Calling certain immigrants Illegal Aliens in this nation founded by uninvited, yet initially welcomed Europeans would be ironic if it were not a perennial dehumanization of one immigrant group by another.
The story of America is replete with all manner of invasion, conquest, plunder, enslavement of one people by another, theft of property and of children, and ultimately — formal strategic warfare and genocide of those deemed by official government policy as undesirable, expendable, and to be eliminated by any means necessary.
It is time to understand that we are all Earth citizens, deserving of humane treatment, one and all.
The perennial controversy of who is native in this land we call America, which people are immigrants, who is native-born, who is legal, who is illegal, and who is alien is a long simmering cauldron of charges and counter-charges, name-calling, roundups and deportations, wars, denial of public benefits, inhumane exploitation, and even genocide.
This is our U.S. history, not necessarily taught in public schools, nor to most college students, and certainly not presented in the popular culture of brave pilgrims carving settlements out of a mostly unpopulated wilderness, and later in western films creating myths of even braver cowboys on horseback and settlers in wagon trains.
Yet unless all know our nation’s true history, many will naively continue to ask, as I have heard for fifty years: Why are there so many immigrants in America? Why can’t Indians stay on their reservations? Why don’t Blacks go back to Africa? And why do so many Mexicans come illegally to our country?
There is a willful general public ignorance that our nation was founded upon pre-existing nations of native peoples, robbed of their land by European immigrants, sometimes enslaved, eventually forced off their lands, and millions killed by war and disease.
There is 
also the grotesque contradiction, initial to our nation’s founding, that in spite of all men being created equal, many immigrants soon bought, kidnapped, and enslaved Africans, forcing them with whip in hand to build the roads and cities, raise the crops, even to build our nation’s capital. The compromise written into our Constitution that declared enslaved humans as only 3/5ths of a white person poisoned our nation in such a manner that so-called moral, god-fearing men and women greedily profited from owning, breeding, and selling human beings, tearing families apart, raping women, and then selling their children for further profit.
The slavery in this nation of free men (and women — without equal rights) led to a Civil War, but not before another war — a war of conquest of Mexico fomented by slave owners determined to ensure additional slave states west of the Mississippi River. Our nation won that war — taking half of Mexico as war booty, and would have taken all of Mexico, but for Congressional concern of what to do with all the unwanted Mexicans!
Manifest Destiny — a manic delusion that God himself willed that the U.S. reach “from sea to shining sea” contributed to this war and further land grabs that transmogrified our nation to a replication of the empires of European monarchies. Thus, we grabbed Hawaii, Cuba, and the Philippines for a while, and to this day, Puerto Rico, and we now have more than 737 military bases throughout the world. American is an empire — as was Rome, Britain, and many other empires, now fallen by bankruptcy, overstretch and hubris.
As historian Howard Zinn explains, “If our starting point for evaluating the world around us is the firm belief that this nation is somehow endowed by Providence, with unique qualities that make it morally superior to every other nation on Earth, then we are not likely to question a president when he says we are sending our troops here or there, or bombing this or that, in order to spread our values — democracy, liberty, and let's not forget free enterprise — to some God-forsaken (literally), place in the world.”
We must realize that calling anyone an illegal alien indicates a willful ignorance of our nation’s complex history. It is time to understand that we are all Earth citizens, deserving of humane treatment, one and all.
What do you think?
Comments
God's children
Before reading this article, I was already against all the prejudice and racism we have in this world and calling people that are supposedly different from us immigrants or aliens. But now having read this article, my views and opinions have grown stronger. It is very true that the world has forgotten or is very ignorant of America’s history. The world is very hypocritical of calling natives immigrants when they were the actual ones that lived on this land first. Furthermore, our so called equal rights weren’t even equal to start with when the natives were slaves. Men are equal should not mean only white men, but it should always mean humans in general. Humans are God’s children and should all be treated equally, should all have equal opportunities, and not be named called or judged differently.
