In a moving 20-minute speech, the president compared the recent anti-immigration political climate to the “darkest chapters” of American history.
“In one of the darkest chapters in our history, Japanese immigrants, and even Japanese-American citizens, were forced from their homes and imprisoned in camps,” Obama told the new citizens in the National Archives.
"We succumbed to fear. We betrayed not only our fellow Americans, but our values.
“The biggest irony of course was that those who betrayed these (American) values were themselves the children of immigrants.
"How quickly we forget. One generation passes, two (generations pass) and suddenly we don't remember where we came from," he said. "And we somehow suggest that there is 'us' and there is 'them,' not remembering we used to be 'them.' On days like today, we need to resolve never to repeat mistakes like that again."
Although the name Donald Trump or any of the members of Congress were mentioned, the 20-minute speech was clearly responding to the fear-mongering propelled by the current rhetoric coming from the Republican party's leaders running for President regarding Congressional efforts to semi Syrian refugee resettlement, attempts to undo the president's executive orders on immigration and the recent calls to stop all Muslims from entering the U.S.
Although the president's remarks were broadcast live, the news media did not give them the same attention as given to the outrageous statement made by some of the Republican candidates.
 |
White House
Immigrants sworn in as new Americans at ceremonies at the National Archives on Dec. 15. |
"In the Mexican immigrant today, we see the Catholic immigrant of a century ago," he said, placing today's controversy into a historical perspective. "In the Syrian seeking refuge today, we should see the Jewish refugee of World War II."
"Down through the decades, Irish Catholics fleeing hunger, Italians fleeing poverty filled up our cities, rolled up their sleeves, built America. Chinese laborers jammed in steerage under the decks of steamships, making their way to California to build the Central Pacific Railroad that would transform the West ..."
Since the terrorist shootings in Paris and San Bernardino, the White House has been trying to temper the anti-Muslim rhetoric by visible signs of concern and remind Americans about the values that have made America the country it is today. Earlier this week members of the Muslim and Sikh communities met at the White House to receive assurances that this administration would continue to speak against the growing number of hate crimes and racist speech targeting them.
"You are men and women from more than 25 countries, from Brazil to Uganda, from Iraq to the Philippines," he told the new Americans today. "You may come from teeming cities or rural villages. You don’t look alike. You don’t worship the same way. But here, surrounded by the very documents whose values bind us together as one people, you’ve raised your hand and sworn a sacred oath. I’m proud to be among the first to greet you as 'my fellow Americans.'”
To those who opposed taking in refugees and those who criticize his executive actions on immigration, he reminded the newly-sworn in Americans, that asylum of offering safe harbor from persecution is also part of the American story. "Just as so many have come here in search of a dream, others sought shelter from nightmares. Survivors of the Holocaust. Soviet Refuseniks. Refugees from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. Iraqis and Afghans fleeing war. Mexicans, Cubans, Iranians leaving behind deadly revolutions. Central American teenagers running from gang violence. The Lost Boys of Sudan escaping civil war."
"We are Americans," said the president. "Standing up for each other is what the values enshrined in the documents in this room compels us to do. Especially when it's hard. Especially when it's not convenient. That's when it counts. That's when it matters. Not when things are easy, but when things are hard."
###
No comments:
Post a Comment