CommentsLATINO PERSPECTIVE-Archbishop Jose Gomez said this week, and I quote, “that with all due respect to the Pilgrims, they got to the U.S. about 100 years late, since there were already Spanish and Filipino explorers and missionaries here – a point, with relevance for today’s immigration debates.”
With all due respect Archbishop Gomez, the United States wasn’t conceived until 1776, and the Pilgrims didn’t arrive late at all; they founded this country -- not the Spanish and not the Filipinos. I dare to say that if it wasn’t for those courageous Pilgrims the United States would not exist today.
The Spanish and Filipino explorers didn’t come to these lands to found a new “Nation conceived in Liberty, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” The Spanish didn’t write these words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It was our founding fathers.
The Archbishop goes on to say that long before the U.S. had a name, hence before George Washington and the 13 colonies existed, Spanish and Mexican missionaries and explorers had settled in the territories that are today Florida, Texas, California, and New Mexico. But what he doesn’t seem to know is that Florida, Texas, California, and New Mexico were not American territories at that time. They became American territories much later.
He’s also wrong when he says that the first non-indigenous language spoken in this country was not English but Spanish. He seriously needs to retake American History 101: of course English was the first non-indigenous language of the United States of America. Tell me where in the 13 colonies that Spanish was ever spoken at that time? Can someone please hand the Archbishop a 1st grade American History book?
But he’s also right in this: as the United States grew and gained new territories, Spanish and Filipino explorers and residents became members of the new and expanding American nation. The “Hispanic Footprint” that he talks about is part of the America that we know today.
Mexico, without a doubt, is part of the fabric of what America is today; but if we are going to have a discussion about history and immigration, we must deal with the facts and always with the facts.
And the facts are that there are at least 11 million undocumented immigrants living in this country – most of them for a long time and most of them are law abiding, hard-working individuals who have made and continue to make America great.
The vast majority of American citizens agree that we can’t leave this group of people living in the shadows any longer. Comprehensive immigration reform has to be one of the top priorities of the next President. We must secure our border -- no wall is needed because that doesn’t make any sense. But at the same time, the U.S. Congress must work on a plan to get the 11 million undocumented residents on a path to legalization. Archbishop Gomez is definitely right about that.
(Fred Mariscal came to Los Angeles from Mexico City in 1992 to study at the University of Southern California and has been in LA ever since. He is a community leader and was a candidate for Los Angeles City Council in District 4. Fred writes Latino Perspective for CityWatch and can be reached at: [email protected].) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
LA’s Archbishop is Wrong! But, He’s Also Right!
