On this 4th of July weekend, I present more of our immigrant heritage. Imagine if you will, leaving your home country for a foreign country of which you know little more than it is a land of freedom. Or so you've heard from others. When you arrive you are trying to assimilate as best you can. The language is different and you need to learn English as best you can to succeed. Why did you leave your native country? Freedom? Religious Freedom? Economic Freedom? Freedom from oppression of the landed gentry, the aristocracy? To escape the constant warfare of Europe?
When you arrive you are an outsider who doesn't speak the language and despite the fact you may be very educated, you are considered illiterate because you don't speak English. You desperately want to fit in, but it is difficult. You may have left because of war, or because your father or brothers fought in the European wars.
To your horror the United States breaks apart and is consumed by war. You as a new American must make a choice. Fight for America, your new country or remain forever an outcast. You decide to fight for your country, but which side? Some fought for the blue, some for the gray. Whatever side you fight on, it is eerily familiar to the old country. War seems to follow you. But fight you must.
I have ancestors who fought in the Ohio 9th German, Die Neuner, out of Cincinnati. They fought proudly and bravely. There is a reason they are mentioned first on this video. I am proud of my ancestors who fought for their adopted country. Many ethnicities did the same and died for their adopted country.
THEIR FACES TOWARDS HEAVEN THEIR FEET TO THE FOE.
What does it mean to be an American?
5 comments:
"What's it mean to be an American?"
I was just thinking about this earlier, when I rec'd an email from my lib cousin in NYC who said she didn't like Mustang's video's message! Apparently, she feels we ARE arrogant.
I stewed over this for a while then thought..
"to be an American, you have to love America.....and you must want to preserve the constitution at ALL COSTS...NEVER believing big government is a good thing, never believing people have rights outside the constitution. You have to be willing to see her GREAT points and work on her bad points, not capitalize on them and threaten the constitution in the attempt to make her something different, something she was never meant to be."
Sorry, I'm not much good at this stuff, but that's how I feel.
WONDERFUL post, Law and Order, my German Mr. Z was particularly interested to know this information. You should be so proud to have family who fought in that war.
Germans, Italians, Irishmen...they came to America to BE AMERICANS. Fighting for her ought to be a part of that, don't you think? The ULTIMATE TEST, I think.
Picture any of our illegal immigrants FIGHTING FOR AMERICA?
Point made, I think?
Happy Fourth, dear L&0.
Z,
I answered your post. We'll see if it comes up. If not, I'll repost. Long story short, American might be the only country on earth in which you come here and you can be an American. Think about it.
It doesn't matter in this country where you came from, it only matters that you want to be an American. That's unique in all the world. Just some thoughts.
Teddy said it best, and I certainly can't write it better when it comes to immigration:
"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 man's becoming in very fact 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, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have 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."
That was then; this is now:
"I'd like my Free Cheese, please."
BZ
BZ,
Hyphenated Americans. That's where it goes wrong. We are proud of our diversity but that is not a license to wipe out American culture. This is what is happening to us. In schools kids are taught not to be proud to be American, but to be proud of cultures that are against western culture. Relativism is killing us. Thanks for the visit.
You've hit most of my realitives on the head Steve....German Ancestors(Starting with GGGG-Grandfather arrived in 1751....Irish Great-Grandfather arrived in 1860...throw in a couple of Brits and a lone Frenchy and who have my collection nailed,
Post a Comment