From Immigrants We Do Descend
Almost all who live in the United States,
From immigrants we do descend;
Bringing strong work ethic and fresh ideas,
On which vibrant societies depend.
© Forrest W. Heaton October 2018
We post a new blog approximately every two weeks, attempting to provide our readers a source of inspiration, new information, celebration and a fresh look at our lives and events of the day. We concentrate our focus on poetry, parks and planet. Today’s post, focusing on our planet, is the first of a trilogy dealing with the very current topic of Immigration to America.
At the time of this writing (31 October 2018), walking north toward the Mexico - US border are an estimated 4,500 persons, originating 12 October as a group of 120 people in Honduras, others joining the “caravan” from various Central American countries along the way, all identifying home country hunger, violence and death as their motivation, all seeking to immigrate to the United States. A large number of our citizens apparently agree with our current political leadership that many or most are “terrorists or criminals, many coming from the Middle East”, and all need to be turned back, with armed force if necessary. The purpose of this blog post is to encourage intelligent debate, compassion and understanding, as opposed to demagoguery, political theatre and racism.
Were one to have been in 1700’s colonial New York or mid-1800’s San Francisco or turn of the century Ellis Island and observing those seeking to immigrate to America, it is likely some observers raised a similar specter of fear—some truth, mostly falsehood. That, in fact, is the definition of a demagogue: “a leader in a democracy who gains popularity by exploiting prejudice and ignorance among the common people, whipping up the passions of the crowd and shutting down reasoned deliberation.” Yes, some seeking to immigrate were undesirable, but, on individual examination, they came for deeply understandable reasons—hunger, persecution, death. Most made positive contributions to the grand experiment in democracy our country has become. We would have been poorer without them. We believe the events causing these migrations will steadily increase as climate change worsens supply of food, fresh water, and stable societies. Required now is governmental leadership toward truth, intelligent discussion, creative solutions to the causes of mass migration, and a better educated and compassionate citizenry.
In almost all cases, those leaving family, friends, and their past behind for the possibility of a better present and future in a new land walk/sail/fly with hope in their hearts and a desire to positively contribute in a more welcoming society. Each represents immigrants from former times. With millions from which to choose, our second post in this trilogy (coming in two to three weeks) will deal with one such immigrant from former times who was born in Scotland, immigrated to the US in 1849, and became our most influential US citizen to improve resource conservation, forest preservation, wilderness protection, environmental awareness, and define the very manner in which we understand the natural world. Do you know who she/he was? (Good time to do some research on your own.) Stay tuned!