All of us are immigrants
Regarding
President Luis Rodriguez’s column last month, “Reflections on 50
years ago,” we are all of us immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Even Native Americans
trace their ancestry back to Siberia. So in a sense, the story of America is
the story only of immigrants. Thus, I continue to wonder how it is that so many
people who proudly trace their ancestry back to the Pilgrims seem to forget
that:
1. None of the
Pilgrims had a visa or were granted permanent residence by any governmental
authority.
2. Most of them were
poor, illiterate, uneducated, and most certainly unemployed, at best qualified
for manual labor.
3. Felt perfectly at
home moving in on those people already living in America.
4. Most certainly did
not make any effort to integrate into the dominant North American culture at
the time (Mohegan, Mohawk, Cherokee, etc.)
So
how is it that most Pilgrim descendants have difficulty with the immigrants to
America of the 21st century?
And
yes, the American dream and its realization via a like-minded community is what
made America free and prosperous. The problem today is that more and more
people are living the American nightmare: Failed communities and barrios,
failed leadership at all levels, and, most importantly, a cultural failure to
remember that all rights must be coupled with paired responsibilities for the
system to work.
James
Luce
Peralada, Spain