via Verne Strickland USA DOT COM 11/18/14
How Our Ancestors Came to America
This was written
by Rosemary La Bonte 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.
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 wouldn't
start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING. FOR THE WRONG THINGS TO PREVAIL, THE RIGHTFUL MAJORITY NEEDS TO REMAIN COMPLACENT AND QUIET.
I sincerely hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the nation!
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