Please do not shut our nation’s door!

“The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus

As the buses loaded with the hungry, hurting, hopeless women and children approach the American border by way of Mexico this week, why are so many immigrants, who have been here longer, calling for the administration to shut the entrance doors and pull down the hand of liberty and rewrite the words on the Statue of Liberty? Based on that behavior, our wording should simply read, “No room in the inn for those who are from s***h*** countries or any place that might cause one to have melanin in his/ her DNA.” We are turning too brown in this country, so says them.

To pull down the extended hand of liberty will forever change who we “say” that we are in America. For us to agree to take that step would be the same as going back to the Stone Age or the Ice Age. The Stone Age was a time thousands of years ago when humans lived in caves and jungles. Life was simple and there were only two main things to do — protect themselves from the wild animals, people included, and to gather food. We are the only country who claims to be a “God Bless America” country and because of that, we are expected to be a country with high standards for our governmental leaders and our people. To whom much is given, much is expected/required according to the scripture, but we seem to aim at giving less.

The U.S.A. has much higher cultural diversity than any other country in the world. The culture of this country is the most diverse of all other countries, and our requirements are greater now. America must have more understanding, tolerance, forgiveness, kindness and more love. Because our country has changed forever, our everyday thoughts must change for the better every day. If you have been the dominant tribe for over 400 years, doing the right thing, treating everybody with kindness and consideration, following the Biblical principles as are being taught in our religious houses, what is wrong with allowing another tribe to get in the driver’s seat? Now that you notice a change in the complexion of the country, why would you want to close the door? You have always said that race and color are not the problem, so we cannot pull out the race card for closing the door, or is that truly the reason for closing the door?

Even after the president called nations with populations of darker skin “s***h*** countries” many of you saw nothing wrong with that. Many of you still say that he is not what he has told us for the last two years that he is. He has told America by his words, deeds and actions that he is a heartless, hollow and a morally corrupt individual.

I can never forget one of my coworkers who reminded every one of her classes every day that they were humans. She addressed them in that manner on a daily basis. She had concluded evidently that even though God made us in his image, man still has to be reminded that he is human, and all of those around him are human and must be treated as such. She was a biology teacher, and I regret that I never asked Addie Jim Rollins why.

Let us take a lesson from her and remind those in our tribe that we all bleed red blood. Someone needs to remind the ones who are calling for the door to America to be shut and the inscription on the Statue of Liberty to be redacted or erased forever that we are all humans. To take that giant step of closing the door to America would be a retraction of who we say we are as a democracy.

“Send these, the homeless, tempesttossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Is this who we are or not? This is evaluation time for America. WILLIE MAE SAMUEL