Yearning to Breathe Free
I recently had the thrill of seeing the Broadway musical Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's brilliant mashup of history and hip-hop. Alexander Hamilton's story, of an impoverished youth immigrating to America and making his mark on his new country, is both remarkable and relatable. And it's a reminder that our country has always been, and continues to be, shaped and enriched by immigrants. (Certain presidential candidates, take note.)
It also shows that partisan rancor and fierce disagreements are hardly recent developments. Our nation's first leaders fought bitterly over everything from where the capital city would be located to federal versus states' rights. But they agreed that certain principles were so fundamental to our character as a nation as to be inalienable. And while we have used the 240 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence to fight for civil and human rights for women and people of all races, ethnicities and sexual identities, freedom of religion was established from the start. This freedom cannot be switched off and on depending on current events. It is not dictated by the party in power, and it is not determined by bombastic businessmen-turned-reality-TV-stars-turned-presidential-candidates.
I believe the debasement of such principles in politics today is not just repugnant, it is un-American. To propose barring all Muslims from entry into the United States at a time when millions are seeking refuge from the carnage and chaos of war, fleeing terror themselves, is an affront to our founding values. The calls to close mosques and to create a national database of Muslims echo decades-old xenophobia, once directed at Jews, Italians and other "outsiders" who would become integral parts of the American fabric. And it's just as wrong today.
The words etched beneath the Statue of Liberty remind us that America's values make us a beacon of freedom: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses Yearning to Breathe Free | Randi Weingarten:
