Week 28: Mission Statement
This week the president threw his support behind the RAISE Act. The RAISE Act is a new bill being introduced to congress that would dramatically change how legal immigration works in the United States.
- The amount of legal immigrants admitted would be cut in half.
- The United States seeks immigrants that are highly educated, young, speak English, are rich or predicted to be rich, and/or have received international awards.
If this doesn’t sound like your ancestors, then you are like me. My grandparents spoke English (with an Irish accent) and were young. However, they barely went to school and had no money or international awards.
Whether you’re an immigrant American, African American or Native American, you are probably wondering: how does this help me? If all we bring in is super smart, rich, English speaking, connected people, doesn't that make it more difficult for me to compete for quality jobs?
It seems un-American doesn’t it? If you’re highly educated, young, speak English, rich or internationally renowned, why are you leaving your country? For example, I am lucky enough to have many of those attributes and this is why I am not planning on emigrating anywhere anytime soon.
How did I get those things? My poorly educated, young, thick-accented English speaking, dirt poor, nameless grandparents boarded a ship for Ellis Island. They toiled on the loading docks and in the kitchens. Their kids got educated and their accents softened. They never got rich or famous but they made a life for themselves and their families.
They couldn’t do that in Ireland so they left and did it here, just like countless others from countless other countries. America needed them and they needed America. We still need people on the loading docks and in the kitchens. The last names may have changed but the dream hasn’t.
I know. I teach these kids everyday. I always wanted to be a teacher, but I never really knew why. I know now. I look into my classroom everyday and I see my Dad. I think about the sacrifices that my grandparents went through to get my Dad in that chair, and I think about the sacrifices that these parents went through to get their sons and daughters in that same chair.
To me, this is America.
This week there was a public battle over this very idea. White House Senior Policy Advisor, Stephen Miller rolled out the president’s support for RAISE, which prompted CNN’s Jim Acosta to ask:
"The Statue of Liberty says, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.' It doesn't say anything about speaking English or being a computer programmer," Acosta said. "Aren't you trying to change what it means to be an immigrant coming into this country if you're telling them that you have to speak English?"
From there things deteriorated. Miller pointed out that the poem was added later, which is true, however, it does not take away from the role Lady Liberty played in the American immigrant experience.
Why should we fight for this? We’re already here. Why should we care who comes in at this point? Not only that, but shouldn't we want the best and brightest anyway?
Hold the phone, or rather the torch. Let’s not lose focus. At the turn of the 19th century, Emma Lazarus's poem New Colossus was chosen to be the “mission statement” of our country. From that time until this, we have won two world wars, led the world in industrial and technological advances, expanded civil rights to more people and taken on the role of the world's “superpower”. Tell me again, why are we trying to rewrite our mission statement?
It sounds good to get immigrants that are not tired, not poor, not in huddled masses. But if that is not their circumstances, will they be “yearning to breathe free”?
I think not.
As I prepare for another school year, I think about the students that I don’t know yet. Would it be nice if they were well rested? Sure. Would it be nice if they had enough money to come to school prepared? Sure. Would it be nice if they walked with a confident aire? Sure. However, the most important value in my opinion is that they are “yearning to breathe free.”
“Yearning to be free” is intangible. You can’t award points for it. That is exactly why it is the most important value that we should look for in our immigrants and in ourselves.
Our homework this week is to do just that, “yearn to breathe free.” Reconnect with your immigrant, African American or Native American story and think about how their story has become yours. What is the most important value that you take from that story?
Let’s put those values together. That’s our mission statement.
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