March 28, 2014
Vice President Joe Biden
The White House
Washington, DC
Mr. Vice President:
You recently took a phrase out of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt's remarkable editorial, "True Americanism," "Americanism is not a question of birthplace or creed or a line of descent. It’s a question of principles, idealism and character…,” as if to imply that Pres. Roosevelt would have agreed with your position.
With all due respect, you need to read Pres. Roosevelt's editorial in its entirety. Pres. Roosevelt also said,
"The third sense in which the word “Americanism” may be employed is with reference to the Americanizing of the newcomers to our shores. We must Americanize them in every way, in speech, in political ideas and principles, and in their way of looking at the relations between Church and State. We welcome the German or the Irishman who becomes an American. We have no use for the German or Irishman who remains such. We do not wish German-Americans and Irish-Americans who figure as such in our social and political life; we want only Americans, and, provided they are such, we do not care whether they are of native or of Irish or of German ancestry. WE HAVE NO ROOM IN ANY HEALTHY AMERICAN COMMUNITY FOR A GERMAN-AMERICAN VOTE OR AN IRISH-AMERICAN VOTE, AND IT IS CONTEMPTIBLE DEMAGOGY TO PUT PLANKS INTO ANY PARTY PLATFORM WITH THE PURPOSE OF CATCHING SUCH A VOTE. We have no room for any people who do not act and vote simply as Americans, and as nothing else…
BUT WHERE IMMIGRANTS, OR THE SONS OF IMMIGRANTS, DO NOT HEARTILY AND IN GOOD FAITH THROW IN THEIR LOT WITH US, BUT CLING TO THE SPEECH, THE CUSTOMS, THE WAYS OF LIFE, AND THE HABITS OF THOUGHT OF THE OLD WORLD WHICH THEY HAVE LEFT, THEY THEREBY HARM BOTH THEMSELVES AND US. IF THEY REMAIN ALIEN ELEMENTS, UNASSIMILATED, AND WITH INTERESTS SEPARATE FROM OURS, THEY ARE MERE OBSTRUCTIONS TO THE CURRENT OF OUR NATIONAL LIFE, AND, MOREOVER, CAN GET NO GOOD FROM IT THEMSELVES. In fact, though we ourselves also suffer from their perversity, it is they who really suffer most. It is an immense benefit to the European immigrant to change him into an American citizen. To bear the name of American is to bear the most honorable titles; and whoever does not so believe has no business to bear the name at all, and, if he comes from Europe, the sooner he goes back there the better. Besides, the man who does not become Americanized nevertheless fails to remain a European, and becomes nothing at all. The immigrant cannot possibly remain what he was, or continue to be a member of the Old-World society. If he tries to retain his old language, in a few generations it becomes a barbarous jargon; if he tries to retain his old customs and ways of life, in a few generations he becomes an uncouth boor. He has cut himself off from the Old World, and cannot retain his connection with it; and if he wishes ever to amount to anything he must throw himself heart and soul, and without reservation, into the new life to which he has come. IT IS URGENTLY NECESSARY TO CHECK AND REGULATE OUR IMMIGRATION, BY MUCH MORE DRASTIC LAWS THAN NOW EXIST; AND THIS SHOULD BE DONE... TO KEEP OUT LABORERS WHO TEND TO DEPRESS THE LABOR MARKET…
From his own standpoint, IT IS BEYOND ALL QUESTION THE WISE THING FOR THE IMMIGRANT TO BECOME THOROUGHLY AMERICANIZED. MOREOVER, FROM OUR STANDPOINT, WE HAVE A RIGHT TO DEMAND IT. WE FREELY EXTEND THE HAND OF WELCOME AND OF GOOD-FELLOWSHIP TO EVERY MAN, NO MATTER WHAT HIS CREED OR BIRTHPLACE, WHO COMES HERE HONESTLY INTENT ON BECOMING A GOOD UNITED STATES CITIZEN LIKE THE REST OF US; BUT WE HAVE A RIGHT, AND IT IS OUR DUTY, TO DEMAND THAT HE SHALL INDEED BECOME SO and shall not confuse the issues with which we are struggling by introducing among us Old-World quarrels and prejudices. There are certain ideas which he must give up. For instance, he must learn that American life is incompatible with the existence of any form of anarchy, or of any secret society having murder for its aim, whether at home or abroad; and he must learn that we exact full religious toleration and the complete separation of Church and State. Moreover, he must not bring in his Old-World religious race and national antipathies, but must merge them into love for our common country, and must take pride in the things which we can all take pride in. HE MUST REVERE ONLY OUR FLAG; NOT ONLY MUST IT COME FIRST, BUT NO OTHER FLAG SHOULD EVEN COME SECOND... ," True Americanism, Theodore Roosevelt.
Pres. Roosevelt would NOT have agreed with your stance, or that of the administration. In point of fact, his essay is a repudiation of this administration’s immigration policy. His essay is based on 1) the premise that such individuals come to our country in accordance with our laws, and 2) that they fully integrate themselves into American society. What you offer is a caricature of True Americanism.
Sincerely,
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