I thought my first diary might be about campaign tactics...or possibly education...or health care...or the war. But now that I’m here, I'll simply write an old-fashioned, unabashed and patriotic plea about all of the above.
My family immigrated to America in 1983. Fresh-off-the-boat, my mom, my sister, and I walked past the local elementary school while apartment hunting, and my mom decided to look in to see how difficult it would be to enroll us. To our surprise, the principal insisted that "we’re always looking for good students" and wondered how soon we could start, even the same day if we wanted to and tuition was free of charge. Next week, walking to school, my older sister guided me by hand to our new life in a new country. I needn’t have been nervous. Mrs. Stuart had already told the class to make the new boy welcome, and during recess the kids made a special effort to include me in dodgeball, where I needed to learn the rules, and tag, where the rules are universal. In the following weeks, I was invited to a birthday party. I went with my dad to buy whatever gift we could afford from Kmart. I came back from the party confused by the wealth, because I ended up winning some kind of a prize in a goodie bag—it was a Transformer that was easily worth 10 times the amount of the gift I had given him. I was mortified and embarrassed, but if my friend had noticed, he never mentioned it to me. Period. To my friends Chad and Clair and the 3rd grade class at Ygnacio Valley, I salute you for you generosity of spirit.
I grew up with PSAs on PBS that touted hyphenated-Americanism. Public school was about secular multiculturalism; we studied hard and a lot was expected. Of course, English was tough and I had to overcome a stutter and smooth out my accent. Science and Math were more familiar. For Art, the school provided paint, and in Band, there were resources for me to screech some sounds out of the violin, clarinet, and saxophone—at least one instrument at a time. History and Current Events engaged us in thought. I remember clipping out a newspaper article on a conflict in the Middle East, and giving a timid speech in front of my 5th grade class. But, to be honest, if there was Cold War raging, it didn’t really register. The President was a guy who ate jelly beans and fell asleep during meetings. I remember following the Challenger disaster with a TV in class. Resources were plentiful, and over the years, various public schools have left me hyper-educated. For the education my country provided me, I’m eternally grateful.
I believe in America. The country that allows us to fly and send messages through invisible tubes in the air. I believe in our right of dissent and our right of free speech. I believe that all women and all men are created equal. Our history has some great bits, but also genocide, slavery, and manifest destiny imperialism. There’s a chance that we're the most technologically advanced and diverse culture in human history. Education levels are skyrocketing, comparative IQ rates are up, diseases are cured each year, and social mobility gives many a chance at the american dream.
Last week, my sister told me a story...I haven’t talked with my mom about it yet--she probably wants to protect me. My mom was in a restaurant and was approached by a group of skinheads, intimidated, and told "go back to your own country". In the past 4 years, I’ve been harassed by the police 3 times because of the color of my skin. 2 years ago, my job was threatened with a racially-motivated incident.
If we suspend our Liberty, the terrorists win. I refuse to cede the issue of national security to the current occupants of the White House. I refuse to be carved up into demographic groups. Our country is one of equality and tolerance that can provide education, jobs, and healthcare to those who need it, a country of immense natural and financial resources that need to be protected and conserved, a country of immigration and new blood that will challenge conventional wisdom. A warlike, imperialist country?...at times, but a country that will follow Common Sense from the 18th century and apply the Geneva Conventions into the 21st century.