Thankful
Our country celebrated Thanksgiving last week. The holiday was officially celebrated for the first time in 1863. We know that a form of Thanksgiving was unofficially celebrated since the first immigrants stepped ashore in Virginia in the late 1500s. Thanksgiving is not religious nor is it a celebration for a particular ethnicity. Americans of all ethnic and racial backgrounds commemorate the spirit of sharing a meal with friends similar to the meals shared by the newly arrived Plymouth colonists.
The early colonists came to this country for a new beginning. Many came to escape persecution, to provide a better life for themselves and their families, to seek fortune, to create opportunities. Some came as slaves slowly found those same opportunities, too. Immigrants come to this country today for similar reasons, and we, like the Wampanoag tribe before us, should welcome them.
In short, we are a nation of immigrants—all of us trace our origins to another land. Our culture is a blended one—from music to food to fashion, traditions from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America come together to form a distinctly American culture. American music would not be the same without its Scotch-Irish and Afro-Caribbean influences, just as California cuisine would not be the same without its Latin and Asian influences. Our history and our destiny are shaped by our diversity.
Immigrants and their descendants have created and continue to contribute to the development of this nation. Our calendar is full of holidays for every faith group and days in which we commemorate and remember our nation’s history. Throughout the year, we host parades and festivals to celebrate our ancestry and to share our cultures.
Unfortunately, with each new wave of immigrants the ability to contribute to our country’s development becomes more difficult. Stereotypes are more abundant, as are irrational fears of crime, deep seeded hatred, and polarization from each other. Newer arrivals to our country are often castigated as less virtuous than the earlier immigrants, and claims continue to be made that they will not assimilate into American culture even though their predecessors created the American culture.
The current economic downturn, a stubbornly high rate of unemployment, and a deadlocked U.S. Congress embolden state legislators to pass massively prejudicial laws that harm their state’s economies, their residents, and their immigrants. However, immigrants are just like each and every wave of immigrants before them. They will integrate well into American society. They are going to school, learning English, and buying homes at rates higher than the native born.
Reports from Alabama (1) which followed in the ill-advised footsteps of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 anti-immigration law, indicate that the nation’s harshest anti-immigrant law will cost Alabama a minimum of $40 million if only 10,000 undocumented workers leave the state, in addition to $130,000 million in lost tax revenue were they to drive out the entire undocumented community (2). The Alabama law, which makes it a crime to be without status:
Requires law enforcement to check the papers of anyone they suspect of being undocumented
Mandates that public schools check the legal status of their students and their students’ parents
Abrogates any contract made with an undocumented immigrant
Sadly, This law has damaged Alabama’s economy, undermined the health and safety of all Alabamans, and jeopardized the welfare of children and families across the state.
Alabama’s law, and those like it, seeks to redefine the American Dream to one where our doors are closed to the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. To do so is against the spirit of Thanksgiving and against the spirit of America. This Thanksgiving, I am especially thankful for one of America’s greatest strengths—our immigrants.
(1) https://www.americanprogress.org/article/not-so-sweet-home-alabama/
Not-So-Sweet Home Alabama. CAP immigration team authors
(2) https://www.americanprogress.org/article/100-reasons-why-alabamas-immigration-law-is-a-disaster/
100 Reasons Why Alabama’s Immigration Law Is a Disaster. CAP immigration team authors