Thoughts on Being Born American In the Wrong Place, Pt 1

[maxparrish]

In the fury over illegal aliens we may forget that ours is a nation of LEGAL immigrants from the common peoples of every nation, people who shed their prior identities and adopted the American creed - 'of many, one'. While there has always been a few native borne that have promoted a 'true' Americanist blue blood line (e.g. the Daughters of the American Revolution) Americans have viewed such enterprises as futile, even quaint. Our identity is NOT in our origins but in our adoption of American values and convictions - to reject the old world in favor of the new.

Legal immigrants, especially in history, have understood this. Many arrived as Americans in their soul, some far more than any native born. They made their nation proud, and we ought to find comfort in knowing America could attract such foreign borne who were knowingly (or unknowingly) 'born Americans':

Bob Hope (United Kingdom)
Ann Margret Actress (Sweden)
Albert Einstein (Austria)
Frank Capra Director (Italy)
Anthony Quinn Actor (Mexico)
Knute Rockney, Coach (Norway)
Cesar Pelli, Architect (Argentina)
Seiji Ozawa, Conductor (China)
Andre Previn, Pianist Composer (Germany)
Itzhak Perlman, Violinist (Israel)
I.M. Pei Architect (China)
Henry Kissinger (Germany)
John Shalikashvili Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (Poland)
Bjarne Stroustrup, Inventor C++ (Denmark)
Irving Berlin, Composer (Russia)
Billy Wilder, Director (Germany)

Perhaps no native borne or naturalized American embodied America, in both its spirit and culture, better than Frank Capra (Italy). Today he is remembered for his classic celebrations of America, and his intuitive understanding of American ethos - that of a land built for and by the common man. Among his treasures were:

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Meet John Doe
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Why We Fight (WII Classic)

But today we are confronted by waves of illegal migrants who do not wish to enter the nation legally, and are not 'borne American' - they reject both. They seek jobs or benefits, but not liberty. Most work, and return their earnings to their country of loyalty (e.g. Mexico). Others contribute to the 4,300 Americans killed by illegals each year in homicides, or the 4,700 Americans killed each year by illegal drunk drivers. And some will even be among the 9-11 plotters and Ft. Dix six. Benign or sinister, they all share a common view: America is a place to find some work, or hide, or sell drugs, or exploit. It is not a belief, a moral creed, a City on a Hill, or a value...it is a convenience.

Frank Capra understood what it means to be an American - how a fusion of immigration and Republican values could produce 'a new man'.

To Frank Capra this is America:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XYxxM1ls1E

This is the America that millions once aspired to be a part of (and many still do)...and there will always be room for immigrants who value America, from many one.

PT II (to Continue).

[buckeyepete]

:claps:

[maxparrish]

PT 2.

So who or what is a "born American"? In a recent article, some of it published at powerline, Peter Shramm's essay "Born American, but in the wrong place".

Peter and his family left Hungary after the Communist revolution and made their way to America, thanks to the sagacity of Peter's father:
[W]ith the revolution failing, everyone expected that the Communist boot was going to come down harder than ever. But before we had more opportunities to experience it, an odd accident set us on the path to a very different future. On one of his trips out to secure some bread, a hand grenade landed next to my father but, miraculously, did not go off. That was the last straw. He came home and announced to my mother that he was going to leave the country whether she would come or not. Mom said, "O.K., William. We will come if Peter agrees. Ask Peter."
"But where are we going?" I asked.
"We are going to America," he said.
"Why America?" I prodded.
"Because, son. We were born Americans, but in the wrong place."
He said that as naturally as if I had asked him what was the color of the sky. It was so obvious to him why we should head for America that he never entertained any other option. Of course, he hadn't studied American history or politics, but he had come to know deep in his heart the meaning of tyranny. He hungered for its opposite and knew where to find it. America represented to my father, as Lincoln put it, "the last, best hope of earth." I would like to be able to say that this made my father a remarkable man for his time and his circumstances. For, in many ways, he truly was a wonder. But this is not one of those ways. Among the Hungarians I knew—aside from those who were true believers in the Communists—this was the common sense of the subject. It was self-evident to them. I would spend much of the next 20 years acquiring this common sense for myself.
This week Peter was honored by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as an "Outstanding American by Choice." The Standard site has posted Peter's reflections on the occasion here (http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/806epbid.asp). A propos of the debate over immigration reform, Peter comments:
...I hear frequent conversations about failures in integration and assimilation, even among recent legal immigrants. This is not new. What is new is that America's own natural citizens increasingly have forgotten what it means to be American. Some do not know the basics principles of this country, and still others have embraced the ideology of multiculturalism and self-loathing to such a degree that they can no longer recognize, let alone proclaim, that ours is a great nation built on lasting principles. If we no longer understand or believe in that which makes us Americans, then there is nothing substantive to assimilate into. We become many and diverse people who share a common place, rather than E Pluribus Unum. Peter was the first president of the Claremont Institute (http://www.claremont.org/) and now teaches politics at the Asbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University. At No Left Turns (http://noleftturns.ashbrook.org/) he exercises his God-given right as an American to sound off.

http://www.claremont.org/publications/pubid.5/pub_detail.asp

These are the old immigrants, the old expectations, the old love of country and its values. So who are the new illegal immigrants, the chain migrants of those previoiusly given amnesty?

