Natural speed please.
I'm aware of how long this is but my students are preparing for an exam in which they'll be asked to listen to recordings of articles.
If you skip some words or stumble over others as you read, do not feel you have to start all over again. You can simply repeat the sentence or the words in question, and I will edit the file afterwards.
Kiss me, I'm descended from immigrants
Sharon Delgado. The Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2017.
Kiss me, I'm Irish — descending from Richard O'Brien who arrived on these shores in 1845. I grew up hearing about "No Irish Need Apply" signs posted on storefronts. My dad said beneath every railroad tie heading west was buried the body of an Irishman, and I have no doubt that under rail ties heading east lay the bodies of many Chinese laborers.
In the 1880s, my German ancestors sailed into the Port of Baltimore. When their journey ended, they paid their 50 cents head tax and easily passed whatever simple tests immigration officers imposed back then. At that time to become "legal," a newcomer had to be in reasonably good health, swear they weren't lawbreakers and then walk across a pier to start a new life.
Coming to America today, the legal entry process is much more complicated and takes much more time — in many cases years. The well-educated and well connected can afford the wait and can meet the complexity. For those others without wealth or the wherewithal to understand the complexity, less desirable options are available. They can scale walls, sweat in box cars or risk life and limb in the company of the unscrupulous. They slip in.
We Americans like to proclaim that our country is exceptional. Indeed after World War II, we did something that had never been done before in the history of the world. Instead of vanquishing our former enemies, we helped them rebuild their lives. Seventy years and two generations later we're still taking credit for what our parents and grandparents did. We like to think that the U.S. is still "a city on the hill" of sorts where all are created equal and hard work results in a middle class life. Unfortunately a recent mean streak has begun to mar our country's sterling image.
In the last year we've heard a lot of fear mongering about the immigrant class being made up of terrorists, rapists, murderers and drug kingpins. While in reality the vast majority of our current newcomers work just as hard as those in the past. They are our doctors, our computer scientists and in some cases our brilliant entrepreneurs. The less skilled harvest our food, beautify our landscapes, tend our children and elders, make our meals or just labor with a shovel. Are these hard workers deserving of our scorn?
Some might say that such contempt is not new. Google "Irish ape" and you'll find an illustration contrasting Florence Nightingale with Bridget McBruiser, part of an effort to caricature the Irish as animals. We've always had such propaganda ready to de-humanize the recently arrived. But things are different now. Instead of the taunts and graffiti of the past, we now have a militarized, technology-enhanced cadre of enforcers who dress in black and carry heavy weapons. Across their bullet proof vests is printed ICE. They literally strike at dawn, and, without mercy, they rip mothers from children and tear families apart.
Until recently, these ICE men were somewhat restrained. Their main targets were recent border-crossers and immigrants with criminal convictions. That's changed. On Feb. 21, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the president wanted to "take the shackles off" off of the agents. A recent New York Times article quoted two Washington officials who observed the "banter" among some agents as "brazen or gung-ho." They also heard some agents say that now their job is "fun." My heart sank when I read that.
Yes, I agree that our country cannot absorb the entire world's poor. There is not a place here for every refugee from every war, and we do need a thorough immigration process. But should we also give the ICE men free rein? Should we just let their adrenaline flow unchecked? Can we acknowledge that to be undocumented is not necessarily to be bad? Can we treat people with respect and dignity? Can we remember our common humanity?
This session our General Assembly is considering HB 1362 entitled Maryland Law Enforcement and Government Trust Act. This bill would limit Maryland's acceptance of harmful and misguided federal immigration laws. Newcomers bring their intelligence and energy to our state's institutions and businesses. They bring vibrancy to our culture. Why would we want them to live in fear?
This weekend when we toast one another and announce that today "everybody is Irish," can we also remember that except for the native tribes we all came from somewhere else?
