We often refer to the American Dream while growing up, but selfishly – we try to keep it strictly to those of us that have been deep routed in the United States of America. However, we tend to displace the fact that unless you're of the Native American decent, you are not an original of the spacious skies, amber waves of grain, or purple mountain majesties. Your family came from another country to this land of freedom. Rather than disregarding your prior heritage and claiming yourself as only an American, you really should be boasting about both parts of your life.
I am in no way saying that you should not identify yourself as American (or 'Murican), rather merely to be content and accepting of the other cultures that have fabricated your existence. We all have opposing opinions as citizens in the U.S.A., but immigration is not supposed to be a limitation to those who come searching for our beloved country's freedom. Of course illegal immigration is seen as an overbearing and substantial problem, we should rethink our predjuices against other races that live among us all.
Our families, whether it had been centuries, decades, or even a few years ago, all came to create a better life for themselves and their families. Most came here with little to nothing to call their own, escaping from a larger negative force, or following a dream of theirs. But instead of commending these individuals for taking action in their life, we shun them and we blame them. Why? Because we are threatened by the unknown and the motivated. We are scared they will replace us when we slack off. We are scared they will take over our neighborhoods and businesses and we may no longer live in our white picket fenced life. But the American Dream is more than a standard set in the 1950s, today – it's a way of life.
My Mother and her family came over form Argentina when she was just in elementary school. My Nano did not have much belonging to him other than hope, motivation, and a dying love for his family. He built his business up from nothing. Both he and my Nana knew very little to no English at the time, but they learned. Their customers at their Tailor Shop saw how hard the both of them worked together, day and night, trying to not only grow a customer base, but to build their own home. That's exactly what it is today, and I'm so blessed to be able to have had them show me what hard work and passion for their job and family looks like. They came to better their children's lives, not to take jobs away, not to corrupt the area with a foreign language, not to push their cultures from Argentina and Italy onto others, and not to replace anyone; they came to build and paint their own white picket fence, their own American Dream.
I couldn't be more proud to be a part of my family on both my Mom and Dad's side. I'm proud to be an American, but I'm also proud to be a product of immigration and the will to be and do better. We need to remember that our country was built on a pipe dream, and attempting to follow that pipe over the years is what built our grand United States of America.
