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Decent Quality Since 1847

Oh, Swell, There are the Nativists

4/1/2014

5 Comments

 
I was reading something yesterday that struck me as interesting.  It was about a far right fringe group I hadn't heard of before, by the name of "Nativists."  This faction is described by the author as anti-immigrant, afraid about seeing "the American way of life threatened with ruination by the hordes of immigrant poor," those "flooding into the country, bringing with them their ignorance" and their heathen religion.  In one town, an angry mob of followers had attacked an immigrant's house of worship, burning it to the ground.

Stories like this are always so despicable to me, not just for the obvious reasons
of being against the human spirit and decency, but in part too because it always seem to hide behind the cloak of the purity of Original Americanism.  Supposedly being the Real Patriots.  When in fact it's against most everything patriotic that America stands for.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

“Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

“The home of the free, the land of the brave.”

I suspect that there are some on the far right who will nod approvingly at what concerns the Nativists, perhaps not supporting their violent actions, though perhaps so, since we've seen burnings of the Koran and efforts trying to suppress irrational concerns of Sharia law.

But while those who think the goals and efforts are, at the very least, understandable, it's important to note that I left something out of the story.

The passage doesn't come from a newspaper, but rather David McCullough's book, The Greater Journey:  Americans in Paris, and it concerns a movement in the United States in 1840.  Moreover, who the immigrants were and what the religion was are not precisely what you might have presumed.  The ignorant, immigrant hordes the Nativists were referring to who they said threatened the ruination of America were the Irish, Italians and Germans, and the hated "Romish" religion was the Catholic Church.

As George Santayana famously wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." 

For those who never quite knew or believed what he was referring to -- there you have the explanation.

Or as I not-famously at all write, it's so much easier to demean others and stir up hatred out of pure hatred of your own or fear or racism or ignorance when you don't realize that that the very same arguments you're using against others are demeaning those who you support, if not you yourself.

By the way, lest anyone suggest that the comparisons aren't apt since, after all, it was those of the Muslim faith who actually attacked the U.S., I merely grab hold of that pesky history bag and remind of our fighting Germany in World War I, and both Germany and Italy in World War II.  Those wars might be "after the fact," but in today's parlance that would make the immigrants of the 1840 "sleeper cells."

Of course, the only war the United States fought with Mexico was when the we took Texas from them.  Other than that, it's been a pretty peaceful co-existence with bordering neighbors.

Anyway, the next time you hear someone on the far right outraged at ignorant immigrants, the poor, and with unfamiliar religions, just remember you might have heard that song before.  And before.  And before.  And...

Some people happily remember the song though -- it's like that nagging tune you hear on the clock-radio when you wake up and can't get it out of your head -- and have learned how to deal with others unfamiliar to them and live in peace.  While others are condemned to repeat themselves and live in their own gut-wrenching, small-minded, thoughtless angst -- trying to keep churning up hatred in others, all the while wrapped up in a mean-spirited, fake American flag pin of faux-patriotic imagery, whether as Nativists, America First, the Tea Party, FreedomWorks, or the always safe standby, just plain, old "Real Americans."

As John Prine wrote, “Your flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore.”

P.S.  If Mexico would like to take Texas back, it's okay with me.
5 Comments
Gordon Kent
4/1/2014 04:08:44 am

Yep. And very nicely put... Again, these are the articles that make me come back to your site... Keep it up. You do good work!

Reply
Robert Elisberg
4/1/2014 05:16:53 am

Thanks. And I suspect these are also the articles that drive some away...

I do hope they stay for the variety and folderol, and ignore the rest, but in the end one does what one must do.

Reply
Douglass Abramson
4/1/2014 11:48:42 am

I laugh at those morons. Its more productive than wanting to bash them over the head with a shovel. I do have one minor quibble with what you wrote about Mexico. The pretty peaceful coexistence does include our ambassador assisting a successful coup d'etat in February 1913, the Marines invading and occupying Veracruz April to November 1914 and General Pershing's expeditionary force that invaded northern Mexico in March 1916 to (unsuccessfully) capture Pancho Villa and destroy his army.

Reply
Robert Elisberg
4/1/2014 12:34:20 pm

I will accede to your history, as long as you insist on fleshing it out with facts.

Reply
Douglass Abramson
4/1/2014 12:47:00 pm

Yeah... sorry about that.




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    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



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