HATE SPEECH

I'd like to talk about the term "anchor babies," a term many anti-immigrant, close-minded bigots have been flinging around these days. The hysterical vapidity in this term, "anchor babies," infuriates me, because my grandfather was one. Lorenzo Auda Poin was born in Chicago, where his parents, sister, aunts and uncles had immigrated, in 1919, and so became an American citizen under the 14th Amendment. He and his family then returned to Italy, but his status as an American citizen allowed him to come to New York to escape the rising tide of Fascism. It gave him the ability to flee this authoritarian regime under which anyone’s rights were subject to the whims of “Il Duce” and the Blackshirts. 

It also compelled him to join the US Army during World War II, in which he served bravely and was severely wounded, nearly losing his life, driving through a heavily-mined area to retreive equipment and weapons from behind enemy lines. He was a hero and awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for “gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States.” That enemy was, at least in part, the army of the country of his parents, my great-grandparents. Somehow, I suspect most people who denigrate "anchor babies" have no earthly concept of the poignancy and difficulty inherent in a situation like that. 

He also, along with my grandmother, worked tirelessly to raise and support a family of intelligent, kind, thoughtful, tax-paying and law-abiding Americans. He was ready to sacrifice everything for his country. He has inspired me throughout my entire life to be a good person, to stand up for what is right, and to love and perpetuate what is good about this country. 

But some hateful, narrow-minded, unthinking, foolish, lazy-minded, short-sighted, self-righteous, fearful, and ultimately selfish and immoral politicians and citizens out there want to use this term, “anchor babies.” They think that immigrants are greedy, dirty, dangerous, untrustworthy, immoral subhumans who don't deserve to participate in our democratic experiment. They have never thought, apparently, for one second that one of those immigrants, one of those “anchor babies,” might one day grow up to save their sorry asses on a battlefield across an ocean. These detractors have never thought that the Christian values they themselves profess relentlessly might stand to apply to those who don't belong, or might not be converted to their faith. They don't want to let anyone who doesn't look like them, or doesn't pray like they do, into this country--and I say that is despicable. 

Make an attempt to open up that tightly-clamped fist; give a little. Consider for one second that these are real people you’re talking about, real human beings who want to live freely and give their kids a better life than the ones they have led. Stop using this hurtful rhetoric of exclusion simply to achieve political gain, or to give your party more power. It's no game. It's no game to the people who risk their lives to come to America, an act of immigration that should be the most powerful expression of praise to our country's legacy and promise. Stop regarding this issue as a game, broaden your concern from simply moving pawns and rooks as you see fit to conquer and move forward. Politicians: don't forget that your pawns have children, and your rooks have dreams.