I read the interview in the Washington Post which Fonte refers to - the fact that the Muslim woman law student "opposes America's war efforts against the Taliban" is also not a bad thing, although I disagree with her.
If you start questioning whether United States citizens are sufficiently American, you're on a very slippery slope. You may feel comfortable there, but I don't.
My only requirement is that people not break laws. It's not against the law to oppose US foreign policy.
There have always been people in this country who did not think that recent immigrants were the right sort - I've mentioned my Cajun grandfather - my other grandfather was from Yugoslavia but everyone called him a Hunkie, a derogatory term for Eastern Europeans. The Anglo-Saxons looked down on the Irish, the Irish looked down on the Eastern Europeans, and everyone looked down on the blacks. Now everyone, including the blacks, look down on the Middle Easterners.
We need to be tolerant. That's one of America's greatest strengths. In other countries, ethnic minorities and ethnic majorities are at each other's throats. We don't need that here.
My husband's grandmother never learned to speak English, despite the fact that she lived in the US for decades - she was from Germany. That's part of the American story, too. I've got relatives in Pennsylvania Dutch country who can speak English, but prefer to speak German, after nine generations in America. That, too, is part of the American story. The first generation of my Cajun ancestors fought in the American Revolution, and so did the first generation of the Pennsylvania Dutch, BTW. I am American.
But feeling threatened by immigrants is also part of the American story. I recognize that. It's just interesting to see all these old themes continue to play out. We learn from history but are still doomed to repeat it. |
