[Oe List ...] A nation of immigrants, ST Jan. 8

Wed Jan 7 05:14:39 PST 2015

A nation of immigrants

JFK wrote an articlewith our title but this is not about the book posthumously published after hisassassination.  It is about the nation wecall the US of A and how its story stands in contrast to its immigration history.

The peopling of the NewWorld by Europeans was a muzzling on native folks.  Migration was not the issue naturalizationwas, dealt with through residency rules in 1795, 1798, and 1802.  In 1868, we protected the citizenship of sovereignborn children, interpreted in 1898 as applicable "regardless of parents'citizenship" though it favored European roots.  We allowed Afro-Americans to be naturalized in1872 defied by Jim Crow.  

The 1882 ChineseExclusion Act confirmed the "Yellow Peril" xenophobia changing thefocus from US naturalization to immigration; we barred additional Chinese to casttheir shadows on US soil.  The Act wasrepealed only in 1943.  Literacy wasadded in the 1917 qualifications.  

In 1923, Indo-Aryanswere declassified as whites; we limited in 1924 eastern European and southernMediterranean immigrants (read, Jewish and Italian), and the quota system was introduced.  Distinction by race was eliminated in 1952 butimplementation favored Brits, Irish, Slav and German.  1965 abolished the quota system ofnational-origin and ushered family preferences resulting in "chainimmigration" where kin sponsored kin. Pinoys led the horde.

In 1970, married toa US citizen, I traveled from the East Coast to Manila on a student visa.  I returned through Seattle and was subjectedto a thorough body check that took longer to peer through nooks and crannies thanusual.  I was told to secure a greencard.

I was inBrownsville, Texas in 1978 and invited colleagues to lunch in Mexico.  Already a 7-yr green card holder, it took mefour hours to cross back.  Athree-piece-suited Pinoy going through Matamoros was a known modus operandi of illegal crossing.  

I entered Honolulu witha green card in 1982; was held back while my white wife and daughters waited hoursoutside.  For a Pilipino to not apply forcitizenship more than a decade after he had a green card was suspect.  I naturalized in 1984.

A revamp of thewhole immigration system in the 90s was intended to be credible policy measuredby people who needed to get in to get in, people who were not needed kept out,and people who were judged deportable banished. 1996 enacted harsh policies.

September 11, 2001 shocked the system and begana curb on immigration.  It is in this contextthat BHO's executive order to delay deportation of illegals particularly from NAFTAsouth must be understood.  He is stemminga climate of fearful frenzy and injects rationality on a system that awaits athorough overhaul. 

Yes, we are a nation of immigrants, though moreof a melting pot with a creamy white top than a mosaic of diverse cultures.  When we sent BHO to the White House, colorationof being stuck its ugly head.  Historically, immigration was not thatfriendly to begin with, deselecting non-Europeans from crossing over.  In our time, it does not bode well to be ofcolor.  The racial card is on the tableagain.

November Turkey Day was a Puritan celebrationof the migration to the New World.  Icommented on a collegial listserv that Garth Barth nixed his TV appearance inlight of the riots in Ferguson MO.  A Caucasianfriend responded: "I'm sorry todisagree, but this kid was bad news and brought about his own demise."  Rather blunt but truthful of her kneejerkresponse.

I have had five Michael Browns lean their bulk to my face,two of them, Afro Americans.  I mighthave been pissed off as a consequence but their action was their choice and torespond in kind would have made their action mine, too.  I need no defense of power status, unlike Ferguson'sDarren Wilson who might have considered his official badge dishonored by adisrespectful teen and decided to use his firearm. 

I bid America adieu this summer after almost fifty years of dippingmy toes on its Gulf, Atlantic, great Lakes and Pacific shores.  I was glad to see BHO and Raul Castro opendiplomatic relations across the Gulf.  Onthe other hand, NYC's finest are insolent re the Mayor and Police Commissionerat a Latino and Oriental colleague's funeral, not baffling of mostly whitey inuniform, my East Coast classmate claims!

I once took three hours to get out of London's Heathrow forfish and chips at Piccadilly on a half-day transit while heading to Africa fromChicago.  That year debated whether Maid in thePhilippines qualified Filipina = nannyin OED.  The same Pinoy passport that madeEnglish immigration's pause got automatic 45-days in Hispanic America, so Ravel'sBolero con SMU Texas Latinos was morememorable than Gringos no touch line dancing that had us tolerated rather thanengaged.

I travel with the American blue book across borders.  Now resident of Hawaii wherefolks are born beautifully brown, I see a handsome person of color in themirror, proud in a nation of colorful immigrants.

j'aime la vie

yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. in all, celebrate!

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        Posted by: wangzhimu2031 at aol.com        

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