I wrote this blog is in response to the current debate about immigration. I do understand the fear about losing jobs and increased taxes because of both illegal and sanctioned immigration although I do not agree with the resulting opposing position. I keep in mind that my ancestors emigrated here from several different European countries. As I drove across landscapes in the West new to me, I noticed the Native American Reservations I crossed. I reflected that our entire country was once the home of Native American Tribes, not just these reserves.
Then I imagined the amazement of the early European immigrants and settlers when they first saw the lands that became the United States. The bounteous forests, rich soils, wealth of natural resources must have seemed wondrous and pristine especially compared with the heavily used and inhabited lands they had left behind. But I wonder how much they thought about the fact that the land they gazed upon had been the home of people for about fourteen thousand years.
Then I took a further step in my reflections about the time of this country’s origins. Another very early group to come to what would become the United States were Africans, sold against their will into slavery. The slave trade lasted roughly from the mid 17th century until the mid 19th century. Estimates are that over one million Africans were transported to become slaves in United States. In 1860, there were about four million slaves here.
So roughly speaking, these three groups comprised the primary cultures of the United States at its conception. Although there were horrific wrongs and violence, these cultures each contributed to the creation of the United States. What if we thanked the Native Americans for their cultures and stewardship of the lands we call the United States? What if we thanked the African Americans for the amount of labor and the cultural riches they bestowed on us? What if we thanked the European settlers for their ideas of governance and commerce, as well as their cultural contributions? And since the country’s inception there have been many more peoples and cultures that have added further riches to our country. This land truly belongs to all of us and is the better for it.