Nation of Immigrants
This article reminds me of a class discussion that we had about a week ago. In class we had a open forum about who truly was natives and who were "illegal" immigrants. We came to the notion that Native Americans were truly the original citizens of this nation. Europeans came over several hundred years later to colonialize the land. They forced the indians off their land, spread diseases and pushed the "American ways" into the Indians through assimilation and oppression of their cultures. Next Europeans brought Africans Americans over through the slave trade so that they would work the land for the whites. They were forced to live here, and treated like objects owned by plantation owners. It is through oppression, war, and assimilation that this country has created the notion that Europeans were the first citizens.
Who Were the Original Citizens of this Nation?
I was also reminded of the discussion our class had about Native Americans as the original citizens of this nation. I agree 100% that through assimilation, war, and oppression Europeans overtook this nation. Yet I believe acculturation had a lot to do with it as well, the Europeans colonizers by force made Indian's take in American culture. Indian children were taken from their families and put into boarding schools in which the children were forced upon the "American ways." They were "forced" to dress in military clothing, they could no longer speak their language, all in all they experienced 'ETHNOCIDE' (cultural genocide). They were humiliated, and abused, they got alienated from their land which then made their lands turn into commodities. The Europeans wanted the Indians to become farmers and therefore lose their land. The Allotment Act and the Dawes Act were then established. The Dawes Act attacked the Indian's gender system, their families, and their spiritual base, which was their land. The Europeans wanted to assimilate the American ways into the so called 'savages' the Indians were. Therefore by Europeans claiming that Native Americans are immigrants to this nation is ignorant, because through assimilation, acculturation, violence, oppression, and slavery they created a nation of immigrants!
Who's at Fault?
I hate and find myself bothered when individuals comment and believe that immigrants are taking jobs away from citizens and that they’re not paying taxes. Immigrants pay taxes everyday when they purchase a Gatorade in the store. Immigrants are not taking the jobs of white people, white people are taking the jobs of white people. The owners of companies hire illegal immigrants so they can go around the system and not pay taxes nor have to give them any benefits or pay them hourly wages. The owners are the crooks and bad guys in these situations. Are we really going to blame and beat a a man or women that’s picking strawberries at such a low hourly rate that’s only trying to help their family? I don’t think that’s justifiable. If you look at the history of America, Europeans came into this land and killed and beat Native Americans while forcing them to assimilate to the white culture. In today’s day, we’re getting upset at any illegal coming over trying to better their life as the first Europeans did.
A nation of immigrants
I definitely agree that this nation is made up originally of all immigrants who took over the land and forced new customs and cultures on to the Native Americans. However, one question I pose is: before Europeans came to this country, what did the typical Native American tribe culture look like? More specifically, did original tribes ever fight for land against other tribes; did they seek to expand their territories? I am not trying to make any sort of excuse for our country's behavior, I totally disagree with the whole illegal immigrant thing. However, every country or group of people in the world seeks to expand as they grow. Yes our founding fathers were wrong in how they did it, but we are not the only ones at fault. This expansion is a typical part of history. I think we should refocus on the present day and how to change the view of illegal immigrants. I do not believe people should be "sneaking" in to our country; but the process it takes to become a citizen, let alone get a green card, is ridiculous. We need to fight to make it easier for people to enter and join our country. Our country is a melting pot of so many different cultures, and that is one of the reasons I think it is so great.
America and immigrants.
America has always been known as a place of new beginings, and a place where anybody can become somebody. Obviously the United States was not the first nation state to be in North America. The natives had been living here for thousands of years. Our government did horrible things to eliminate the natives so to make room for white settlers. Every nation has dark spots in its history and this is certaintly one if not the darkest era in American history. Now one can look at the modern day problems of immigration and how many Americans claim that illegal immigrants should all be deported back to the country they came from. This however will not solve anything. America is a nation of freedom and oppurtunity and should therefore welcome immigrants instead of kick them out. The current system to become a citizen is a difficult one and often causes people that are good hard working citizens that have lived for years in America to be deported to a nation that has limited jobs and may have simply changed immensly since the time of the persons emigration. Therefore the system should be changed to make immigration easier, after all doesn't the statue of liberty say give me your poor, hungry, and huddled masses?
