I'm sitting here aghast. I'm honestly amazed at the vehemence of hate being spewed by some of the people here. It's damn scary.
Since I don't even want to get into it with individuals, I'll just mention some stuff:
- Over 80% of immigrants from Mexico are legal. Opinion polls show that the average U.S. citizen thinks that only 20% are legal.
- Most of the southeast asians that many people point to when they complain about new immigrants are here because of their assistance in the Vietnam war. Whether they are Vietnamese, Laotian, Hmong, etc, they fought side by side with us against life and death odds in trying to bring democracy to the region. We are indebted to them, and they are welcome at my table any day.
- First generation immigrants have exceptional difficulty learning the English language. It's a complicated language. But if you ask them what they want their children to learn in school the most, they will always tell you that it is English. They know that without it, they will never be full participants in society.
- The word American derives from Americus Vespucius, an Italian.
- Who are the "true" Americans? The Pilgrims (1620)? The French were here first. The Midwest U.S. was known at the time as "New France" (Jacques Cartier, 1534). The French? America is named for Americus Vespucius an Italian merchant (1500). The Italians? Americus came with the Spaniards and Portuguese explorers (Columbus, 1492; Ponce de Leon, 1513; Cortez, 1519; Hernando de Soto in what is now Oklahoma, 1539; ). The Spanish or Portuguese? The Viking explorers were here first though they didn't stay long (Leif Ericson, ~1000). The Vikings? The Indians/Red Man/Native Americans were here first. Among them, there were thousands of tribes with wildly differening cultures and languages. Heck even their ancestors came across the Bering Strait some 20,000-30,000 years ago. Of this long lineage of immigrants, only one, the most recent, spoke English.
Edit: Welcome Inktomi. How long have you lurked before you decided to come out swinging and taking names?
Since I don't even want to get into it with individuals, I'll just mention some stuff:
- Over 80% of immigrants from Mexico are legal. Opinion polls show that the average U.S. citizen thinks that only 20% are legal.
- Most of the southeast asians that many people point to when they complain about new immigrants are here because of their assistance in the Vietnam war. Whether they are Vietnamese, Laotian, Hmong, etc, they fought side by side with us against life and death odds in trying to bring democracy to the region. We are indebted to them, and they are welcome at my table any day.
- First generation immigrants have exceptional difficulty learning the English language. It's a complicated language. But if you ask them what they want their children to learn in school the most, they will always tell you that it is English. They know that without it, they will never be full participants in society.
- The word American derives from Americus Vespucius, an Italian.
- Who are the "true" Americans? The Pilgrims (1620)? The French were here first. The Midwest U.S. was known at the time as "New France" (Jacques Cartier, 1534). The French? America is named for Americus Vespucius an Italian merchant (1500). The Italians? Americus came with the Spaniards and Portuguese explorers (Columbus, 1492; Ponce de Leon, 1513; Cortez, 1519; Hernando de Soto in what is now Oklahoma, 1539; ). The Spanish or Portuguese? The Viking explorers were here first though they didn't stay long (Leif Ericson, ~1000). The Vikings? The Indians/Red Man/Native Americans were here first. Among them, there were thousands of tribes with wildly differening cultures and languages. Heck even their ancestors came across the Bering Strait some 20,000-30,000 years ago. Of this long lineage of immigrants, only one, the most recent, spoke English.
Edit: Welcome Inktomi. How long have you lurked before you decided to come out swinging and taking names?