserve better than that 
for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice 
in raising future generations to create a 
land that has become a beacon for those 
legally searching for a better life. I think 
they would be appalled that they are being
used as an example by those waving 
foreign country flags.



 











































 And for that suggestion about taking 
down the Statue of Liberty, it happens 
to mean a lot to the citizens who are 
voting on the immigration bill. 
I wouldn't start talking about
dismantling the United States just yet.


No comments:

Post a Comment