Americans
American history is littered and full of terrible acts of violence and hatred. An entire continent of people have been wiped out and exterminated to expand as a country. The people who are left are given casinos as compensation, not worth the thousands upon thousands of people who were killed for their land. We cannot call ourselves natives to this land, but we can say we are Americans and that certain ideals, although not always followed in our history is what we strive for. All men and women are created equal and have certain unalienable rights. Until this is true, that is what we should strive for as a nation and as one human race.
Who are the real immigrants?
America is the land of the free and the home of the brave that provides a place of opportunity for all; at least that’s what I always thought. How do we know who really started off in this country when we took so much from the Native Americans, caused turmoil for the African Americans, and rough times for Hispanic Americans. In order to expand our country and history we need to integrate our cultures and respect the differences and the innovativeness that other cultures have to offer. In order to change this we need to stop going back past and start concentrating on the future and chance this negative view on immigration. One would think that because of the many immigrants crossing over illegally, the government would come up with an easier process; making it possible for the people who wish to come to the United States. It is up to our generation and the strength of the people to make this process possible.
All One
I agree with this article. I believe that the world has settled on labeling people way too much. America was founded on a group of immigrants from Europe so why are there certain immigrants that are labeled as aliens or frowned upon for coming to America. The reason is that everyone is always trying to find something that sets them apart from other people. But now instead of trying to find their own differences they find a way of labeling someone else and focusing on the other persons differences. There is nothing wrong with being different from someone. Expressing your own individuality is great, but the problem is that we have now decided to put labels on people that express themselves. The truth is that we are all the same in ways but yet different is completely other ways. We just have to stay away from the labeling.
Immigration
Our country was founded on immigration. Mostly all of us have immigrated from a different land at one point in our family history. I do not understand why we would not glad-fully give the same rights to current immigrants. The United States should embrace diversity and learn from it, not rebuke it and turn it away.
America & Immigrants
Let's face it: we all come from families that immigrated to America at one point or another. Therefore, how are we going to blame these people for coming to our country when that is how we are here today, through the process of immigration? Hypocrisy is rampant throughout our country. We need to realize that these people just want a better life and as long as they are going through the steps to make this legal, they are more than welcome here. The different cultures and traditions brought over by immigrants need to be embraced, they need to feel welcome. Isn't that the type of foundation our country was built on?
America has a spotty past
America has a spotty past with race relations. From slavery to oppression of Native Americans, America has much to remember in regards to human rights failures. However, opposition to illegal immigration is not in the same league as promoting slavery, oppression, and ignorance.
One must have empathy for those simply yearning for a better life. However, one must remember that there are many who are yearning for a better life and taking the proper legal steps to do so.
On the other hand, illegal (and yes, breaking the border policy of the United States is illegal) immigrants have cost America nearly four hundred billion dollars in the last fifteen years, via social services. Our hospitals do not reject the injured and sick. However, despite the generosity of the law, hospitals are forced to pick up the tab for those who use emergency room services without means to pay for them. Illegal immigrants utilizing emergency room services has cause several border state hospitals to fire personnel or close completely. The system as it stands is not sustainable to either the government or private industry.
In addition, 29% of all inmates are here illegally. While I do not paint all illegal immigrants with this brush, this is clearly a fault in the system.
I am in complete favor of legal immigration. We are a nation of immigrants. However, my ancestors took the long strenous yet legal steps to citizenship. While our system is slow and cumbersome, illegal immigration cannot be sustained. It is clear that the system needs to be reformed to make legal immigration simpler. But cheating the system should not be tolerated, regardless of emotional appeal.
