Commentary and Criticism about the National Education Association
We have absolutely no affiliation with the National Education Association and do not represent its views in any way, shape or form.
"We teach our students that America is a nation of immigrants..." So says Cindy Long in her October 3, 2017 article from NEA Today: "Coming to America: Books Celebrating Immigrants, Refugees" Ms. Long, I think that you forgot to add one very important word to that sentence - you forgot to put the word "legal" in front of the word "immigrants." And that makes all the difference..... As long as immigrants are legal, I (and probably 99% of the rest of America) will be happy to celebrate immigrants and refugees. But my criticism of Long's article doesn't end there. I take issue with her sneaky and underhanded attack on Donald Trump (I don't support Trump by the way). Of course, Ms. Long doesn't specifically mention the President by name. She does, however, discuss three phrases associated with him: "travel bans, border walls, and refugee quotas." She mentions these phrases because she is concerned that "our kids" will be asking questions "to make sense of conflicting messages" surrounding Trump's policies in these three areas. TRAVEL BANS As for travel bans, although I don't think barring people from Muslim countries will do much of anything to make the US safer, the president clearly has the authority to do this. Check your history, Ms. Long, as many presidents have exercised this authority. Other presidents have blocked groups of foreigners from the U.S., but never so broadly BORDER WALLS As for border walls, although there are better ways to stop illegal immigration than wasting billions of dollars on a physical wall, a sovereign country has a right to enforce its borders. The old truism applies here: Without borders, there is no country. QUOTAS As for quotas, the US has had quotas for years. Read the Immigration Act of 1964 if you want to see some quotas put in place. Here is a quote describing this Act from history.com: “Over the next four decades, the policies put into effect in 1965 would greatly change the demographic makeup of the American population, as immigrants entering the United States under the new legislation came increasingly from countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, as opposed to Europe.” Sounds to me that in this Act people of “color” (as the expression goes) were given special consideration over people who have “no color." No color is the opposite of color, right? REFUGEES Finally, the main reason there are so many refugees in the world today is because of the US policy of intervention, bombing, droning and regime change in the Middle East. Here is a good timeline to describe this immoral intervention: The U.S. and the Middle East Since 1945 to 2008: A Guide to Mideast Policy From Harry Truman to George W. Bush And this article doesn't even get to Obama's and Trump's warmongering. We need to get out of other people's business and bring our soldiers home.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Looking to start a website or blog?
Consider our hosting company - Domain.com. Click below for information. Archives
October 2018
AuthorJonathan Smith - A New Jersey Public School Teacher who disagrees with the National Education Association. |