A Light For All

So, Jenny was talking to a friend of hers and then put up an entry about her life – and the racism she faces. Because she is Greek. No, Racism doesn’t have to be because of your skin color, people. Have you learned nothing from the past four years? Mmm. Anyway. I told her that I believe she faces it because of what I see.

I live in a community where the number of people that are first generation – IE, the whole family just came over to the US from somewhere else – is very, very high. I teach them in a high school. And most of them are extremely intelligent.

Now, granted, there are some that do not understand me – but that is due to their English proficiency, not their intelligence level. I never assume they cannot do something because they are “stupid” or “a moron”. Yes, I can get frustrated, but that’s my problem, not theirs.

So – as a reminder to all of you out there that believe everyone who lives here is a moron and should “go back to where” they “came from” – this is etched into the Statue of Liberty.

The Statue of Liberty. Our symbol of freedom and hope. HOPE. Hope for a new and fruitful life. For ANYone. Not just those people who came here on the boat in the span of the 1600 – 1800. It’s even for those who got here yesterday. And that is something you should keep in mind. You may be an American – but so are those people. They have every right you have. And now – your reminder.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
(The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus)