Jadm

Posted by an American on 7/26/02

After hearing that the state of Florida changed its opinion and let a Muslim woman
have her picture on her drivers license with her face covered, I believe this is even
more appropriate. Read on, please!

This is an Editorial written by an American citizen, published in a Tampa Newspaper.
He did quite a job; didn't he?

IMMIGRANTS, NOT AMERICANS, MUST ADAPT. I am tired of this nation worrying about
whether we are offending some individual or their culture.

Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by
the majority of Americans.

However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically
correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was
offending others.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a
better life by coming to America.

Our population is almost entirely composed of descendants of immigrants. However,
there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and
apparently some born here, need to understand.

This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our
sovereignty and our national identity.

As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own
lifestyle.

This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by
millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any
other language.

Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing,
political slogan.

We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles,
founded this nation, and this is clearly documented.

It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends
you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because
God is part of our culture.

If Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should
seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care
how you did things where you came from.

This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle.

Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will
allow you every opportunity to do so.

But, once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge,
our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of
one other great American freedom,

THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.

beyness

It's NOT our land, our lifestyle. If you want to get technical, we stole this land from the Native Americans who had been living here for thousands of years before some pompist English Christian exploreres decide to claim it. So, if you want to be TRUELY American, worship the Great Spirit and kill your own cows, sheep, chickens, etc instead of going to the supermarket... The world is chenging, becoming increasingly global. I think it's very pig headed of us to stay stuck in our old ways, hanging on to our boring language and not embracing other cultures and change... think openly and stop being so bigoted!

Ptarmigan

I am an immigrant, I came to the US because my wife is from Oklahoma. I partially agree with what the first poster said. When I cam here, I knew what I was coming to, and in the event of me not liking it very much, I do have the right to go somewhere else. Many may disagree with it, but I would consider myself rude to come to a country, and then to try to change it to be like home. When one comes to another country, one accepts it as it is, warts and all. If you want to come to the USA from somewhere else, and then try to change it to make it more like home, why didn't you stay home?

Harry

I moved here from England in May. I agree with the newspaper article. When you move to a new country, you have to be prepared to respect their way of doing things, not expect an entire country to accomodate you! This just seems completely self evident to me...I mean if your a smoker and you visit some non-smoker friends at their home, you go out on the porch if you want to smoke! But I guess some people are selfish, and think the whole world revolves around them.

-Harry

beyness

Having travelled 12 countries and learned 3 different languages, I think it is good to adapt to a country, but not to the point of being close minded... not everyone in America has always been a Christian just because that was how it was founded and not everyone ALWAYS spoke English. Languages have evloved from different people moving and expanding into different areas of the world. America isn't is what it is today because everyone just conformed to one way of living... this is why America is such a draw to people around the world, the freedom to practice whatever religion and learn languages,etc.

I agree that if you are going to get a job, you are going to need to communicate in English, just as if I were going to get a job in Thailand, I'd want to be fluent in Thai (which, by the way, has been taken over by westerners, who expect the entire Thai community to speak English instead of learning Thai-talk about hypocritical!-we're going to expect the whole world to know English because we're too lazy to learn your language!). Anyway, I think a lot of Americans are ignorant to the rest of the world and think everyone wants to live in America when they don't even know half the story...

Ptarmigan

On the point of learning Thai, I agree completely, if you move to Thailand, learn the language. Likewise if you move to the USA, learn to speak English. Practice whatever religion you like, but please please do not try to demand the right to deny others theirs (the objection by many Muslims to Christainity being taught in schools in the UK being a prime example). The point is not about visiting a nation, but moving to one, and you succesfully argue with yourself when you point out that English speakers expect the whole world to adapt to them, whilst criticising others for not wishing to have to adapt to non english speakers who come to live in the USA

cbernard

Many people from other countries and cultires think that America has no culture, where the truth is that there are hundreds, if not thousands of cultures within America, and that makes it our culture. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I can simply walk down my block and pass about a dozen different cultures and lifestyles.

This can only be preserved IF those who practice their cultures respect the fact that they are not alone, and that thay are not above anyone else.

cbernard

Find me a country that wasn't stolen from another country/culture at one point. That's war. Welcome to the Human Race.

Our language is not boring. It's the most expressive language in the world. And I AM learning Thai myself, because my wife's family lives there and I believe it is my duty to learn their language if I am to spend time there. Same goes for here. I don't want my tax dollars, which are already stretched to the limit, going to billions of dollars in extra publications becasue a few immigrants arent willing to go to a PUBLICLY FUNDED english school for a few hours a week

And I'd LOVE to have my own livestock! but it ain't gonna fit in my small backyard (zoning laws prohibit it anyways -- but should i fight that for 'cultural' reasons and force my neighbors do deal with the stink of cow and chicken crap?)

Perdue

Hmmmm...freedom of religion...I'm not American, but I do believe that is one of the fundamental constitutional rights, isn't it? The woman who was photographed with her face covered is, presumably, Muslim, and, also presumably, from a sect which dictates that women shall remain covered. All she was doing was exercising her constitutional right to practise her religion. Which, after all, is what America is about. The founding fathers may have been Christian, but at least they had the grace to recognize that not everyone is.

'Nuff said.

Ptarmigan

Which would be precisely why she was allowed to appear in the photograph with her face covered.

Just Jenney

Originally posted by Jadm
This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity.

As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.

The author of this letter is contradicting himself.

Yes, there IS such a thing as an American culture, lifestyle, even language. (Believe me, Mark and I have had many misunderstandings before, even though we both speak "English" -- he speaks British English and I speak American English.)

However, this culture, lifestyle and language did not develop in a vacuum. It developed and evolved by the introduction and integration of slices of countless other cultures, lifestyles and languages over the centuries.

The United States IS a melting pot -- and the melting pot has become a major part of our national identity. To say that American culture is in danger of being destroyed through "tainting" by other cultures is ludicrous. Rather, the current, existing American culture is enriched by each new introduction of another culture and/or language.

Culture is an ever-changing thing. It does not reach a stopping point or level off. Just look at how American culture has changed over the past 30 years. If our culture was the same today as it was when I was born, then today I would most likely be married and about to have my second or third kid. I probably wouldn't have a college degree (either one -- I have two), and I definitely wouldn't have been able to travel alone to places like Costa Rica or New Zealand unless accompanied by a male chaperone.

People like the author of this letter, who think culture is static and never changes, or think that it SHOULDN'T ever change, have their heads in the sand. That's not to say that immigrants shouldn't try to follow cultural norms. But it's impossible to expect anyone to completely shun and withdraw from what they have known their whole lives, and not have it influence people with whom they come into contact in their adopted homeland.

~ Jenney

Me

First of all you need to know that NOT everybody come to USA for better life. Some
Americans are so ignorant about the world, they think that USA is the only world. But
its not true, there is a WORLD out side of the States and belive me, its not a bad
one. Mostly people come here to be with their loved ones, not for USA. Having a
woman's picture on her driver license with her face covered is not HER fault. Its
your politician's fault that they allow people to do it. Your kids want many things
from you but that doesn't mean that you give them everything they want. There are
rules and everybody should obey the rules. I don't care how is her picture is on her
driver's license but I do care about if her face covered, how could she drive like
that? Its not safe at all. In Turkey (even tho 99% of population is muslim), women
can't go to university or can't work with government places if their head is covered.

Marjeta

I'm not a US citizen and I have to say I don't totally agree with the author. He may
have a point in judging immigrants who are unwilling to adjust to a new environment
or in refering to a specific ethnic group unwilling to adjust, but I don't like his
attitude. He should have been more explicit in pointing out WHO he is refering to,
because these opinions are not something you can generally say about the entire
immigration population and not something I would have put in a newspaper. You
encounter similar attitude in many countries familiar with immigration. It is called
xenophobia, defined as extreme fear or dislike of people from other countries. This
fear can be caused by different motives. In the US it is probably rising because of
the September 11th attacks.

    > I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some or their
    > individual culture.

It is not about offending, it is about respecting different cultures just as you
would like for your own culture to be respected in the eyes of others.

    > This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our
    > sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our
    > own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.

The modern society is formed of multiple cultures and lifestyles. There is no such
thing as ONE identity and ONE culture. Not only immigration, but globalization and
integration on the other side have caused the decline of what you call 'national
identity'. Patriotism is another thing. National identity is a type of collective
identity that in the past represented one of the most important frameworks of
individual identities. Today national identity is just one of the many possible
collective identities and is just another name for fleeing from ambiguity. You should
free yourself from methods and approaches that stimulate archaic identifications and
classical divisions among people which make possible arbitrary decisions about who
belongs to 'our country' and who does not.

    > This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories
    > by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

So have many others...

    > Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

Yes, it is true that if living in another country learning the language is the least
you can do.

    > "In God We Trust" is our national motto. It is certainly appropriate to display it
    > on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider
    > another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

Unless the author is trying to say that all other religions are obsolete and should
be opressed, I agree. I myself am not religious but I respect the people who are. I
think every person is entitled to their own beliefs, but beliefs are also one thing
that are easily kept to yourself.

    > We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't
    > care how you did things where you came from.

Change however is sign of progress. Status quo is a break for innovation in societies
and countries such as the United States, one of the countries that actually see the
value of change. The author here probably refers to changes in favor of people of
different cultural descent, as previously discussed, but otherwise I don't believe
this person knows what he is talking about.

    > But, once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our
    > pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you to take
    > advantage of one other great American freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.

He makes it sounds so easy, but I have to get my advance parole first
     (joke)

TEST-

    > Our language is not boring. It's the most expressive language in the world.

My roommate studies linguistics and unless you are an expert of something like that
yourself I will have to retort. There are many languages just as, or more expressive.

That was fun.

M.

Jadm

by the way!.....i posted it to get your opinion....i didnt write it and it
doesnt mean i agree with it(sorry was on the "go-slow" yesterday and hit "send"
before i was done)

janesays

    > > "In God We Trust" is our national motto. It is certainly appropriate to display
    > > it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider
    > > another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

Just to stick my oar in, the worlds three major religions, Christianity, Islam and
Judaism all worship the same God, Christianity and Islam are the 'sons' of Judaism
having both evolved from the Jewish religion. I remember when I was in the US in
April there was a bit on the telly about these Muslim kids saying the pledge of
allegiance as "one nation under Allah" and there being complains etc. My fiancées
parents are Lebanese and her father pointed out that Allah is actually the Arabic
word for God.

Alan