Independence Day in the United States. For me, it comes and goes with little fanfare. I'm spending my day relaxing in my air-conditioned Pasadena apartment, catching up on a few phone calls and doing a bit of surfing on the internet. I turned on CNN, mainly for a bit of background noise. I don't watch CNN much anymore, nor do I watch much news on television at all. Not much news anymore, really, seems like more show business and such. However, when I turned it on, something touched a nerve with me. Something close to my heart.
I never gave this much thought either, but, as it turns out, July 4th is a traditional day for administering the oath of citizenship to newly-naturalized U.S. Citizens. CNN was running a segment showing immigrants taking the oath, and interviewing those who had just taken it. The country of origins were places like Lebanon, Cuba, Mexico, Indonesia and more. And yes, there was one Mexican immigrant who swam across the Rio Grande 40 years ago because “it was the only hope I had for a better life”.
When asked why they wanted to become U.S. Citizens, the responses from the immigrants fell into two categories:
- For the most part, hard work and merit pays off in this country. In their country, class, religious affiliation and political connections lead to discrimination, and hard work and merit are not always the pathway to success.
- This country's tradition of tolerance to different societies, religions and social customs.
And further to the second point, one man expressed the opinion that “Intolerance is what can bring this country down.”
I'm a naturalized immigrant. My family moved to the U.S. In 1960 when I was six years old. We were sponsored by my dad's cousin, who had immigrated with her husband from Ukraine by way of a post- World War II refugee camp in Germany. My dad's cousin was sponsored by her grandfather, who had immigrated from Ukraine in the early 20th century, about one hundred years ago. We were poor, but I don't dwell on that, mainly because I had no idea then that we were. My dad worked as a mechanic, then as a construction worker, then in a factory woodshop until he retired. He had a 4th grade education. The communists closed the German schools in Ukraine, and my dad's Russian wasn't good enough to attend the Russian schools. Besides, there weren't enough teachers anyway. My dad's father and grandfather were very successful in Ukraine, until the communists confiscated their property, sent them to prison, and eventually executed them, leaving my dad an orphan. As for my mother, she helped out by cleaning houses and then landed a job in the school cafeteria. We were latch-key kids, but again, we had no idea what that meant either.
My parents brought three sons to the U.S., and had another in this country. All four of us earned college degrees. We all worked our way through school and, with the exception of my older brother, who received his degree with assistance through the G.I. Bill after a tour in Viet Nam, we all did it without financial support.
I have lived and worked in a number of different countries and cultures – Germany, Thailand, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico. And different cultures within the U.S - Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, California, Washington, West Virginia. As Californians will attest, even the cultures of Southern and Northern California differ materially to the close observer. So why are we as a country, through our political and religious institutions, suddenly proclaiming that this American culture should be preserved in a static condition, immigration be halted, English be legislated as the only language, and religious freedom stifled. Has someone, un-beknownst to me, managed to define the “American culture” as some form of english-speaking Anglo-European, Christian society? If so, how tragic. I thought about this as I enjoyed my lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, with clientele consisting of Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Blacks and, oh yes Anglo-Europeans. Later I went to my local supermarket to pick up ingredients for the stir-fry I would make for dinner. In my apartment in Pasadena, it's very normal to hear someone coming out of the elevator speaking a language I don't understand. I don't give it a second thought anymore.
Every culture has contributed to this country's development. The early English settlers may not have survived without the help they received from the native Indians, only to later confiscate the Indian's lands and, when the Indians protested, annihilating them, often in the name of religion - for the Pagan Indians did not worship the proper God. Were it not for the French, the Revolutionary War may not have succeeded. Later came the Irish, the Italians, the Germans, the Greeks, the Scandinavians, the Eastern Europeans, And let's not forget the Africans, who came here only after a bit of “persuasion”. The Spanish, Chinese and Japanese played a prominent role in the development of the Western U.S., and the Russians were kind enough to sell us Alaska (not the most popular decision at the time).
I'm not a flag-waving patriot. I'm disturbed with the underlying propaganda messages we receive on days like this, and throughout the year. We do have problems in this country, and we cannot claim we have equality. But we do retain hope. And the reason we do, while the idea started with the founders of this country and the language they put into the Declaration of Independence, is largely due to the hundreds of millions of immigrants that came later.
The lesson in this: Intolerance will never work. Stifling cultural, religious and language differences will meet with resistance and frustration, and will make our society weaker. Remain tolerant, accept differences, foster dialogue, keep hope alive. That will keep this country strong.