Attack on United States elicits defense

Attack on United States elicits defense

Judgment clouded in unfair critique of American way

By Jeremiah Reynolds

This viewpoint is in response to the Feb.15 column by Roxane
Márquez ("Rhetoric of ‘American way’ rests in lies").

In the second half of Márquez’s column, she asserts that
illegal immigrants have as much right to be here as do naturalized
citizens. Her reason is the conduct of the United States during the
Mexican-American War. Yet, as with most major historical events,
interpretations of the causes of the war vary.

Some historians claim that the United States provoked the war by
annexing Texas and stationing an army at the mouth of the Rio
Grande. A great many others believe that a dictatorial, centralist
government in Mexico began the war because of its continuing claims
to the Republic of Texas, whose independence was established 10
years before.

We do know that the war began with a Mexican attack on U. S.
troops on the Texas border on April 25, 1846. The war ended with
the signing of the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo on Feb. 2, 1848.

Although I will not bicker over the cause of the war, let us be
honest enough to know that Mexico was not a helpless victim. The
Mexican army of 32,000 men was four to six times larger than that
of the original U.S. Army. Mexican troops were well armed,
disciplined and above all, experienced from internal revolutions.
Mexican leaders expected to win the war and recover Texas.

Was the Southwest "violently stolen" from an innocent country?
That is up to the readers to judge, but I think the facts are quite
clear.

Second, I find Márquez’s comparisons to the Persian Gulf
War and the bombings of Israel offensive to myself and to the
thousands of Kuwaitis and Israelis who either lost loved ones, died
or endured horrendous circumstances because of Iraqi
aggression.

Don’t you think that Márquez would want the United States
to come to the aid of Mexico if it suffered similar aggression? The
answer would most likely be a resounding yes. Unfortunately, it
seems that her anger with the "conservative Anglo Americans," who
most strongly backed the war, clouds her judgment on the issue. She
forgets that the United States obtained U.N. approval for its
actions. Who is the real hypocrite?

Last, Márquez closes her column with a condemnation of
those who wish illegal immigrants to "do things the American way."
To me, the American way is working hard to better yourself and your
family. If it means learning English to do so or adopting a
somewhat American lifestyle, then so be it; we all have to make
sacrifices to be accepted by society.

I will go out on a limb and say that most immigrants, both legal
and illegal, come to this country with a desire for the American
dream that supersedes their concern over culture and ethnicity.
This, however, does not excuse them from the laws of our country –
specifically those concerning immigration.

I thus issue a challenge to Márquez that she sit down and
give an honest effort to think thoroughly about her arguments,
rather than let her emotions get the better of her.

Reynolds is a third-year political science student.

To me, the American way is working hard to better yourself and
your family. If it means … adopting a somewhat American
lifestyle, then so be it …

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