America is supposed to be the land of opportunity. Anyone, regardless of background, can make something of themselves.
America is also the land of immigrants. Most Americans can trace their family history to at least one person who left their homeland and settled in America.
Earlier this week, General John Kelly, the current White House Chief of Staff, made the following comment in regards to illegal immigrants:
“They are not bad people … but they’re also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States,” he continued. “They’re overwhelmingly rural people. In the countries they come from, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-grade educations are kind of the norm. They don’t speak English, obviously that’s a big thing,” Kelly said. “They don’t integrate well; they don’t have skills.”
I don’t know about anyone else, but this comment make my blood boil.
The reason people immigrate to America is for opportunities that are not available in the countries they call home. If they had the educational and professional opportunities in their home countries, they wouldn’t leave.
My family originally hailed from Eastern Europe. They were Jews, crippled by both discrimination and the opportunities that were out of reach because they were poor. They came to America over a century ago and like many immigrants of that era, integrated into America. They learned English, received an education and thrived.
His comments are racist is every sense of the word. But, considering who Kelly’s boss is, I am not surprised about the comment.
What we need in this country is to come together. We will never come together if we let this divisive rhetoric tear us apart.
Writergurlny 