Except for the fact that the citizens pretty much know this - it's the ones who ASPIRE to become citizens or the resident foreigners who need to be aware of the values of assimilation. We became the greatest nation by welcoming diversity and what others had to offer, allowing all with spunk, acumen and courage to achieve what they would, without barriers. The barriers are still there, though, how subtle they may be. Because so much of business is conducted or facilitated in SOCIAL SETTINGS, as long as there are exclusive social groups, there will not be total freedom for all to achieve. The Church is the chief offender, IMHO. Laurie Ann
When sworn in, after a process that takes seven or more years, new US citizens state: (verbiage quite similar to that which officers in the Armed Forces say) The oath of allegiance is: "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by *the* law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God." 'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American....There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.' Theodore Roosevelt 1907 Every American citizen needs to read this! Do you have what it takes to become a citizen?<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13442226/> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WebTV Dawgs/Dittos" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/WebTV-Pals -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
