Being the first generation of my family of growing up in a promise land called the United States. I have always been aware that I was lucky, my family was blessed by living the American Dream. My parents had jobs, our family had a home to call our own. I could describe our life as those old fifties posters in which the mom of the family was baking a pie and everyone looked happy. Today that dream seems to be crumbling beneath our feet. The country that once embraced the idea of immigrants seems today to target and ridicule them. I have always wanted to be a teacher, growing up instead of playing jump rope or tag with my cousins I would make them sit and call me Ms. La'More. Becoming a teacher was my way of achieving the ultimate American dream, realizing my dreams. But what happens when the country you thought that was going to help you achieve these dreams turns their back on you? What happens when everything you've worked for is suddenly turned upside down by a swift of a pen signing a law? That is what is happening to thousands of individuals that get caught in the intricate web of immigration issues. "I'm calling on a new generation of Americans to step forward and serve our country in our classrooms. If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation, if you want to make the most of your talents and dedication, if you want to make your mark with a legacy that will endure--then join the teaching profession" - Barrack Obama. I agree with President Obama, but I can't help to feel helpless as an immigrant myself fear consumes me especially when you hear about the laws and procedures that are being enforced throughout the country.or the families who are separated because one of the parents was picked up in a raid. It breaks my heart to see seven year old on camera crying because they their parents didn't get to pick them up after school. It saddens me to see children who at such a young age face the hard truth of life. It saddens me to see a country turn its back on these children. It saddens me to see that the American Dream is becoming a the American Nightmare. I believe in the dream of our founders, in which we immigrants are given the ability to aspire in the pursuit of happiness. But the most important question to me is has America stopped believing?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Let's pray this isn't so. Immigrants, the sons and daughters of immigrants, and those who have empathy have the power of the vote. If they join together to elect fair and understanding people, perhaps they can stop this "American Nightmare."
ReplyDeleteSadly, I believe America to be nothing more than a fascistic cryptocracy. Take off the superficial propaganding label known as democracy, and underneath, you will find greed, tyranny, and irrational dogmaths. The American dream is a manifestation of the blind enslavement of the psychology of nearly everyone in this nation, and around the world. In essence, I see this world evolving into a huge bloated fascistic one-world government with no escape from it. Autonomy is the only solution to this gradual degradation to complete insanity of the entire human race. And how can autonomy work when knowledge and education is looked upon with dissent by so many? It cannot. Government simply cannot work in a society where greed and tyranny and anarchy govern the minds of our "elected leaders". This goes to show that we pay a humongous price for knowledge and intellect just as we do for stupidity and ignorance.
ReplyDelete