Posted on 09/06/2003 4:04:36 AM PDT by George Frm Br00klyn Park
WorldNetDaily
Commentary
The erosion of American citizenship
Henry Lamb
Posted: September 6, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Who would deny that Indians were treated badly by the first settlers in this country? The era of black slavery is an embarrassment to our "enlightened" society. Irish immigrants were singled out for mistreatment, as were people from Poland. Jews were horribly mistreated. So were the Mormons.
Should each of these groups be given a sovereign land within the United States and allowed to govern as they choose, free from taxes paid by others and free to engage in activities denied to others?
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, enacted in 1988, discriminates on the basis of race, against all non-Indians. Neither Jews, the Irish, Poles, nor Mormons can open a gambling casino on their own land. Is this equal protection under the law?
This is just another example of how the principles of freedom on which this nation was founded have been eroded. The United States, as our pledge declares, is "... one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
But, is it?
America flourished from the philosophy "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ..." as our Statue of Liberty welcomes newcomers. The newcomers came to become Americans.
No more. Far too many newcomers come to transform America into a nation our founders could not even imagine. Even though citizenship requires renouncing allegiance to any and all foreign powers, and to affirm an oath to support the Constitution and the laws of the United States, there are organized efforts to ignore both the Constitution and the laws of the United States to secure benefits for racial or religious groups.
Special treatment for Indians is no worse than special treatment for blacks, for Jews, for Irish, for Poles or for Hispanics. Special treatment because of race, religion or ethnicity is wrong.
Americans are defined, not by color, religion or ethnicity, but by belief in, and dedication to, the principles of freedom, as defined in our founding documents. As a nation, we seem to have forgotten this fundamental principle.
America is teeming with newcomers who demand multi-lingual ballots, school texts and even multi-lingual instructions to assemble consumer products. America is an English-speaking nation, and those who want U.S. citizenship should be required to learn English. The Southwest is overrun with newcomers, many of whom care not about U.S. citizenship, but about exploiting U.S. markets. There is a growing effort to reclaim much of the Southwest for Mexico. During the 1990s, immigration grew by 11.3 million, dominated by Spanish-speaking Latin Americans. This does not include the illegal aliens, whose numbers can only be estimated.
America has been brought to the brink of disaster by appeasing the "multiculturalism" crowd. Those groups which demand special treatment, whether black, Indian, Asian, Hispanic, Islamic or whatever, ignore our national motto: e pluribus unum, – out of many, one – and are striving to divide the one, into many.
Martin Luther King's dream has not yet been realized: that time when people are judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Now, however, it seems that government, and special-interest groups, value skin color far more than character. Why else would Indians be given sovereign nations, blacks given "extra points" for college admission and Hispanics given all sorts of special privileges not available to other groups of Americans?
The first step to becoming an American should be to know and understand what it means to be an American. Then, the declaration of allegiance should be demonstrated, not just spoken. Politicians who pursue votes with promises to one group, at the expense of others, are not fit for office and should be replaced by candidates who, themselves, have demonstrated their allegiance to the principles of freedom that define this great nation.
To be an American is a privilege beyond describable value. With citizenship comes the responsibility to protect and defend its value. Its value arises from the freedom it guarantees. If we, who enjoy the value of our citizenship, allow self-serving politicians and special-interest groups to chip away at the foundations of our freedom and continue to ignore and erode the principles which provide our freedom, we will become a nation no better than those the newcomers are trying to escape.
Henry Lamb is the executive vice president of the Environmental Conservation Organization and chairman of Sovereignty International.
THIS article at WND
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