How terrible, they sang the national anthem in Spanish.

It was a bit of rewrite expressing love, unity and respect for America. Significantly, the rockets red glare and other symbols of war were missing, but not American pride.

Our country is strong enough to take a bit of national anthem editing – especially when it promotes inclusion over war. And after all, we’ve seen singer after singer forget the existing words and few, if any, know all the stanzas.

Symbolism is cool but let’s not lose the roots of our country – the immigrant experience.

A little over a month ago, I called the Trib staff together and declared “Immigration” as the national issue of the moment. The Congressional confusion over guiding the tenuous balance between national security and our nation’s multicultural heritage and economic realities was not going away. So the staff quickly embraced the concept when I announced that “The Immigrant Issue” would be the theme of our Tribune monthly glossy magazine issue.

The timing was perfect. The issue continues to percolate through our national life and news. And of course remains the focal centerpiece of Queens, the most multicultural place on Earth.

The glossy special “The Immigrant Issue” received quite a reaction on both sides. Surprisingly, my personal email ran very much in support of my position concerning the national debate on illegal immigrants:

“My past is paved by family who came to this nation in search of a better life and no one really asked their status. Our nation is built by great Americans whose families were born elsewhere. Their hearts and souls and intellect – not their paperwork – were the embodiment of the American dream.

Yes we must protect our country. But the quality of our nation is not dependent upon tracking down the young lady with an accent who served me dinner last night.”
And as our publication, “The Immigrant Issue” was being consumed by readers, the immigrant issue continued to consume our nation and neighborhoods.

The national news was filled with stories that in reaction to some unclear reference to a Homeland Security immigration crackdown, false rumors spread throughout immigrant communities resulting in empty classrooms, workplaces and deserted streets. Fear gripped many immigrant communities which just a month earlier took to the streets in protest, and to the cameras in a high profile attempt to tell their story.

Had the tone changed?

As I write this on the last weekend of April, I anticipate returning to the office on May 1 – May Day – when immigrant advocacy groups are organizing a nationwide boycott to demonstrate just how important immigrants – legal and illegal – are to the American way of life and economy.

As you read this days after May Day – the first of May traditionally a Labor Day expression of protest on behalf of oppressed workers rights – you will have already read about the solidarity demonstrated by immigrants crying out for their piece of America.

If all went as planned, our nation was disrupted. Some trucks didn’t roll; some factories didn’t open; some hedges weren’t trimmed, some dishes remained unwashed and some classrooms went empty. Instead of business as usual, many immigrants chose to take to the streets in support of “A Day Without an Immigrant.”

The May Day protest can be traced back to the struggle of American workers in Chicago in 1886. A protest beginning May 1, ultimately led to the infamous Haymarket Riots marking May 1 as international day of the worker.

This year, in our nation, it was the day of the immigrant worker.

For some of us, their role has always been evident. Each generation of Americans was enriched by the sweat of their immigrant brothers and sisters. Those immigrants soon became the new Americans and made way for a new group to come to this nation. It has been the American story since the first wave came here from Europe in search of religious freedom – you’ve heard of the Pilgrims.

Their story is no different today: freedom and opportunity attracts immigrants to our nation. And a natural struggle exists to absorb the new population – that has been the American story – the successful American story since before our nation became a nation. The only thing that has changed, is September 11.

Yes, we must keep our nation safe. But if fear changes the American ethos, if terrorism changes the message of the Statue of Liberty, if the vile attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 alter the deepest meaning of the American story, then we have lost.

Our spirit is strong and our national experience deep. The immigrant experience is the American experience. We are interdependent.

In another decade or another century, we were them.
Welcome to America.

Michael Schenkler can be reached via this contact form.