GEORGE W. BUSH: “I’m a uniter, not a divider.”
–Interview with David Horowitz for Salon.com, May 6, 1999GEORGE W. BUSH: “I care what 51 percent of the people think of me”
–To Oprah Winfrey, September 20, 2000, quoted by Salon.com
Then to my surprise, in the same section, I get blown out of the water by these quotes from George Washington that have startling relevance in the fight for migrant emancipation.
GEORGE WASHINGTON: “The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions, whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges, if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.”
–Address to the Members of the Volunteer Association and the Other Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Ireland Who Have Lately Arrived in the City of New York, December 2, 1783GEORGE WASHINGTON: “Happy, thrice happy shall they be pronounced
hereafter who have contributed anything, who have performed the meanest
office in erecting this stupendous fabric of freedom and empire on the
broad basis of Independence, who have assisted in protecting the rights
of humane nature and establishing an asylum for the poor and oppressed
of all nations and religions.”-General Orders, April 18, 1783
After reading both of those quotes, I couldn’t help but feel that
George Washington would have been unhappy with those that have
denigrated millions of migrants for the simple act of seeking a better
life for themselves and those around them.
They should migrate legally, the anti-migrant trolls would say in
response to that, but it’s a little hard when the U.S. only legally
accepts 147 new un-skilled workers
without US citizen or legal resident family already here. A poor
migrant from Guatemala without any family in the U.S. would have to
wait 3000 years to get in at that rate.
As much as I have a problem with allowing the rich white males who
founded the U.S. to speak on behalf of the country, I do have to say
that it feels good that George Washington would have been on our side,
the man who could have become King of the U.S. but instead decided to
step aside after 8 years of presidency.
Despite all of the irreconcilable damage that the George W. Bush has
done to the world, in order to be fair I have to say he is pro-migrant
as well, and that the following is one of my favorite quotes from his entire presidency:
“We cannot build a unified
country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone’s fears, or
exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain. We must always
remember that real lives will be affected by our debates and decisions, and
that every human being has dignity and value no matter what their
citizenship papers say.”
I think you should put that under the “Importance of Union”, Mr. Steve Coffman
He owned over 300 of them.