[maxparrish]

There are the 'born Americans' of every nation, and then there are the new illegals.

The new illegals, and the prior illegals given amensties who have brought in waves of family chain migrants have not come to build an American nation. More than half are Mexican nationals, with an enduring and deep nationalist chauvinism of race, culture, and nationality. "La Raza" ('the race') and their multipling ilk are not civic groups promoting Americanization, for them the political and civic values created and passed down through British North America are the alien impositions of 'white Europeans' on those of 'the race' who have 'a right' to occupy the Americas illegally.

And unlike prior waves of legal immigrants, they are not seeking to live in America to reject the corruption, crime, pollution, or even the savagry of the old world (Mexico) as such would be a severe wounding of their benighted pride, NOR are they inspired to build a nation for new men; they are here to obtain gringo money and in idle moments to dream...to dream that their corrupt economic and political orders of the old world (of Aztec warrior conquest and colonial Spain) might desend upon America...a world that they are taught at their mother's knee are "theirs" by right.

They found no sham in carrying the Mexican flag to insult their hosts, when they staged a nation wide protest, exposing their dreams and loyalities (that is until they were told by their managers to bring out US flags), and they delight in the Mexican state policy of 'greater Mexico'.

Many of the current migrants are legal, and many of the illegals are not Mexican and they do not usually share the intense loyality to their 'race' and 'blood' nationalism that most Mexican's do - they do not march with arrogant demands for reconquest, or festoon themselves with the national flags from their country of origin. They do not insult their hosts with arrogant demands and thinly vieled threats.

There are telling contrasts between the old and new legal immigrants and the new illegal class:

I. These are the legals and their dreams:

The Hanson Family - 1911
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2lJs-0swH8

Samoians in the US Military - Present
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Birqb_hFQiw

Lawerence Meinwald's Story - Arrival in N.Y.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5rMgMgMVRs

Japanese and Chinese Immigration - Angel Island
(Sorry, may or may not link properly):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmVx_XaHD6U&mode=related&search= (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmVx_XaHD6U&mode=related&search)


II. HERE are our illegal and chain migrants, and their progeny's views of America:

Maywood, an old Southern California City taken over by illegals (50% of drunk driving arrests at the City traffic check points are of illegals; the check points have been discontinued because 'too many' were illegals were arrested).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iMuwv5nr40&mode=related&search=

Illegal Expressing "Gratitude" at Labor Center
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ibc10BQ60E&mode=related&search=

More Gratitude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBONmdeRvpM&mode=related&search=

American Victims of Grateful Illegals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpomTIkv0V8&mode=related&search=


III. Visions of America - two by legal citizens, and another by the new illegals:

Legals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XYxxM1ls1E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_bXy52Jaqg&NR=1


The illegals and Chain migrants:

Massive Rally for AZTLAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIW-BZ8oLrk&mode=related&search=

Damn It Feels Good Being Mexican
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvUZQhUdPA8

This Land Ain't Your Land
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u68hvTGyYvY&NR=1

Illegals Close U.S. Hospitals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdPHwzAJhqw&mode=related&search=

[Republican_Legion]

Bob Hope (United Kingdom)
Ann Margret Actress (Sweden)
Albert Einstein (Austria)
Frank Capra Director (Italy)
Anthony Quinn Actor (Mexico)
Knute Rockney, Coach (Norway)
Cesar Pelli, Architect (Argentina)
Seiji Ozawa, Conductor (China)
Andre Previn, Pianist Composer (Germany)
Itzhak Perlman, Violinist (Israel)
I.M. Pei Architect (China)
Henry Kissinger (Germany)
John Shalikashvili Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (Poland)
Bjarne Stroustrup, Inventor C++ (Denmark)
Irving Berlin, Composer (Russia)
Billy Wilder, Director (Germany)



Some other very successful Immigrants who came here the correct way.

My moms Uncle: who's a Lt. Col USAF, Gulf War 1 veteran.
Immigrated sometime in the 70's I believe and moved up the ranks very fast despite his late enlistment. With his intelligence and dedication in which some of his superior Officers have told my mom that he is known as a very smart person and smarter than what he appears due to his spanish accent and friendly nature. Speaks Spanish, English, French, German, Latin, Hebrew and Arabic.
Will retire soon instead of becoming a full Colonel.
-
My moms older brother who came here in the 1960's and went to college and works for a company in South Carolina and often is on business trips.

[maxparrish]

I believe that the process of legal immigration instills a respect and appreciation for the country that illegals are not likely to acquire. Your mom's older brother and Uncle are the kind of Americans we want - not hordes of unenculturated and still very loyal (to Mexico) aliens.

There is only room for one loyalty (T. Roosevelt).