The Immigration Debate Rages
The following is a letter my aunt sent to me and it got me going. So, please read the letter and then after the letter is my response to it.
Please feel free to make any comments. All veiw points are welcome.
Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:
Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Islandand other ports of entry.
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.
They had waved good bye 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 or 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 in 2006 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.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte
Geoff's response:
This letter paints a very rosey picture of immigrants in the early years of our country. When these people came to this country many were dirt poor. They had to depend on each other and many times they were being taken advantage of by the people of this country, whether it was their own people or others. Tricked into joining the army and killing other poor people for no other reason than money. Can you say chewed up and spit out. Many of them would have gone back to their country if they could have and many did. Many of the immigrants didn't go back and had their families ruined; died of disease and hunger and suffered thru unreal conditions. There were few or no records kept of how many died during this time. How many children died and/or babies at birth? Maybe if there would have been welfare, not so many children would have suffered and died or lived in filth and been uneducated. We don't hear about these things because the history our schools teach likes to paint this beautiful picture of how great our country was. Do some research and find the some of the other stories.
Many of the immigrants did learn english or their kids did, but they spoke their own language at home. And they made sure their culture and customs were learned and lived in everyday life. Many of their names were changed and the families did not even know about it because they did not speak english or understand our ways. That was because the immigration officials were to lazy or to bigoted or under to much pressure to let them keep their own names.
It does not surprize me this is the way many older people of our country view the new immigrants. (And not all older people see it this way I know) They were trained very well to believe the beautiful, clean, spotless history our educators like to pass on as the truth. They also tend to be the most vocal when other records are presented and/or found that put a little dirt on their spotless version of history. It makes me sick when I keep hearing the phrase "don't re-write history." History is a living thing, it has to be. Those who win the war write the history. I think we can all agree with this. Well, then don't be surprized when the group that lost the war start telling their side of things. If we blow these people off we are making a big mistake.
Please don't believe everything you hear or read. Do your own research and then make up your mind. But please don't be so stubborn to not change that view if new evidence presents itself. If we start to believe we know everything and stop learning, we stop growing. Then we get old and die.
Peace and Love to everyone.
Geoff
Please feel free to make any comments. All veiw points are welcome.
Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:
Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Islandand other ports of entry.
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.
They had waved good bye 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 or 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 in 2006 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.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte
Geoff's response:
This letter paints a very rosey picture of immigrants in the early years of our country. When these people came to this country many were dirt poor. They had to depend on each other and many times they were being taken advantage of by the people of this country, whether it was their own people or others. Tricked into joining the army and killing other poor people for no other reason than money. Can you say chewed up and spit out. Many of them would have gone back to their country if they could have and many did. Many of the immigrants didn't go back and had their families ruined; died of disease and hunger and suffered thru unreal conditions. There were few or no records kept of how many died during this time. How many children died and/or babies at birth? Maybe if there would have been welfare, not so many children would have suffered and died or lived in filth and been uneducated. We don't hear about these things because the history our schools teach likes to paint this beautiful picture of how great our country was. Do some research and find the some of the other stories.
Many of the immigrants did learn english or their kids did, but they spoke their own language at home. And they made sure their culture and customs were learned and lived in everyday life. Many of their names were changed and the families did not even know about it because they did not speak english or understand our ways. That was because the immigration officials were to lazy or to bigoted or under to much pressure to let them keep their own names.
It does not surprize me this is the way many older people of our country view the new immigrants. (And not all older people see it this way I know) They were trained very well to believe the beautiful, clean, spotless history our educators like to pass on as the truth. They also tend to be the most vocal when other records are presented and/or found that put a little dirt on their spotless version of history. It makes me sick when I keep hearing the phrase "don't re-write history." History is a living thing, it has to be. Those who win the war write the history. I think we can all agree with this. Well, then don't be surprized when the group that lost the war start telling their side of things. If we blow these people off we are making a big mistake.
Please don't believe everything you hear or read. Do your own research and then make up your mind. But please don't be so stubborn to not change that view if new evidence presents itself. If we start to believe we know everything and stop learning, we stop growing. Then we get old and die.
Peace and Love to everyone.
Geoff
posted by Geoff at 9:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home