Most of my students come from immigrant families. Many are immigrants themselves. My family were immigrants.
Looking back on my America, I was raised during the “Melting Pot” era when everyone’s immigrant background was stuffed away and hidden to take on the new American character. I loved that concept and so did my parents. Unfortunately, that also meant I could not learn the 8 languages they both knew together.
In my Mother’s concentration camp, everyone was incarcerated equally. I grew up with a sense of equality of persons: gay people were ok, black people were ok, jewish people were ok, gypsies were ok, deformed persons were ok, mentally inept people were ok…men were ok and women were ok……everyone was ok as a ‘people’.
So I grew up with the Great American OK because my parents were that beautifully multicultural. They shared pride in becoming American citizens. My Dad served in the American Army during World War II and thus earned his citizenship.
Dad arrived as an economic immigrant and worked his entire life until retirement at 82 when he fell off a skyscraper scaffold. He hid that from me. I didn’t know he worked scaffolds on New York City’s skyscrapers. The man did what he had to do to earn a living for his family which scared us all when we found out. But the man was American in work ethic.
Mom was ‘capable’ and fixed things, grew things, loved nature, loved art. Her damaged psyche was soothed by American freedoms. I love America for giving her that peace. She raised two healthy children after being fed horrid drugs to withhold her menses during her incarceration so having healthy children after being starved to death was tricky and miraculous.
I’m looking at my America today and watching how Women are rising in their awareness of strength and power. American women are amazing because we can stand on our own. I endorse relationships but it’s also important to know one can make it on one’s own if necessary. And in America, one can. It can be difficult and near impossible at times but we are still free enough to make it work.
My hope for my America is the wakening of Women and honoring of children, elders and basic humanity concepts. I wish for Men to realize they don’t have all the answers and can ask for directions. I believe that community is what America is about.
We are a special nation and from the ground up, we build our flag with stripes of earth colors and stars from heaven.