Illegal immigration, despite its reasons, is illegal. I do not believe that the term illegal is ignorant. Though the human is not illegal, the action is.
were all immigrants
At one point in time almost every person had a relative who was an immigrant in this country. According to history immigrants have never been welcomed with open arms and a job waiting for them. In today's time with minorities becoming majorities in America it should be time to let feelings dull down about where a person comes from or who they worship. This is a problem that has been going on since the beginning of time and it will most likely continue until the end since one can argue since its been going on so long that it is human nature.
Even though I will say that
Even though I will say that what happened to the Native Americans in America during the years of conquest was saddening, it was different then, then it is today. First off, most the damage that was done to the Native population of America was done through disease. The conquerors unknowingly spread disease through out the Native’s villages, killing most if not all of them within the village. This was the start of the moving and killing of the Native people of this country. What happened through out the rest of America’s history of expansion was just pure politics and military conquest, no different from what goes on today with military power. Westward expansion, Manifest Destiny, and the Mexican War were all conquest for land and power. To call ourselves aliens is not right. There were no laws that were advertised in the time of the conquerors, and for that matter in war at all. There is no nation without citizens, and America is a nation of immigrants. But not immigrants of our own time. Even back then during the great waves of immigration that occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s people did not like immigrants just like today, calling them aliens. We are not aliens.
America the land of Aliens
From a commonsense point of view only a small percentage of Americans can call them selves Native Americans. These small percentages of Native Americans are the individuals who have Indian American ancestry. The rest of Americans are actually of immigrant ancestry and can be considered aliens. This point of view is strictly from a commonsense point of view. But as we all know most Americans don’t usually use commonsense so this point of view tends to be overlooked and ignored. Instead most American considers Native Americans to be white and now more then ever to also be black. This is what confuses me the most on how Americans mostly the white population can look down on another race and immigrants and restrict them from receiving a better life. I think Americans should take their heads out of their asses and start treating other people with respect. If Americans can put there ego’s aside and work together we can make this country even greater then it already is.
Good Point, But...
"We are all Earth's citizens." That's true, every human being that is alive is a "citizen" of the Earth. But the real question is: What COUNTRY are you a citizen of? Does your passport say "United States of America?" Do you have a work visa or student visa to be here or just visiting? If the answer was no to any of those and some was here to live without proper documentation, then send them back to where they're an actual citizen. Our economy cannot handle more people mooching off of our welfare system or living on the streets. Yes, everyone has the right to be treated humanely, but if you're not a citizen of our great country then you don't have the same rights as everyone else here. That's the bottom line. No citizenship, no rights, and no excuses. That's how today's society is, and unless some law gets changed, then that's the way it will continue to be.
We are one
We are all human, it is true. What is more important is what country are you from. People shouldn't be worried about if someone is a "human" or not. Everyone should be treated equally no matter what race, class, or gender. We are all the same and all different in more than one way. We are one and should be treated the same. Some people come to America for a new start, but that doesn't mean they are an Alien or did something bad. We as a nation need to relax and listen to reasons and stories of why people are here. Everyone has a right to live in America as long as it is legal. We need to learn to be more fair and treat people the way that they should be treated.
We must remember we are all
We must remember we are all descendants of immigrants. People came to America from all over the world. Whether is was 200+ years ago or more recently we have all been some "alien". We all are "immigrants" by the definition. Illegal aliens are seen in an unfavorable light because they aren't from this country. This is ironic because none of us are authentic "Americans." That's just how we identify ourselves because we are proud of the country we live in.
No
They are not seen as unfavorable because they are not from this country..they are seen as unfavorable because they did not enter this country correctly! Yes we are all descendants of immigrants but of immigrants who predominantly entered the country LEGALLY. My grandparents had to learn English and work many long hours to provide for their families. It wasn't just hop a fence and go to work. They started their own business and made a name for themselves, an AMERICAN name. I'm not saying that these individuals have to lose their ethnic identities but what is wrong with wanting to be a part of America. That is why people are so upset.
