“The Plain Truth” is a blog where Sylvia Peters shares her thoughts about our nation, Legacy Works, education, and various other topics.

Against Ourselves June 10, 2011

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses

yearning to be free. The wretched refuse of your teeming

shores. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I

lift my golden lamp beside your shores.”

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

These words grace the base of the Statue of Liberty at the entrance of the harbor to the port of New York. Thousands and thousands of immigrants have flooded past this magnificent statue to enter the United States of America. It was given to America by France, and has inspired many people to come to America and plant themselves in the land of liberty, justice, and freedom.

But lately, what has happened?! Those who are one or two generations removed from the New York harbor or other ports of entry are opposed to immigrant brethren from south of the border “coming to America.” Citizens can be heard calling them “lazy chicanos” even though many of these people come from countries beyond Mexico. The debate started with Arizona’s regressive and sad reaction to people whose ancestors probably owned the land upon which the state is located. Some of these viewpoints, and local legislative reactions have spread across the nation and formed a vicious “backlash” against people coming to America.

Oh how desperate and misinformed we are as a body politic. Here in Knoxville, Tennessee a part of the great tornado that leveled sections of Tuscaloosa, Alabama also damaged a number homes. The sub-division where we live was repeatedly lashed by the whip of the weakened tornado’s tail and our homes, gardens, and automobiles were pelted with what seemed to be an unlimited supply of golf and baseball sized hail. The next morning everyone awoke to roofs that leaked, blasted gutters, cracked stucco, pelted brick exteriors, and everything else that could be destroyed by winds, hail, and rain.

Water ran through the cracks of our roof, destroying dry walls, computers, and whatever else was in the way. The look outside our home was shocking, and made us feel grateful to be alive. Our next task was to inform the insurer about the damage to our home. We were lucky because forty-five minutes before the storm, doors, part of the deck, and roof were restored and painted to maintain the exterior of the property, so when the storm from Tuscaloosa came the repairs lessened the damage to the interior of the house, and we also had the attention of a reputable contracter.

So here it is…early June. The local temperature for the last eleven days has been more than 90 degrees. It’s only rained once in that time and water ran down the walls of our home. It was obvious to us that we had to have our roof repaired.

Yesterday morning, a gentleman from Honduras showed up with a rope coiled around his shoulders, and climbed up a ladder. He started removing the rotting shingles and went down to the sheets of wood covering the rafters. He looked like a man in his fifties He started on the highest peak of the structure, a place where insurance folks and others refused to travel because of the height and steepness of the roof. It was scary to watch him move around the roof like a person naturally designed to climb steep places. The temperature rose to 95 plus and he, with one helper, continued to work. Finally at noon, they took a break. Upon returning around two o’clock, he continued to work until the last glimmer of light dropped behind the mountains. He removed all of the shingles and roof paper from one of a series of small houses that are connected together to make the house.

He’s one of many who’ve come to this country in search of the right to work. He’s not one of the countless people who have swarmed through our neighborhood seeking to be paid before doing any work. He’s not a person who asked about our insurers, nor is he a “lazy person” gathering money to purchase drugs. No! He’s a man like my father who was a rat trapper during the Great Depression. He, like my Dad before him, is a man willing to learn how to do. Every time we utter an inflammatory word about our brown neighbors we are working “against ourselves.” It’s easy to fuss about everything, but talk, so to speak, is cheap.

Truth is difficult for us to see, to feel, and to understand. We complain about everything, and believe anything that the huge mass information networks tell us.

This country was built by people of color who labored as less than full class citizens for generations. This country was also builty by immigrants from across the pond that came past the “great lady” seeking freedom and the right to work for a reasonable amount of pay. So why are we allowing so many to speak against the most recent influx of brown immigrants to America? Where are those who are so against these people when the roofs need to be repaired, the crops picked, and the flood damaged homes restored? When will we see people for what they are really doing and to not be afraid of them because they speak, eat, and look differently? When will we learn to value the diversity that has made us a great country? The gentlemen putting a new roof on my house is a vital part of the nation’s workforce, and we must stop speaking against him.

Legacy Works Productions as it continues to grow will look for the stories that tell the truth about us. “We the people.” Legacy is committed to finding the stories of ordinary people and telling them well; people who in spite of it all, continue to make America a great nation.