Posted by
Pariahjane
A friend of mine brought to my attention an opinion piece written by Kathleen Parker that was published in the Asbury Park Press. This article is so full of racism, nativism and American elitist snobbery that I was incredulous after reading it.
"A full-blooded American." That's how 24-year-old Josh Fry of West Virginia
described his preference for John McCain over Barack Obama. His feelings aren't
racist, he explained. He would just be more comfortable with "someone who is a
full-blooded American as president."
Isn't Mr. Obama an American citizen? I thought that was a prerequisite to being a president - you had to be a citizen of the country first. What Mr. Fry is saying isn't that Obama is not an American, he's just not American enough because of his Kenyan father. But don't we all have immigrants somewhere in our families? Remember the Pilgrims? They didn't just sprout from American soil - the came here from another country. And that is the crux of Ms. Parker's argument. It isn't our actions that make us American. It's how long our families have lived on this land.
How can we even define who is a 'full-blooded American'? Is it someone who has Native American blood coursing through their veins or is a 'full-blood' defined by how long a person's family has resided in this country?
The one thing Ms. Parker seems to overlook when she talks about full-blooded Americans is the fact that McCain was not born in America. He was born in the Panama Canal Zone. Mr. Fry based his ignorant preference on a man who wasn't even born in America and Ms. Parker ran with it. Granted, McCain was born on an American military base so it is safe to say that at least one, if not both, his parents were American citizens. But who decides who is more 'American'? It's semantics; a word game designed to hit Obama, and all those who are immigrants or children of recent immigrants, right in the gut.
We love to boast that we are a nation of immigrants — and we are. But
there's a different sense of America among those who trace their bloodlines back
through generations of sacrifice.
Ah, I see now. Apparently Ms. Parker feels that those citizens who have recently come to this country do not deserve the title 'American'. Only those whose family ventured to these lands a hundred years ago or earlier deserve the title of 'full-blooded American' (I'm sure the Native Americans are getting a kick out of this since all these 'full-blooded' ancestors were the ones who destroyed their tribes and cultures and huddled them onto reservations to rot). I hope everyone else can see how ridiculous this is. I, for example, am a second generation American in some ways - both my Grandma and Oma were born and raised in Germany. So, Ms. Parker, which category do I fall into? If I were to trace my bloodline back through history I would end up in Germany or England rather quickly. Do I not deserve the right to call myself American?
I don't think being American should rest on how long your family has been living on this soil. America is more than just a piece of land; it is an ideal, a culture and a way of thought. Did it ever occur to Ms. Parker that perhaps those that recently came to this country did so because they share the ideas that American represents; they desire that freedom and are willing to work for it and defend it?
Who "gets" America? And who doesn't?
The answer has nothing to do with a flag lapel pin, which Obama donned for a campaign swing through West Virginia, or even military service, though that helps. It's also not about flagpoles in front yards or magnetic ribbons stuck on tailgates.
It's about blood equity, heritage and commitment to hard-won American values. And roots.
If Ms. Parker had her way being patriotic to this country no longer would mean defending or supporting it. It simply means 'having been here longest'.
If you're an immigrant soldier, or if you're family has only resided here for a short time, according to Ms. Parker you are fighting for a country that you do not belong to, nor do you deserve to belong. You are not an American, not 'full-blooded'. This alone is an insult to all the immigrants, first generations, etc. that are in Iraq fighting while Ms. Parker is dismissing their courage and patriotism because they aren't American enough to suit her.
Yet, white Americans primarily — and Southerners, rural and small-town folks especially — have been put on the defensive for their throwback concerns with "guns, God and gays," as Howard Dean put it in 2003. And more recently, for clinging to "guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them," as Obama described white, working-class Pennsylvanians who preferred his opponent. (emphasis added)
That's right. That's what Ms. Parker is trying to skirt around. You're American only if you're white because only white people can really boast having generations of citizens living in this country. Most of the 'new' immigrants today are not from Europe. They are from South America, India and Asia. I have to wonder that, if these immigrants were coming from Ireland, Germany or England, Ms. Parker would be singing the same tune. I highly doubt it.
Republicans more than Democrats seem to get this, though Hillary Clinton has
figured it out. And, the truth is, Clinton's own DNA is cobbled with many of the
same values that rural and small-town Americans cling to. She understands
viscerally what Obama has to study.
Of course she's figured it out, Ms. Parker. She's white. Why is it that Obama cannot share the same value that 'rural and small-town Americans' cling to? Is it because he hasn't had generations of family living here?
That God, for instance, isn't something that comes and goes out of
fashion. That clinging to religion isn't a knee-jerk response to nativist
paranoia, but is the hard work of constant faith.
No, clinging to religion is willful ignorance. I imagine it must be very hard work to force yourself to turn a blind eye to science, reality and rationalism and cling to the idea that the Earth is only 6000 years old and that humans fell from grace thanks to a dumb broad and a talking snake.
Shame on you, Ms. Parker. I hope that whoever does become president does not share your views of racism or elitism. I find it ironic that you accuse Obama of being an elitist when it is clear that you are the one who holds such views.
America is the land of the free, home of the brave. I don't care where you came from before but as long as you support this country and work to make it a better place than you're an American.
With all the power out, sitting in a candle-lit house and doing nothing but listening to tree branches cracking and falling all over the neighborhood (it sounded like a war zone), it can get kinda scary. When the only sound is tree branches giving out under the weight of ice, it's eerily quiet otherwise. All you can do is hope that the huge trees in the neighbor's yard don't crash into your house. Every time you hear ice cracking, you tense, just waiting for the roof to cave in.
