I get e-mail all the time. Some of it purports to be from great thinkers.
One of those literary beauties involved a tidbit of wisdom about how immigrants should show up on the doorstep of America ready to don a baseball cap, chow down on some apple pie, and immediately begin to speak English. “Try forcing your language on Mexico. Demand your ‘rights’ in Afghanistan,†they said. “They won’t allow it there, and we shouldn’t allow it here.â€
But don’t we do it anyway? Don’t we demand that people speak English to us regardless of where we are in the world? Watch The Amazing Race on CBS, or the Gameshow Network once or twice (not more than that, you’ll get a headache). You’ll see Americans in all parts of the globe defying local laws, sneering at local customs, and generally behaving boorishly. And we wonder why we are having a hard time in the world of public opinion.
Given the fact that we have boorish tendencies, its ludicrous to expect these cultures to be folded into our national fabric without a hubbub.
Or is it?
Rap music was anathema a few years ago. Played in the middle of the night on MTV, it was a rebel, renegade element in music. Now, you can’t watch MTV or VH-1 for that matter, without someone dropping a hip-hop or gangsta rap beat in the background.
And now, no one really notices.
Even though we integrate pretty well, America has always integrated immigrants WAY more slowly than the national minorities desired. And rarely fast enough to keep the mainstream population completely happy.
But retaining a strong genetic bond of blood and national identity is exactly what one should expect. As I already said, Americans do it everywhere we go.
Overheard in downtown Toledo: I’d like a Big Mac.
Overheard in downtown Taipei: I’d like a Big Mac. Don’t you have real food here?
And you don’t have to leave the country to find that, by the way. If you get a big enough group together at a Chinese restaurant, and you’ll probably get at least one person who wants that hamburger instead of shrimp lo mein.
But let’s be really clear about this issue: The problem isn’t immigration, but illegal immigration. Just as we shouldn’t expect laws to be ignored in our favor when we are traveling the world, neither should immigrants expect laws to be forgotten in their favor either. The trouble is that we are the ones who have failed to enforce our own laws.
And that’s a problem.
Immigrants have to expect more integration–mostly with following our laws.
And we American nationals have to expect more retention of national identity from these people who are making their way in a new, frightening country. Its comforting to see those things that remind us of home.
Moderating the two is the only way that this crisis will avert. Where we stand now, acts of violence on a broad scale are only a few fistfights away.
If you have any questions about the possibilities of violence, here are some of the acts that have been carried out recently that you may not be aware of. Note the lack of moderation.
The images can be seen courtesy of Michelle Malkin’s Blog.
Give a little bit. That’s the key. But who is going to give first?
But my favorite story of late has been about Pat Robertson.
Filed by Joey at 2:30 pm under General Rant
