E pluribus unum
Do We Even Teach the Meaning of That Anymore?
E pluribus unum is Latin for "Out of many, one." It has traditionally been the motto of the United States adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782. It was intended to unite us as a people. Despite our varied backgrounds we are all brethren in that we share our citizenship as Americans. The United States has been described as a 'melting pot' because we all gelled together in society. Today we seem more like a 'tossed salad.' We are developing into a bilingual balkanized society, and that does not bode well in my opinion.
Over 25% of our nation's population is Hispanic now, and in some states they outnumber Caucasians. Illegal immigrants still cross our southern border in droves, and it is estimated that there are about 22 million in our country now. As a pharmacist who worked in Florida for many years I can tell you that assimilation is NOT a priority among these people; it is not even a consideration. Hispanics have their own television shows, radio programs, magazines & newspapers, and even their own supermarkets! Why on earth should they bother learning English? Well, the obvious answer is that because not only will it open doors of opportunity for them, but it also allows them to better understand the language of the founding documents and thus attain a better understanding and appreciation for America. You know what happens when you import tens of millions of people who come from countries that do not share our values? You get a whole lot of voters, which may result in a drastic alteration of the nation because they come from cultures that are okay with things like socialism, communism, and big government. They have little to no regard for things like individual rights, private property, or the right to a trial by ones peers, for example.
Recently I saw a story that caught my eye (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/07/06/linda_sarsour_asks_muslims_to_form_jihad_against_trump_not_to_assimilate.html#!). Apparently, activist Linda Sarsour, co-chair of the 2017 women's march against Donald Trump, called for a "jihad" against the president at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention in Chicago. She straight up said, "Our number one and top priority is to protect and defend our community, it is not to assimilate and please any other people and authority." The end of that sentence is telling. She defiantly says that her people have no interest in pleasing "any other people and authority." Imagine inviting someone into your house, you ask them to take off their shoes at the door, and they say "screw you" and track mud all throughout your house. Would you ever invite them back into your house ever again?
I have a question, why on earth would we allow such people to immigrate into our country? If they have no love for America, have no interest in becoming American, have no respect for our people or our authorities, then why should we feel any obligation in allowing them to come here? Sarsour concluded, "Our top priority and even higher than all those other priorities is to please Allah and only Allah." So what if she runs for office? What if someone in her click becomes a Congressperson, a Senator, or attains some other prestigious position in our government? Are you going to sleep well at night with someone like this in charge of our government?
I want our politicians top priority to be to we the American people. I want them to respect our founding fathers, our founding documents, and the values our country stands for. I want our citizens to be proud Americans, and I want our immigrants to want to assimilate. Is that too much to ask?
You know who also had "their own newspapers, supermarkets and entire towns of their own" in the beginning, in America? The Germans. Look how terribly German-dominated America is today. Well, no, it isn't, because that's just what happens over time, the inital parallel societies slowly dissolve as some people move in, some move out of there. Nothing to worry about
And quoting one activist is not enough to infer what all people of a certain culture group think, you should know that. Otherwise by quoting a neonazi German immigrant you could make the case that all German immigrants hate America and wish Hitler would have won or whatever.
Besides, Linda Sarsour was born in Brooklyn, so..
Early immigrants wanted to become Americans. Today’s immigrant resent America and ‘fundamentally’ want to change it like Obama said. Sarsour is scum.
The founding fathers sure "fundamentally changed" America, and a few of them were immigrants. Do you think America should have never changed from how it was in 1776? Well, the Founding Fathers wanted it to change, that's what Amendments are for
Do you have a poll of how many immigrants today "want to become Americans"? Or are you just citing a few cherrypicked examples?
So pass an Amendment, but don’t let in tens of millions of foreigners. Btw you’re arguing immigrants don’t want to become Americans?
I'm saying when any larger group of people moves to another country where they're not too familiar with the culture, they tend to form subcultures, which can become parallel societies. You know how descendents of Jewish immigrants in America often like to celebrate their holidays together and have close communities. But they still aren't "refusing to integrate inot society", at least not any more than you are "refusing to integrate" by not practicing cultural judeaism from now on out.
Paralell societies can create cultural divisions, but they're not always the end of the world. I hope I don't have to tell you that most people of Southern American descent don't go around showing their middle finger to strangers all the time, or that most people of Arabian descent don't want whatever Sarsour wants. Sure, there may be some aspcets of parallel societies, but that is actually the opposite of "trying to force their won ways onto everyone". They just live and if you like parts of their culture you adopt them. Live and let live.
Sarsour is the child of immigrants, I can show you tons of Americans who are also children of immigrants who have great ideas for America, that you probably also agree with. Just because they came from like Sweden and Poland, instead of the Middle East or Mexico shouldn't make much of a difference, should it?
Initially, German immigrants also "refused to assimilate" if you will, with their own newspapers, bars etc. Slowly though, those parallel societies dissolved as people moved in and out of those areas