"All are Welcome"

Thu, 05/04/2017 - 10:27 -- unruhe1

The land we live in is the “land of the free,” built on equality, a progressive mindset and a strong democracy but deep in this country lie flaws hidden within the cracks. Seeping in through the spaces, lurking in the shadows the faults of our nation hide. We are a nation built on immigrants and yet we are marred with hatred towards the people who once was the basis and the foundation of strength.

"All are welcome" are the cries of the crowds. "Open borders" and "immigrants are people" are the signs held on sticks high above the riots. When asked why riots are forming across America, we proudly speak of freedom and our own personal love to help refugees and immigrants. We flaunt the pictures of children who we send money, our fridges covered in the signs of "equality."

But when we say, "all are welcome," we really mean "if you are of use."

If you can speak crystal clear, shining English, you are welcome. If your children are full of smiles, and we can parade them in front of the our friends for bragging rights, you are welcome. If you have a job, a house, and a plan, if you come with a college degree, as a doctor, or a teacher, you are welcome. If you pay the taxes that provide for our retirement, if you do the gritty, dirty jobs, you are welcome. If you are our next door neighbors, inviting us to barbecues, and house warming parties, you are welcome.

If you do not require our help, you are welcome.

If you are traumatized by the suffering and pain you have seen and went through, and cannot remember the last time you smiled, we will silently lock our homes. If the only English you know is the word "help" and the quiet words of rescuers, then you are not welcome. If you are poor, sick and have no home because it was brutally ripped from you, you are not welcome. If you are not pretty, a picture we can hang up, then you are not welcome. If your children are shells of people, remembering the horrors they have endured, we will watch from a distance. If you are searching for a better life, with no job, schooling or "plan," you are not welcome.

If you require our help, you are not welcome.

We scream, "equality, and justice." We yell "love for all." But we will not put down our signs, or step away from our picket lines long enough to teach you to once again smile. We will not step out of our homes in order to welcome you into them. When you struggle at the store, understanding little, then we will whisper to our friends and hurl racist slurs. We will smile tight-lipped, and silent when your children enter school speaking the language of your land, and you work through the night so that they can afford a backpack. Instead of assistance, we will quickly forget about you, remove your pictures from our fridge and move on to our next "poster child."

When the crowds scream, "All are welcome," they mean, "if you are of use." But if you are hurt, scared, and helpless, then you are too fragile to survive the land of the free, too broken to build the land of the brave.

People of America. If we are going to riot, tweet, and proclaim a land with an open mind, then the fight for rights must not end after the entrance to the US. There is work to do within the borders. We must clothe, feed, and teach the people who have fought, struggled and are grateful to just reside in this nation.

We scream justice, but we must practice love

This poem is about: 
My country

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