By John Fedele

“Give me your tired, your poor….. Familiar words these. They’re found on the Statue of Liberty, and indicate what America stands for: “the land of liberty,freedom, and opportunity.” A place where those wanting to breathe free air and start a new life, free from tyranny and persecution, are welcome. That was then….this is now.

Immigration goes hand and glove with our history. After all, our forefathers were immigrants. My grandfathers were, as I am sure, many of yours were. We are known as “The Nation of Immigrants.” However over the past few decades, the immigration laws and political asylum laws have done what wars of the past have not been able to accomplish; the invasion and taking over of the country by foreigners. No, I am not a bigot or racist or anti immigration, but I do have some concerns when it comes to opening our doors to other nation’s “tired and poor.” Two things bother me most:

First, it’s the language thing. The largest immigrant influx, legal or otherwise, is of Spanish extraction. It has forced our educational system, law enforcement, businesses and industry to print or have employees speak a second language. This comes at an enormous cost to the public and the government. Our forefathers didn’t have this to worry about since most of them came from England or English speaking countries. As others arrived from Europe, they were not so eager to keep their roots, and if they were they soon realized that to survive in this new nation, they would have to learn the language. more important, the majority WANTED to learn the language. While I was growing up, I was an outcast in the Italian community. I couldn’t speak Italian. My grandparents did not speak Italian in the home so my Mother and her sisters did not speak Italian. My grandfather said “we are now Americans, so we only speak English.” The family did not settle in what was called Little Italy in my town. Not that my grandparents were not proud of their heritage, they visited their friends in little Italy and were active in the Son’s of Italy club and other social groups. The other Italians in my town only spoke English when it was necessary, and the whole family spoke only Italian in the home. That meant I could not speak to the other Italian boys and girls in the native tongue, so I was an outcast.

Every immigrant from every country brought a talent/skill with them. Those talents/skills helped develop the country. My grandfather was a shoemaker, many of his friends were farmers and cooks and wine makers. Other cultures brought their talents/skills and added them to the American scene.

Every big city had its Little Italy, Poland, Germany and Ireland. Unfortunately, these new Americans also brought with them their hatreds and prejudices, and, as their enemies immigrated to America, the stage was set for old hatreds to flare up in their new country. In the case of the Italians, they organized a family protection program we have come to know as the Mafia. The Mafia was going to make sure no one picked on Italians. To do this they sometimes had to break the law of the land because it interfered with the goal of keeping the Italian community safe. In the bigger cities small ethnic wars developed as each clan tried to control more and more territory. These wars were sometimes inter-family wars….Italians against Italians, Irish against Irish, and, of course, each ethnic group against the other.

Prohibition was to be the downfall of the gangs. The outlawing of alcohol struck at the very core of the gangs business, so from 1920-1923 the gangs found themselves in violation of the 18th Amendment and at war with the Federal Government. It’s hard to figure out just who lost the most money during this period, the gangs of the government. In any event, the law proved to be too expensive to enforce, if enforceable at all, and it was repealed. However, during its three year war with the gangs, the government learned a lot about the gangs operations, and opened a new offensive in the form of tax evasion prosecution. The Mafia still exists, but they are smarter, and all speak English. They know the ins and outs of the law and how to take advantage of loopholes. The point is simply this: immigrants should become citizens and should be made to speak the language of their new country….the new country should not have to change its traditions to suit the immigrant.

Second, the immigrants, as mentioned, bring their Old World hatreds with them. Today’s immigrants are taking a lesson from those of the 1920’s, because we now have Russian, Vietnamese and Mexican Mafias. Maybe it’s not fair to expect old hatreds to just die because one has a new country to call home, but it seems little to ask New Americans to act like Americans. During my teaching days, I told my students after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact to expect more wars, not less. They, like many Americans only saw the “Evil Empire” collapsing and the good guys winning the Cold War. We, as humans have always had a hard time remembering history. I went to the Belgium Congo in the early sixties with the UN as that country entered into a civil war for control of the new nation. When the Belgium colonists left after a century or so, and returned the land to its original owners, it was like the clock was turned back to the 1800’s, as the tribes, who for that time had hated the Belgium colonists, returned to hating each other once the common enemy had departed. The same happened in the Warsaw Pact countries. When the Russians left, old ethnic wars were resumed. We just can’t seem to learn that lesson. Worse, the people of all nations can’t seem to forget centuries old events and hatreds. Think about it. Catholics and Protestants in Ireland; Israelis and Palestinians (Jews and Arabs in the Middle East; Turks and Greeks in Cyprus. These are centuries old hatreds and mistrusts, and to some extent, of a religious nature. Yet, we, as a government, keep trying to solve these problems by giving arms, money to nations, and using diplomatic dialogue. The only way to solve the hatred is for each party to forget what THEY HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED, unless they are between the ages of 200 and 2000. The youth of the nations involved haven’t the slightest idea what the original argument was about. They only know what they have been told or taught by their parents and grandparents who were told by their parents and grandparents. Who knows what meaning was lost as the story was passed down from generation to generation. Hated and prejudices are learned….not inherited. Hence our immigration laws must include a clause that all hatreds of other races and religions must be ended and the new American must go to school to learn how not to hate. Failure to comply would mean automatic deportation. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing if some of us Americans who still hate or mistrust our fellow Americans, because of race or religion, also be sent to that school. Come to think of it, we tried that in the 60’s and things got worse.

We have to do a better job of immigration control. Soon all of the wars in Europe, Asia and the Middle East will be fought in the streets of America if we keep importing people who hate each other. Once there are more of them than Anglo Saxon European Americans, America will become the next peace keeping mission for the UN No, I am not a racist. I welcome multi-racial, multi-cultural exchange. I just want those new Americans to embrace the best fundamentals of American beliefs and ideals. After all, that’s why they come here in the first place.

 

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