Pledging Allegiance to Immigrants' Citizenry

Dear friends,

The link below is to a piece by a young man, Damon Williams, who I hold in deep regard. In my own biased opinion, he is a rising star in journalism. That is quite refreshing, because, except for female African American journalists/writers (some of whom have been featured on this blog), at least to me, especially since the Eighties, the overwhelming proponderance of their male countrerparts, although the latter often have had a longer history of being employed in the field of journalism, spend far too much of their time being in deference to both the views and wishes of their publishers and editors, while, simultaneously, engaging in intellectual acrobatics, to even recognize truth, much less share it with others. And there is such a thing (i.e., truth). After all, as myself and others have been insisting for decades, "If there is no such a thing as truth, then why do so many benefit by hiding it?"...

To be sure, although capitalism has contributed tremendously to our country's development in many areas, in its present "advanced" state, our economic system is having trouble insuring that all of our fellow citizens even have food and housing. That is, whereas USA capitalism has created great amounts of food and, thus, a large population, it has not been able to provide sufficient resources for a good many of its citizens.

Some of our fellows attribute the lack of the aforementioned resources of food, and so forth, for all of our citizenry to "immigrants" acquiring too great a share of the nation's income. However, the facts prove differently. The truth is: Most low income people in this country are European Americans or so-called “whites”; therefore, it is they (said EuropeanAmericans) who receive the largest share of benefits from government programs. Consequently, the argument that Caribbeans, Latinos, Asians, Africans, or other non-European groups are taking anything away from "native" citizens is a complete fabrication, if not s lie.

At any rate, this particular message that Damon is sharing is quite personal. It is, in fact, about his wife, Francina, gaining full American citizenship. Because she comes from Barbados, the same island from which, almost a century ago, my maternal grandparents (the only grandparents who I ever knew) emigrated to the US as adults (they both lived well into their Nineties), I have some personal reasons myself for sharing this piece with you.

Of course, whenever people leave their homes of origin there are always - or, at least, usually - feelings of guilt. Many people, like my grandparents, never return to their former homelands -not even to visit. And so begins the process of self-alienation that is so ingrained in citizens of this largely immigrant - whether voluntary or forced, "advanced" nation.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080719_New_American__A_woman_s_path_to_citizenship.html?adString=pdn.news/local;!category=local;&randomOrd=071908071819