Our Grandparents
This was written by Rosemary LaBonte to the editors of a California
newspaper in response to an article written by Ernie Lujan who suggests
we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the immigrants of
today aren’t being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis
Island and other ports of entry. The paper never printed this response,
so her husband sent it out via internet.
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 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 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 alongside 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, 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 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.