I feel that we need to accept
I feel that we need to accept people as who they are not where they are from. yeah i know that sounds cliche' but people need to realize that they wouldnt like it if someone judges them or doesnt "approve" of them because of where they are from they would feel some type of way. we all just need to stop calling or referring to people as immigrants because number one if they do gain citizenship and get their papers then they are a citizen but if they are illegal it still doesnt give us the right to refer to them as so.
Who are the Aliens?
If we get right to the point of this question then we must conclude that Native Americans are the movers and shakers of the United States. They had their roots in this country long before the arrival of Europeans. Due to overwhelming numbers and modern weaponry, Colonialism spread robbing Native Americans of their land, resources, identities, and any recognition as the true owners of this country. This action would make the large majority of us immigrants or descendants of immigrants. African Americans comprise another group which was forcibly brought to this country. After listening to how this country was formed one starts to wonder why there is such uproar concerning immigration these days. The shoe appears to be on the other foot these days and we aren't comfortable with the fit. Maybe we should maintain the current immigration policy with one major change. Let's put Native Americans to the task of deciding who enters THEIR country.
Who are the Aliens?
If we get right to the point of this question then we must conclude that Native Americans are the movers and shakers of the United States. They had their roots in this country long before the arrival of Europeans. Due to overwhelming numbers and modern weaponry, Colonialism spread robbing Native Americans of their land, resources, identities, and any recognition as the true owners of this country. This action would make the large majority of us immigrants or descendants of immigrants. African Americans comprise another group which was forcibly brought to this country. After listening to how this country was formed one starts to wonder why there is such uproar concerning immigration these days. The shoe appears to be on the other foot these days and we aren't comfortable with the fit. Maybe we should maintain the current immigration policy with one major change. Let's put Native Americans to the task of deciding who enters THEIR country.
This is a very interesting
This is a very interesting article about why people feel they have to be separated from each other just because they are a different race. He explains this notion by applying it to American history and the contradiction of white people believing they have power over all the other races in this country. Whites came to this country and invaded. They stole lands from the Native Americans. They took all of the land they had and did not even ask them if they could take. After that, they decided that it was God's will to travel west and take all of that land too. The actions by some of these white people can only be described as selfish. They invaded and did not care about they people that they hurt. They killed and tortured Native Americans. They stole what belonged to the Native Americans. They forced them to live on reservations and complained when they left them. The Native Americans were not the only race that was harmed by the whites in America. The whites enslaved Africans and brought them to the new world. They did not see them as human beings but rather as products to be bought and sold. They treated an entire race of human beings as their servants. Now today whites are treating Mexicans the same way. Mexicans wish to enter America and earn a decent living for their families and themselves. All they want is a peaceful life. Many whites believe that America should only belong to white people and they wish to deny Mexicans citizenship. I am not saying that all whites who wish to have border control are racists but I am saying that a large amount of whites wish to keep America white. This goes against everything America stands for.
agree
I really like your summary of the article and the points that you grabbed out of the article and I just wanted to comment on some of the points that you made regarding the article. I believe it is entirely wrong that white people think that they are the superior ones or the owners of "United States" when they were the ones who stole the land from Native Americans, when they were the one who brought African-Americans from Africa, when they are the ones who took Mexicans land as "war booty" and they are the ones who are counted as the "superior" race when that should not be the case since everyone is equal and looking back at the history they should have the same equal rights as every other race in the United States.
