A Statue of Liberty Beckons
A Statue of Liberty Beckons
He cruises past me with a broad smile on his face. He is lying flat on his skateboard pumping the ground, the bituminous recreational trail.
He is a 12 year old from Nicaragua and a new found resident of my community. His family has fled their native homeland to seek a new life.
Perhaps inspired by the symbolic Statue of Liberty , his family is the fuel that adds energy to this nation and to our community.
A process of countless waves of continuing renewal, immigrants becoming the lithium for our nations batteries.
Few people ever pause to ever wonder how Steven Jobs was able to create Apple Computers, few people ever pause to consider how Bill Gates found the tools to create his empire of Microsoft.
Intelligent, humble, hard working immigrants from India came to this country in the 1950’s and 60’s. They were called the $8.00 men (Reference-$8.00 Men of India-Haglund) They were the best and brightest students India had to offer…..They had no money.
Their country gave them $8.00 because they recognized their promise. They were given a ticket to the U.S. and eight dollars in hopes of seeing a return on their money.
These immigrants from India created some of the very foundations on which Microsoft and Apple were built. They came and studied in Fargo, Minneapolis, St. Paul. They went to work as computer specialists and researchers. (1950’s and 60’s). The worked for Hewlett Packard, 3M and other significant players in the industry.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates would not have had the tools and building blocks to create the machines that caused a computer revolution, if not for these immigrants.
I live across the street from an idyllic little lake and the recreational path along it’s edge is the place where new found immigrants enjoy an evening stroll.
The oppressive heat has relented and we all take a collective breath of the cool breeze that wafts off Lake Okabena.
It is summer but the sun has gone down and everybody enjoys this evening respite.
The young kid from Nicaragua has little reason to contemplate his how his father purchased his skateboard.
His father toiled at the local pork processing plant making sure that the entrails from the hog were appropriated to the “cracklings bin”.
Every part of the hog is utilized and it is a process that few midwestern white people would ever consider doing.
The entire production line consists of immigrants, all anxious and eager to participate in our society.
At days end they are spent and yet their children can glide down the recreational path on a skateboard, on a pathway called Sailboard Beach.
It is the most humblest of American beginnings, as most all immigrant experiences, the father and mother toil and their children are given the chance to experience the American dream.
The sweat drips from the parents brow. They pay for food, they pay for rent, they increase the tax base of this community and this provides their children with education.
Often times the education is better than average and student achieves beyond simple expectations. They become the taxpayers of tomorrow.
They may not become the Bill Gates or Steve Jobs but they will add to the economic fuel of this nation.
They are a prudent and conservative investment in our future.
They are broad minded, they are wholesome, diverse and they are energetic.
Our founding fathers recognized the “3rd generation” often times becomes fat and lazy, living off the wealth of their ancestors.
Our immigrants forestall the economic stagnation of this nation.
They are exactly the people that our Statue of Liberty beckons.
Be thoughtful and mindful of those around you. Be understanding of those not like you.
Be willing to not always believe what you think.
The world is larger than your understanding and they are here at your doorstep.
They will benefit you and your future.