As I’ve mentioned in several of my previous posts, I’m trying to read more works that are written by or feature Native Americans. The latest book I read is a brief history of the Cherokee nation. Even though it’s brief it’s packed with facts that I never knew. And once again I’m disappointed that my education never told me such facts as the Cherokees actually had a capital city, were the first to have a written alphabet, and developed a political system based on the U.S.’s style. The most I learned about the Cherokees is that they were driven from their lands and forced to march west. Along the way many died due to the elements and starvation.
What continues to frustrate me is that I’m starting to see an echo between the past and the present due to the immigration conflict developing on our southern border. A lot of people are using the thousands of women and children from Central America who are fleeing violence and crossing illegally into the United States as some sort of “invasion”. They make it sound as if these individuals are going to drive us from our homes. And while I do have some concerns about how our infrastructure will handle the influx of immigrants, I do not see this as a threat.
I get frustrated that these same people who are crying out over this “invasion” are the same “patriots” who are lampooned in one of the best satirical films I’ve seen, with puppets I might add. But I think these “patriots” are forgetting that we are a nation of immigrants, and Lady Liberty, whom they appropriate quite freely, stands for the “huddled masses yearning to be free”. And most of the “patriots’s” family trees were immigrants fleeing violence and political unrest in their respective countries. Clearly there’s a difference between legal and illegal immigrants, but the principle is that we are a nation built by and for immigrants who are escaping oppression.
And this idea of “invasion” is preposterous. No one is going to show up on my doorstep and demand that I move because they need to house some Nicaraguans here. But might I remind our dear “patriot” friends that their same ancestors who fled oppression turned to the people who were already living here, ahem, the Native Americans, and drove them off their land with violence and oppression. Yes, it’s a long dark period in our history. It’s uncomfortable to talk about and it certainly taints our soapbox of the land of the free and home of the brave, but it’s something that we have to acknowledge and learn from. And to acknowledge it we have to accept that it happened and share it with each succeeding generation so that they will learn how we arrived at this point in history.
So while the “patriots” continue blocking buses full of young immigrant children, I’ll be shaking my head and telling everyone that I can that we don’t have a lot of room to stand on and cry foul when it comes to “invasions”. Because we were all the invaders once and it’s up to us to help those who are fleeing oppression. And maybe we need to change our infrastructure in order to help speed up the immigration process. There’s many solutions but crying and sending people back into the violence doesn’t seem like the best solution.
I know this is supposed to be a book review, but good literature should cause readers to reflect and connect what they’ve read to their lives. Thank you for your patience in reaching this point so far. Hopefully we can develop a generation of true patriots who can understand the tragic events that occurred in the past and who work to make sure they don’t happen here in the future.
