So many people look at immigrants, illegal or not, as others. Outsiders. Never truly and fully American. But after this weekend, I see proof that they know more about what it means to be American than many people here that just happened to be born in the right place.
They marched to let the government know they are here, rather than apathetically staying home and watching another episode of Lost or Survivor.
They work hard every day, earning barely enough to scrape by, and say they have found the American dream, rather than job-hopping, or complaining about supervisors or work load at some white-collar job downtown where people are over-paid and over-compensated in comparison.
They start businesses at a faster rate than the mainstream and raise families in deeply-rooted religious and cultural traditions, rather than waiting for a handout from a homogenous society that seems not to value differences anymore.
Some things are quite obvious: we would collapse without them, and we are all immigrants here. Each of us has ancestry that comes from somewhere else, except perhaps the Native Americans. I am Norwegian, Swedish, and English. My partner is English, French, Native American and many others ancestries she doesn't even know of. One of my friends is third generation Mexican and Spanish. These are the differences that unite us. That is what makes America so great. We can look different, believe different, speak different, and hold different traditions, yet we can still live together working towards a common goal: freedom.
These immigrants that so many hate or want to send back to the countries that many of them have never even seen embody the American spirit far more than the rest of us. We should be embracing them and thanking them for keeping the American dream alive.
As one sign at the Utah Capitol said: "I dream of liberty and freedom for my family." If that is not the American dream, then what is?
Read more about the marches here, here, here, here, here, and here (far more coverage in the Tribune than the Deseret News...telling huh?). And read the opposing point of view here.
Breakdown of Bill in Congress.
1 comment:
Many comments have been made regarding these marches and protests. One that especially bothers me:
1) If these people want to be American, why are they carrying Mexican flags?
2) And why the hell don't they all learn English right now?
In response to 1: for the same reason myself and my father have Norwegian flags on our bumpers. Because we're proud of who we are and where we come from. Nobody asked us to give up our identities to become Americans. Neither should we ask anyone else.
In response to 2) I can see a point here. The affairs of the state, education and even public transportation are all conducted in English, and so for their own livelihood learning English would help. But, tell me why you don't learn Spanish? It's hard! Especially if you're past a certain age. Second generation Mexicans learn English to help their parents and are multi-lingual, which is a feat not many of us can claim. Give them amnesty and in a few generations, they will all speak English. They know the necessity of it.
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