United
States not infallible
The Daily Breeze ran a special section on
Sunday comprised of readers’ reactions to
Sept. 11 and how life has changed for Americans.
The letters were ho-hum and I almost stopped
reading until I got to one thaat jumped
off the page.
A woman said she lost a friend on flight
11. Pretty typical letter until she wrote,
“I wish that we would stop letting illegal
immigrants into our country for any reason.
So much damage has been done. Why do we
keep letting them in when we have so many
needy Americans?”
Is this lady for real? Does she mean what
I think she means? I understand overreacting
immediately after a tragedy, but thinking
this way a year after the fact is downright
scary.
This woman implied that where a person lives
gives them seniority and importance over
others who live elsewhere. Wasn’t this country
founded by people who tried to get away
from rulers they didn’t like and isn’t that
what immigrants are doing today?
This woman was taught that this country
is the best, end of discussion. Since Sept.
11, nationalism has been everywhere. When
did Americans become a different, more advanced
form of humans who are more valuable to
the world than others? Peace will occur
when people realize the battles we fight
are all for nothing. The saying is cliché,
but we are all the same and it’s sad that
a decent student (at a state school no less)
can understand this while many others cannot.
Nationalism is everywhere, even in basketball
as the U.S. men’s team just proved. The
World Championships of Basketball were just
held in Indiana and for the first time using
professional players, the U.S. team lost
(three times), coming in a pathetic sixth
place. The United States still has the best
players in the world, but the best didn’t
participate because the thinking was the
U.S. team could send anyone and win. I never
thought I would compare something I learned
in a political science class with basketball,
but it makes perfect sense. The selection
committee and elite players didn’t appreciate
other nations and they paid the price, just
like the rest of Americans will do if they
continue to believe the United States can
do no wrong.
I’m no historian, but weren’t this nation’s
founding fathers illegal immigrants? No
one asked them to come here, especially
not the American Indians. I’m also not God
and I don’t exactly know who or what inhabited
what lands first. For all we know American
Indians may not be so native.
This letter taught me a valuable lesson
about America. This nation is a double-edged
sword. Freedom is a wonderful thing, but
it can also be terrible. I don’t agree with
this woman, but she has every right to speak
her mind, regardless of how wrong she is.
This woman’s words make me think she thinks
she is a true, proud American, but I think
she is the complete opposite. The American
way should not be chastising others. She
wants to take away a fundamental part of
what this country should be, and it’s people
like her who have contributed to misunderstanding,
misinformation and stupidity being passed
down from generation to generation.
America lacks uniformity. A trip to the
republic of Texas will prove this.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in Southern
California, a place where people are forced
to be exposed to men, women, children, whites,
blacks, Hispanics, Asians, homosexuals,
animals, freaks, geeks, traffic and overpriced
designer clothes regardless of how hard
they try to shelter themselves. These different
cultures, attitudes and beliefs opened my
eyes, ears and mind and taught me one “correct”
way of living does not exist.
The perfect example of my argument is Ted
Nugent. I can’t stand him, but at the same
time, I love the guy. He’s passionate about
his job and even more enthusiastic about
his dinosaur mentality when it comes to
killing animals. I could not be any further
from his views, but I’m glad people like
the Nuge exist. He makes sure this country
stays what it is supposed to be - a place
where ideas can be heard and discussed (and
ultimately proven wrong, I hope).
Ryan Ritchie is a print journalism major
at Cal State Long Beach
|
