America was built by the blood, sweat and tears of immigrants. I know, my grandparents came over from Poland 100 years ago for the same reasons many of you have. While Poland was being oppressed by the Russian rule my great-grandparents knew there was a better life in America. Just one of millions my grandmother come through Ellis Island where she eventually settled in Detroit, Michigan. Yearning for what she was forced to give up and never to see her parents again she was a very sad lady until she died.
When they came they came with nothing but their own work ethic and appreciation for what America had to offer. Enslaved in their own country they now enjoyed the freedoms they had been promised. Grant it life was not easy for them even in America, but they were free! They worked hard and asked for nothing in return. She did not live to see Poland become free again nor did she ever step foot back into her homeland, but Poland was always in her heart.
Inscribed on the Statue of Liberty was written by poet Emma Lazarus
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
About Me? Nah... It's About You...
- American First
- We're Americans First with Conservative views who answer to Jesus Christ for our deeds.
I, too, am a descendent of immigrants. Aren't we all? My great-grandfather and his two brothers came to the US from Ireland. Upon arriving in the US they each went separate ways. I know that my great-grandfather worked hard to build a life in the US, as did my grandfather and then my dad. They were farmers - and the entire family worked, children included. My dad began working outside the home to support the family (my grannie and two aunts) when he was just 16 as grandad died that year and my dad became the man of the house. They didn't take welfare but they did struggle. After my dad graduated high school my grannie took additional jobs outside of the home (she often worked 2-3 jobs) and worked up until just a few years ago - well into her 80s. She did not live on credit - she paid for everything she had, which wasn't much, up front. She worked hard and raised a family with a strong work ethic. And the tradition continues.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, though born north of the 49th parallel, I loved America. I loved Jesus, too. And then I was given an education.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I loved Canada. After all it was so... uh, clean. Pristine, actually. But it didn't have the zip, the
panache of the land down below. Let's face it, even in Nature the bald eagles soar high above the maple leaves.
And we didn't have that patriotic passion, that much-heralded "Liberty", we had no Texas to threaten not to mess with.
But we did have ABC and we did have Schoolhouse Rock every afternoon, and we sang along with that bill on Capitol Hill, even though that law someday wouldn't be our law anyway and that Constitution wasn't our Constitution. Spectators. That's how I saw us.
And you could come from anywhere in the world and still be an American. But, since being Canadian was not as stringently defined, most immigrants came in bringing their own countries along with them. Canada's biggest claim to fame may ultimately
be the exaltation of the hyphenated citizen.
But then I got the real lowdown when I began my higher learning. (It's amazing how much it costs to hear someone say "Down with capitalism!") Entering the Arts was asking for trouble I suppose, and yes, Daddy, you were right, but those syllabi don't come with disclaimers -- Marx was cool, guns are bad and God is dead. Disagree and you'll get a B. Assimilate and you, too, can scorn beauty, hate your father and protect abortion rights for the next generation. The irony was lost on them.
For two years they had me. But the third was a charm. I eventually left Canada, toured Western civilization, and finally settled in Southern California, the ultimate revenge, I thought, against the commies of the Great White North. Until I realized that they were having the last laugh, surrounded as I was by their Left Coast brethren.
I had always wanted Canada to try to become more like the States. And instead I have watched America become more like Canada, which boggles the mind. Were legislators here somehow inspired by the pathetic exchange rate, the unemployment weight, the language wars? If it ain't broke why fix it, unless you're blind to the forest, and want the world to hug your personal tree. It seemed as though the socialized sneer for individual Liberty had somehow become more infectious than the Providential smile of freedom.
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