Did Roosevelt have it right on immigration?

[cyberpj]

Teddy Roosevelt:

In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.

But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American ... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag ... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.

[William769]

1. I don't have a problem with that.

You don't need to forget your heritage, but to become a American citizen, I agree you should owe allegiance. There must have been a compelling reason for that person coming here to begin with.

[cyberpj]

3. That's what I thought. But I'm always interested in DU's wide variety of

opinions to help me think these things through...

[ret5hd]

2. well, i guess we could burn every...

chinatown, every koreatown, every mercado, every irish pub, every smalltown southern louisiana baitshop, every innuit village, every amish village, every italian neighborhood, every russian neighborhood, etc...

then maybe, just maybe, this great country can return to the wonderful glory and greatness of its god-fearing lily-white past. :sarcasm:

[Minnesota Libra]

4. Teddy Roosevelt had it right. A Something/American is..........

.....not American at all. I don't think Americans are asking for anything different than what would be expected of them in a foreign land - any foreign land.

I see nothing wrong with remembering/using one's native language in one's home but in public the American language should be used.

In other words if a person wants to be an American then be an American in every way, but if a person wants to simply work here then fine work here and then go home.

I'm not making a distinction as to country of origin, race, religion, beliefs, anything. Once a person becomes an American and part of the "American Melting Pot" they are indeed American.

[Zynx]

5. I don't believe there is such a thing as a unified American culture...

so how does one assimilate themselves into it? The language thing is stupid since millions of immigrants over the years never learned English.

[cyberpj]

7. "the language thing" can be changed by requiring immigrants learn

English in order to work here.

Of course, immigrants implies that they came here, applied for immigration, wanted to be a citizen and obtained a green card for employment purposes.

Calling the illegal aliens immigrants is a misnomer.

I believe the only way to fix the problem of illegal aliens is to prosecute the greedy businesses that contract them. I also believe this would be good for ALL American workers in that it will stop the downward spiral of wages and benefits here.

[sdfernando]

6. a little peeve of mine.

The Americas encompass much more than just the United States of America. I never use the term "American" when I mean United States citizen. I know its a lost cause, but I do it anyway.