We are immigrants. We invaded this land looking for refuge from religious bias but also the fountain of youth and the alchemy of gold. Don’t forget it was just a faster route to the Silk Road in India. All the while the assumed Indians, the people from whom their land stolen were the same ones who taught us how to survive a harsh northeastern winter. We then told these natives who by all means had squatting rites and no written communication system or money trade were asked “Where is your permit and we don’t accept that form of payment.” We basically stepped into their home which was paid for, forced them to leave, gutted it and flipped it for a higher price. Then we used Irish and Italian indentured servants to build the east coast. Had slaves from Africa in the south set the path for global trade, in the mid west Germans cleared fields to feed the east. As the move westward by Guns, Germs and Steel desolated the Latin community while continued to use the Chinese as laborers to make our west coast livable and accessible. Now it seems like we are playing King of the Hill making sure that nobody takes our land.


However, our nation was intended for freedom. Freedom of religion, freedom of tyranny, freedom to vote for who you think represented you and finally freedom to speak up when you feel something is wrong. We outlawed the Spartan and Sovereign law and developed democracy, a system of checks and balances so that no one individual could ever rule badly through a dictatorship.

We saw what a world without due process was like and fled as refugees and fought for our independence when it was unfair and restricted. Remember our birth of a nation was founded by a group of individuals who said we are allowed to have life, liberty as a part of the pursuit of happiness.

So don’t settle for substandard by being apathetic, stand up for the country you want and need, that is your independence, your freedom.
-Jennie Nawrocki