I really liked how this
I really liked how this acticle bluntly put our nations "real" history. It's sad to think that many Americans are ignorant to it. I believe we don't have the right to call certian immigarnts illegal aliens, when this nation was stolen from Native Americans. European immigranst colonized this nation taking whatever land and resorces they wanted. They striped American Indians of their culture and forced them onto reservations. They froced African Americans to do unpaid labor. And by taking a lot of Mexico's land they forced many Mexicans to be in a forien country. I 100% agree with this article when it says "calling anyone an illegal alien indicates a willful ignoance of our nation's complex history."
america
This article brought out some truth in that we are all decendents of immigrants in the United States. And who are we to choose now who gets to come and who doesn't. It doesn't seem very fair that we fought for our freedom but wont allow some to join and find theirs. Although today if our immigrants who first came to
America would be called illegal aliens because it wasn't their land to take. This idea brings about the fact that we Americans are supposed to be proud because of this diversity we have here because we are all immigrants in some way.
It may not seem fair for the
It may not seem fair for the US government to choose who can enter our country because we ourselves were immigrants at some point but immigrants and aliens were not considered "illegal" until the actual government system was set up and the country was finally starting to become populated. I agree that a lot of what the government is doing to keep people out of the country is not right; i do understand why there should be some level of limitation. A lot of immigrants who are coming to the US are coming in with nothing but the clothes on their back and when they get here whether legally or illegally they are often times better off than they were. But even though they are better off they can increase our unemployment rate as well as raise our poverty line because they may be better off but are still considered to be in poverty. However if poor immigrants are willing to come to the US and work jobs that no other poor American is willing to work than by all means let them stay. The work they are willing to do has to be done somehow whether by them or by citizens.
However I do not think that the US should be flooded by immigrants every year but I do not believe that an increase in immigration would necessarily be bad for the US. Either increase the number of allowed immigrants each year using the same system or change the system to make it easier for others to join. they want to come here in order to increase their quality of life not decrease ours.
We need to realize our limitations !!
America is one of the most diverse nations on earth. It isn't just a country it is almost a continent. When the nation was first discovered by Christopher Columbus it was almost completely unoccupied and its resources where unexploited. When our ancestors had immigrated to inhabit America it wasn't yet a well developed and organised nation. But curretnly America is one of the most developed and highly populated country on earth. Even thought it is a magnificent country that most people wish to live in, it has its own limitations. One of the major limitation is the limited employment offers available. Although it might sound selfish of us to limit the amount of immigrants entering this nation, we all must recognise the fact that now America is an organised country with our own developing population therefore the increase in the flow of immigrants will highly influence the economy and the ratio of the poputaltion to job availbility. Although it would have been nice to welcome all the immigrants to this magnificent nation, we all need to recognise that we have our limitations and that we are now an independent country with a highly increasing population.
Land of Aliens????
I find the term " Alien" so disturbing because we are a nation that was founded by immigrants.In the case, we should be called " United Aliens of America." In school we are only taught the glorified version of history, forgetting about colonization of Native American lands, and the genocide of the Natives Indians, who are the real Americans of this land. People who use terms " Alien and Illegal," are ignorant because they aren't educated and they don't realize they are descendants of immigrants. Today, immigration is a huge social issue where many people don't realize the separation of families and the sacrifice people make to come to this country for a better life. Yes, there is a process of legalization but people don't realize that it is not as easy as they think. As of today, INS is still working on the applicants from 1995, which means this whole legalization process takes years to complete. Its also very expensive and many people struggle to full fill the required requirements because they don't have the support.
Earth citizens
I totally agree with Gil Viligran. Why must we pin point Mexican illegals out of the crowd, and dub them "aliens." When I hear the word, "alien," I think of slimy green martians that have massive eyes and speak in different tounges. The mexican illegals deserve better than to be called illegal aliens. They are here for a reason. A better life, a new start, a new opportunity, and most importantly, a new dream. So for those out there who are listening, lets all ease up on the hostile terms. Lets bring us back to the roots, we are all Earth citizens, and we all want to make the best out of the one life we have. if you really think about it, The Mexicans were her before we were. We took their land created the borders after we gained the states of California, Texas, and Arizona. We created the borders, the lines that saparated us from the Mexicans. We took their land, their homes away from them. In a way we owe them a favor. The least we can do is stop calling illegal Mexicans, "aliens." Lets have some respect here.
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