Much has been said about immigration lately. I came across this little “gem” from 2006 on the auld ‘net. Since I am an immigrant, and still hear chatter along these lines, I thought I’d give it a closer look.
From: “David LaBonte” My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to “print” it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined.
Dave LaBonte (signed)
Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange CountyRegister:
Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one,suggests we should tear down the Statute of Liberty because the people now in question aren’t being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
[Ummm, no he didn’t. Maybe its just you that wants to tear down the Statute Statue of Liberty?]
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.
[Yes, let’s go back to the history books. God knows they’ve never shown any bias at all, at all.]
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.
[Wow, 1900 must have been known as “Year of the Immigrant,” huh? I kissed the ground once after being caught in a thunderstorm in a small airplane. However, the ground is dirty, so even people from other countries try to minimize this activity. I got off a plane, not a ship, but I still stood in a huge line so that I could be treated like shit documented.]
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.
[Is that how history now reads? They actually changed their names to avoid the blatant prejudices leveled against them. Am I the only one who has seen those cutesy little “No blacks or Irish need apply” signs from years gone by?]
They had waved good bye 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.
[I never waved. Depending on the wave chosen, people who wave can often look seriously gay. At one point, and before I actually became a US Citizen, I was handed an M-16 as well as some clothes that make you blend in with a forest. I also got a lot of free lunches from those people with the funny helmets. Boy, they yelled a lot. Was it wrong to take their food?]
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side 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.
[I doubt he fought alongside many Japs. That was because most of them were locked up in internment camps for the duration of the war. I’ll bet some of the 1st gen kids had a bit of a think about where their parents came from then.]
They were Americans fighting Hilter, 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 or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country.
[Ah, France, land of villages. Who’s “Hilter,” anyway? Did nobody proof-read this literary masterpiece? Obviously, the OC Register missed out big time for not publishing this. Of course they saw Americans. Most armies don’t like it when you start waving a different flag than the country that it represents. “Great lads, that’s it - we’ve won! Jaysus Paddy, would you put the effing tri-color back in yer bleedin’ bag and get the one with the little stars and the red stripes. Y’eejit!”]
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.
[Yeah, those parents sure were ashamed of where they’d come from. If they’d seen their sons waving a non-US flag, those lads would have a beating coming their way. That would also explain why the Irish were so desperate to move away from the packs of Irish in New York. To a far away place - like Boston…]
And here we are in 2006 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.
[Christ, I wish I still had that entitlement card. It was great and you could get loads of free stuff with it. Stuff like a 1040 from the IRS…]
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 really enjoy living off the backs of those people now. Thanks.]
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 Statute 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.
[I vote too - scared?]
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte
P.S.Pass this on to everyone you know!!! KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING!! I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the nation!!
Rosemary dear, maybe your letter did not get published because its a poorly-written, poorly-researched piece of crap? Nah, maybe its like your husband implied, it was not printed because you dared tell the truth…
Anyway, I’ve done my part to keep those immigrant fuckers out now.
