Nothing new under the sun


Posted: Friday, July 11, 2014 8:02 pm
by Ben Schwartz C-H Editor | 0 comments


Working in news, particularly in newspapers, you have to deal with a wide variety of people. That’s a pretty inane way to start this column, which I worry is probably going to put some people off but I’ve got something to say so I will say it.


I wouldn’t do this job if I didn’t enjoy interacting with folks but I tell you the one group I cannot stand are the willfully ignorant, and chief among them are the racists.

We all know the score here in Lexington, yes? It’s a small town in the middle of Nebraska that has a large number of people who were born outside the United States living in it.


It’s not a surprise that some people in the community resent the hell out of changes that began to occur about 20 years ago, once the meat packing plant came to town. I’ve been in town for just under two years and it is plainly evident how close to the surface that all still is.


It comes across my desk now and again in the form of anonymous letters to the editor (quick editor’s note: We will never, ever publish a letter without a name attached. Ever. You want something to run? Have the dignity to put your name on it) or angry phone calls from people who feel like the white race and American culture are under threat.


The good news is this kind of stuff pops up only occasionally. I know in my heart that is because the overwhelming majority of people are good and decent, and even if they harbor some of these feelings they keep it to themselves. Live and let live. Please bear that sentiment in mind as you continue to read.


When it does come up, however, it always reminds me that there is nothing new under the sun. The concerns people have about these immigrants are no different than the concerns that were had about every single group of immigrants in American history. Every single one. “They’ll never assimilate. They don’t speak the language. They are stealing our jobs. Blahblahblahblah.” Folks! Did ya sleep through American History class? You may as well be talking about the Germans. Or the Irish. Or the Polish. Or the Italians.


That first generation of immigrants usually does struggle to assimilate. Obviously. They’ve been in another culture their entire lives. They come here to make a better life for themselves and their children.


And oh, let’s talk about those children. They’ll grow up in American culture with the same aspirations that all children do. They want to be educated. They want to work. They want to live in peace and prosperity in this country because this country is a great place to live.


That’s how it works. That’s how it has always worked from the very beginning, and that is how it will continue to work as long as this nation remains a great place to live.


The fact that millions of people came here in violation of the law makes them a most convenient boogieman for all the nation’s ills. They are depicted as wicked interlopers who came here with their hands out to suck up all the jobs and government benefits.


People, it is silly for the people who have all the power to blame the people who came here with nothing and work whatever jobs they can, and accept what assistance is available. That is nonsense.


So the next time you get the feeling that the black and brown faces you see around town are here to destroy this country, try to realize that most of them want the same things you do.


And remember as well that we need them. We need them working their butts off and getting taxed just like the rest of us, because I’ll tell you: we’ve got some big bills to pay in the not-so-distant future, and I just can’t see how we are going to pay them.


It will take all of us.


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