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Theodore Roosevelt 1907; On immigrants and being American
Topic Started: Jan 31 2007, 08:55 PM (182 Views)
legitlinda
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Ruler of the Mountain
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The year is 1907.....but the speaker knew what he was talking about.

READ PRINT UNDER PICTURE


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Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We ha! ve room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

smiley-patriotic-flag-wave smiley-patriotic-flag-wave smiley-patriotic-flag-wave
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Almtnman
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Quote:
 
New Immigrants
From: "David LaBonte"

        My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the
editor of the Orange County 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 County Register:

        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 Statue 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.

        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. 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. 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.

        They had waved goodbye 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. 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. They were Americans fighting Hitler, 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. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent a different country.


        And here we are in 2007, 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. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's 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 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 Statue 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.


    (signed) Rosemary LaBonte
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Ali
Ruler of the Mountain
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Legitlinda - that's a great post that I have seen before, sent to me by a friend a while back. It seems to ring true - then and now. Without trying to sound like a snotface; what about the before 'then'? When people first came to this country, the Native Americans were already here and their language didn't mean much to us then. The first word we taught them was probably 'smallpox'. Heck, they had to reteach themselves the language when WWII rolled around and they helped us a great deal.
A few months after I read this quote, I had a reason to look up something in the phone book .... (does anybody else know that you can't dial 0 for an operator anymore?!!) and there in our phone book was a whole list of languages....French, Korean, Japanese and Hispanic. It was a real culture shock for me! (our phone book is less than an inch thick) Thank goodness I learned how to shampoo my hair before the directions were put in 20 different languages! Wasn't it year's ago that some woman drank dish washing liquid because she thought it was lemonade? Seems like we're damned if we do, and we're damned if we don't! This old world is moving awful fast these days and there are times when I feel pretty much screwed, and common sense don't make no sense at all. Rosemary LaBonte's letter should be plastered over every newspaper in America - in twenty different languages. IF you come here, IF you want to become an American - you must feel it in your heart and soul. The "Land of the Free" doesn't mean that life and freedom is free.
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