An e-mail (reprinted below) has been making the rounds. In fact, you have most likely received it in your “in box.” [You may want to refer to the text before you continue reading this message.]
Yup. Boycott Taco Bell today. That's the spirit of America!I wonder. By a show of hands, how many of you are Native Americans? I figured as much. That being the case, you are all here ILLEGALLY. GET OUT!
And how many of you have ancestors who arrived -- albeit still illegally -- on the Mayflower? Even then, who gave you permission to land at Plymouth Rock? GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!
Yes, the immigration debate rages on, and wherever you stand on the issues, there can be no denying that reform is necessary and long overdue.
Still, let us not forget that we are a nation of immigrants -- every last one of us the child, grandchild, or great grandchild of immigrants (many, if not most of whom landed upon our shores with questionable documentation, at best).
Think about it. Our forefathers came to America to escape persecution, economic hardship, famine, injustice, and the yoke of oppression. America beckoned the world to it's teeming shores, a haven for the "huddled masses yearning to be free."
Be they Irish, Italians, Jews, Chinese, or any of a thousand nationalities, these immigrants were the backbone of America's economy, and, in great part, the moving force behind America's rise in prominence as a leader among nations. [We have, over the years, lost that status as the envy of the world, no fault of either yesterday's immigrants, or, for that matter, today's.]
Perhaps it is noteworthy on this day, the 1st Day of May -- Law Day -- that we re-read (or, as the case may be, read for the first time) the words of Emma Lazarus, as are emblazoned upon the base of the Statue of Liberty, not to mention upon the minds of millions who remain oppressed around the globe.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Struggling beneath the poem's surface, these tensions- between ancient and modern, immigrant and "American," voice and silence, freedom and oppression- give Emma Lazarus' work meaning and power. As James Russell Lowell wrote her, "your sonnet gives its subject a raison d'etre."
Save but the privileged few among us, we are the sons and daughters of "the tired, the poor..., the homeless, tempest-tost."
On this day, when immigrants and children of immigrants come out of the shadows to do that which, by any measure, is most American -- protest without fear of recrimination -- we should pause for a moment or two to think about what it really means to be a “real American,” to consider, with both history and posterity as guides, why we live in (and fight for) this great country, and why there was (and still is) a need in this world for the place we call America.
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WASHINGTON (AFP) Immigrants' rights advocates, elated by the resounding success of Monday's "National Day of Action," which drew the backing of hundreds of thousands of protesters across the United States and infinite media coverage, are now planning a national boycott which they hope will have an even greater resonance. Organizers are planning the May 1 "Great American Boycott," urging illegal immigrants -- who cannot vote and who have only limited political power -- to flex their economic muscle. Protesters are being urged to refrain from shopping, and to stay away from school and work.
You should take a moment to let that sink in.
This is a movement orchestrated by people who entered the US illegally, and who then want to scream about their "rights." WHAT RIGHTS? YOU'RE HERE ILLEGALLY!
Let's take a look at some of the many benefits that illegal aliens have blessed our great country with: Street gangs, graffiti, drugs, skyrocketing healthcare, depreciation of property value, illiteracy. The list could go on. What they actually have to offer (cheap labor) pales to what they have given our country to deal with. I'll take expensive vegetables over expensive healthcare any day!
And now, like terrorists, they are going to attack our economy -- the one entity that makes our nation stand out from all the others: The backbone of our nation. The country they came to like locusts so they could reap the benefits is now the focus of their boycott. You've seen it on TV: Marching on our American streets waving their Mexican flags, boldly showing that they can be more racist than who they accuse of, and yet the obvious is totally oblivious to them. LOOK! IF YOU'VE GOT IT SO BAD HERE, THEN LEAVE!!!
To all the real Americans, you can do one small thing on May 1, 2006. It won't be racist, nor will it be violent. It will not be boastful, arrogant, selfish, or distasteful. It will not be any of those things that our "guests" have already displayed. What it will do is nullify a movement.
All you have to do is buy something on May 1st. Make up for what they will try to take away. It doesn't have to be a new car or house (unless you were already planning on getting one). It simply needs to be a day of trading.
Hold off grocery buying until May 1st. Take your wife out to eat that night. Get the kid's pizza, hamburgers, whatever (AND NO MEXICAN FOOD!!). Make several trips to the convenience store. Buy your meals at work. Fill up your tank. Shop for clothes, furniture, and outdoor equipment. If it needs to be bought, BUY IT ON MAY 1st!
Those are just a few suggestions. We're not asking you to spend your inheritance that day, but just to spend more than you normally would. Even if it's only a few dollars, this will help soften the blow that the Mexicans will try to inflict on our economy that day. It sounds trivial at first, but if this idea gets around, what the Mexicans set out to do will fail.
NOW COMES THE HARD PART: This email will not self-destruct if you don't send it to someone. It will not cause bad luck, nor will it make you impotent. It will not do some trick or show a cute little animation if you send it to "X" amount of people. You will not get paid for doing it. And Bill Gates doesn't give a flip about it, so he won't be sending you any spare cash. If you have read it, you might be inclined to send it to someone else. It will not happen though, if it just gets deleted. So forward it at will. IN FACT, FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE ONE YOU KNOW! YOU WILL BE DOING YOUR COUNTRY (AND YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS) A BIG FAVOR!
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