At last night's debate, President Obama said the following:
"For young people who come here, brought here oftentimes by their parents, have gone to school here, pledged allegiance to the flag, think of this as their country, understand themselves as Americans in every way except having papers, then we should make sure that we give them a pathway to citizenship, and that's what I've done administratively."
This remark, which refers to the Americans covered by the Obama administration's actions to provide work permits for young people brought here as children but without documentation, offers real insight into the president's inclusive approach to American national identity.
Where some on the right would see nothing more than an "illegal immigrant," Obama recognizes a young adult who has been in this country, for example, for twenty out of the twenty-five years of her life and who has gone through an irreversible process of Americanization. That person is nothing but an American in terms of her national identity. He understands what it would mean to that person to be expelled from the only homeland she has essentially ever known. President Obama understands how national identities are formed, both on the individual and the societal level. He understand how and why an American comes to feel an attachment to this country and to his fellow Americans.
The debate tonight was about many things, mostly about policy differences between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. For me, as a scholar of national identity, that one small remark stood out as demonstrative of something far larger. Only one of these candidates has demonstrated, for years and years, a public record of understanding how national identity works, and thus how to invigorate the national identity that binds together the American people.
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 |
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,367,939 | 60,707,106 |
| Percent | 51.0% | 47.3% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
the president wasn't referring to those orange-peddlers you find on street islands and standing off the freeway ramp who can barely make out a sentence in english. but apparently, all illegal immigrants and their offspring should present themselves that such obvious ways, according to you.
why were the jews forced to wear stars of david again?
http://www.examiner.com/article/is-this-pizza-chain-really-promoting-illegal-immigration
And we are all millionaires in every way except having money.
What you call an "inclusive approach to American national identity" can also be viewed as debasement of American citizenship and rule of law.
I thought they were all scientists and doctors. Why can't they understand that NO, they are NOT Americans and never will be.
Americans take charge of their own lives, they don't beg for scraps at the dinner table. They dont break the law and blame someone else.
These people will never know what its like to be American.
It is too broad and covers too many people to ever get enough support.
future in America. Romney appeared to share this view at one time, but now would deport them
instead or in one of his classic ideas they would self deport.
Respectfully. The propositions included in the DREAM Act are so wide open to manipulation and fraud that they cannot be taken seriously.
I live in a neighborhood that is 92% Latino according to the last census. The children of illegal immigrants, whether born here or not, certainly speak the language of their parents. Do you honestly believe that the moment the parents crossed the border they stopped speaking their mother tongue or that the children instantly became unable to communicate with their parents? Of course not. The claim that these "kids" don't know any other language is false.
Further, the transport of cultural norms is extremely strong within this community. Without making a value judgment I can tell you that fraud, cheating, lying and deception are quite common in this group and most of the time the individual does not even realize that those behaviors are wrong. Why should they? This is SOP in many of their home countries.
There is also a decided reverence of the homeland. The Mexican flag, for example, is flown in lieu of the US flag on most homes and businesses in my neighborhood. Believe it or not, I have actually had a schoolboy flip me off for hanging a US flag on Memorial Day.
If all of those seeking amnesty were outstanding people who were eager to assimilate we would not be having this discussion.