Statue of Liberty This response was written by Rosemary LaBonte to the editors of a California newspaper regarding an article written by Ernie Lujan suggesting the Statue of Liberty should be torn down because the immigrants of today aren’t being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry 100 years ago. The paper never printed her response, so her husband sent it out via internet. We should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why todays American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in the early 1900s when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, immigrants arrived by ship and stood in long lines in New York to be documented. Some even got down on their hands and knees and kissed the ground. They pledged 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 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 brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Many of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. He said 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 carrying one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another countrys 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. Now we have a different kind of immigrant who wants all the rights and privileges, only they want to achieve them by playing with a different set of rules. They want the entitlement card and a guarantee they can be faithful to their mother country. Im sorry, thats not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900s 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 by the attempt to use them 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 wouldnt start talking about dismantling the United States just yet. KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING. FOR WRONG IDEAS TO PREVAIL, ALL THE RIGHTFUL MAJORITY NEEDS TO DO IS REMAIN COMPLACENT AND QUIET. DONT LET THAT HAPPEN!
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 17:43:02 +0000
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