Immigration: Don't bite the hand that feeds you etc.

[VooDoo6Actual]

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[HES]

I took the family vacationing to NYC a couple of years ago and one of the places we went was Ellis Island. I wanted to see where my great grandparents came through and how they did. One of the interesting things I saw were all the propaganda posters exhorting the recently arrived immigrants to assimilate. I remember seeing the news paper advertisements for English language schools at night. I was reminded how the maternal side of my family from Hungry and Italy busted their asses to embrace their new home. I recall how my grandparents had zero accent. I recall my paternal side of the family coming over in the infancy of this country and how both sides eventually found each other and gave birth to me.

And then I drive around. I go to Miami or drive around Tampa and see flags for Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic in proud display. I look at the immigrants from the 80s and compare them to their ancestors. What happened?

IMO I think its because we took the notion of understanding and appreciating other cultures and turned it into some psycho babble laden, touchy feeley idea that we must also abandon our own culture and how dare we try to welcome and integrate the immigrants lest we bee seen as racist mongers. We stopped sending out the message of why the USA is better and what was needed from the newly arrived individuals in order to partake in it.

So the n00bs decided that just because they were here that it didnt mean they have to act like they were here. There is a huge difference between Little Italy in NYC and Little Haiti in Miami. IN little Italy folks banded together as they assimilated, but they all had the goal of getting a piece of the American dream. In Little Haiti, they couldnt care less about becoming American and it shows.

So IMO we need to get over our selves and our self imposed restrictions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with saying "Welcome to the US, break the shackles from where you came and become one of us". I think the sooner we do this, the sooner we can welcome the immigrants and all they bring us. The waves of immigrants past have only served to strengthen this nation and make it richer in so many ways. The immigrants also have to realize that they will have to give up the old world and stop trying to recreate it here.

[Bat Guano]

You can thank Teddy Kennedy for a lot of this. And don't forget a few decades worth of short sighted, spineless Congresses and pandering Administrations from both parties.

All I know is that we were attacking in the wrong direction.