"A Day Without Immigrants" - May 1, 2006
A Report
by Patricia Cummings
photos by James Cummings
Pretty little girl has caught the patriotic spirit of America.
A peaceful, inspiring, and well-organized rally occurred at City Hall Plaza, Manchester, New Hampshire, on May 1, 2006, the city of my birth. Two hours were set aside on that chilly, windy afternoon so that the views of recent immigrants to America and their issues, could be addressed. As one of the presenters pointed out, the rally was not anti-America. Rather, it was pro-America.
Planned speeches
were given, as one by one, the clergy, (including a Korean-American
minister, a Catholic priest, and
a Sisters of Mercy nun); peace activists; and human rights advocates, and
immigrants themselves, addressed the two hundred people who had gathered to
listen. Distant, mounted policemen stood ready to assist in any skirmishes,
as did the foot patrol that was unobtrusively present in this law-abiding
crowd.
Signs at right say: "Aren't we all immigrants?" and "We want to work and survive."
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STATE LEGISLATOR ON HAND
One man, Jean Jeudy, who emigrated from Haiti eighteen years ago, is proud to have been elected as the first Haitian-American to serve in the state legislature. When he came to this country, he spoke not one word of English. He worked for three dollars an hour, while others in the company made much more money for equivalent tasks.
Somehow, he managed to save money and told the crowd that he now owns two houses in Manchester, and is putting his oldest son through college. Presently, that son works as a radiology technician at a local hospital. He hopes to become a medical doctor. The man further states that he is thrilled when his youngest son comes home from school and sings the national anthem. He is so happy to be an American.
OTHER IMMIGRANTS
There is a sense
of solidarity among recent immigrants. They
face
the same kinds of discrimination as immigrants from other generations did.
So, while the people at the rally were from Africa, Brazil, El Salvador,
Haiti, Korea, Puerto Rico, Romania, and elsewhere, there was a feeling of
understanding between them, and a sense of purpose, too. There was also a
discernible need to speak out, and to make their voices heard.
Another woman from Romania tells of how she gained proficiency in English and is now teaching others how to speak and interpret English. Many of her students were in the crowd. The Romanian woman said that, unfortunately, she knows no Spanish, even though people always try to speak to her in that language.
Above, the statue of a Revolutionary War Hero, General John Stark, looks on as an individual symbolically wraps himself in the Glory of the American Flag. Stark is famous for having given New Hampshire's its motto, "LIVE FREE OR DIE." photo by James Cummings
MESSAGES
Each immigrant who spoke had something vital to share, either in Spanish or in English, or in both languages. In each case, the messages were essentially the same:
“We LOVE America.”
“We are not criminals.” “We are NOT terrorists.”
“We work hard, very hard, and we just want a decent life, for ourselves and for our families.”
“Something must be done to reform the current laws regarding immigration.”
“There are eleven million 'illegales' – What legislation can be enacted to make us legal?”
"If you are working in America, and you love America, and you are a good citizen, then you ARE an American.”
LITERATURE RECALLED
A portion of a poem written by Emma Lazarus which is inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty was recalled by one speaker:
"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 Holy Bible was also quoted: “The least you do to my brethren, you do unto Me.”
The priest who spoke pointed out that May 1 is celebrated, in the Catholic Church, as a day to remember St. Joseph, a man who also had to evacuate his homeland for the security and well-being of his own family. So the choice of dates seemed most apropos.
The crowd went wild cheering when quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King were shared. King answered his own questions about, “How long shall we wait?” - The answer: “Not long!” - “Justice Will Prevail.”
WE ARE A LAND OF IMMIGRANTS
The truth of the matter is that America is the land of immigrants, unless a person is a direct descendant of a Native American (Indian). I felt right at home in this crowd of new immigrants in a city that has been home for many for my relatives for many generations. My grandfather left Austria, at the age of eighteen, and raised a family of eleven children here. My father's people were all Irish. His parents had seven children, also all contributing members of society.
Manchester, New Hampshire has served as a beacon for many nationalities, drawn there, in particular, by mill employment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In high school classes in Manchester, the surnames of my classmates sounded like a foreign ledger, many of them descendants of German-Americans, Greek-Americans, Polish-Americans, and French-Canadian-Americans. The city is truly a melting pot. The Hispanics are just the current influx of people from “somewhere else.”
MUCH SACRIFICE TO GET HERE
The immigrants of today, especially those who are coming to this country in an illegal manner, are doing so at their own risk. Many of them arrive in the back of vehicles into which they are herded like cattle. They have no food, no water, no sanitary facilities, and there have been instances of them arriving dead, overcome by heat and lack of the most basic human necessities. Of course, the person driving them has “made out like a bandit” in payments.
Not long ago, headline news featured "boat" people who were trying to escape Cuba. People so love freedom, they are willing to risk their very lives to have a taste of it, and the promise of a better life.
JUST AND FAIR LAWS ARE NEEDED
Just how did eleven million illegal immigrants get into this country in the first place? Are there plans underway to build something akin to the Great Wall of China, or the dividing wall between East and West Germany? Now that these people are here, how can we possibly send eleven million individuals back to their own countries?
The great America poet, Robert Frost, wrote a poem entitled "Mending Wall." Within the verse, he says:
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in and walling out
And to whom I was like to give offense.
He ends by quoting his neighbor as saying, "Good fences make good neighbors." In this case, a fence barrier is impossible either on our southern front or our northern tier. We should decide to be good neighbors, in spite of the lack of a physical fence.
ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS
In any event, the immigrant situation is seen as a problem by some people, but perhaps not by the rich business owners who can avail themselves of what has been likened to the newest form of “slave labor.” As one speaker said, “The immigrants who come to America do not mind the hard work. They would just like to be appreciated.”
This editorial began with the image of a sweet little girl, waving an American flag. Children are our future. As Dover, New Hampshire folksinger Bill Staines, has written in one his songs, "With children on our shoulders, we'll face another day." Children can also be the victims of unregulated legal systems in which their parents are made into pawns at the hands of big business and inadequate laws. If children live in fear, they grow up to be fearful, neurotic people. So, the impact of the current situation reaches across the board, to children, as well as adults.
Politics being what they are, I will leave the haggling about laws to those who are elected to make them.
On a personal level, I love Hispanic/Latino people, I speak their language, and I enjoyed the rally. I learned my first word of Spanish in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the age of fourteen, in high school Spanish classes. In more than forty years, I have not tired of learning about the culture, the history, or the people who comprise Spanish-speaking populations. I thank God for the chance to have studied in Spain, and to have experienced the diversity of that country.
NO ROOM LEFT FOR BIGOTS
Freedom of speech is one of the most highly valued features of a democracy, as well it should be. I have shared information in this essay, based on the "view from here." One thing that is certain is that we will all have to work together to welcome the newest wave of immigrants. Their Creator loves them as much as He loves you. Given the chance, these people will rise to their highest potential and become the outstanding, law-abiding citizens that they strive to be.
Speech given at this rally by Dr. Ernesto Sagas
Review of Latino Art Exhibit: "Voces y Visiones," from El Museo del Barrio in Manhattan, NY.
©Copyright May 2, 2006. Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH. All Rights Reserved. For any comments or questions, please write to us at: pat@quiltersmuse.com