I ended up in a brief conversation with a man who was incensed that I wanted less immigration - especially illegal - and he replied he's here legally so why the attitude? I had to leave before I got angry because he followed that with the usual - you are in immigrant too! Your ancestors came from Europe and stole this land - go back home. You have no right to claim it! Only they do!

OK, where to begin. First off, those "native Americans" also immigrated. They did not grow here out of the ground like corn. So they are immigrants too - just as EVERY country outside of Africa can say the same. So now being born into a country is still immigration - I'm not "native?"? I hear this flawed logic all the time.
Granted, the native Americans he speaks of may not have committed genocide to be here. Who did? Last night I was watching the history channel. It was the story of Columbus and various conquistadors - Spanish invaders. They decimated the population through violence and disease in search of riches. They carried this destruction all the way to Mexico. Later European settlers, non-Spanish, intermarried with the Indians and strove to create commerce. So WHO should be feeling the guilt here?? I'm really sick of the "white guilt trip" - has EVERYONE in La Raza, etc forgotten it was the Spanish who killed off the natives?

I mean, what does "native" mean anymore? Why am I an outsider and he's not?