To be an American is to have earned the right to be one
So many letter writers in many different newspapers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants.
There are those that suggests we should tear down the Statute of Liberty because the immigrants now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to those people why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer.
Back in the late 1800's and early 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 1 broke out. My father's parents came to this country from Poland and he fought 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 Germany, and in World War II 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 a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country.
I'm sorry, they are looking for a free ride and that's not what being an American is about. Speak our language, learn the American way of being one of our citizens and abide by our laws. No one has begged you to come to our country so should you be dis-satisfied here, you are free to leave. If you want to live in my house, you live by my rules or I will ask you to leave.
I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island back at the turn of the twentieth century 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 wanting us to give them an American citizenship with no strings attached and loads of freebies.
And for that suggestion about taking down the Statute of Liberty, it happens to mean a more than you are aware of to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the Statute of Liberty or the United States just yet.
Remember the United States is all about "We The People"
Author Unknown
Frank J. Larson
120 Bay Ave.
Prince Frederick, Md. 20678-4484
410-535-5568
juliusb@comcast.net