Alaska News

European descendants don't have a lock on merit in US

As I listened to Gov. Mitt Romney address the Republican convention, a phrase he used seemed to overlook a reality. He said, "We are a nation of immigrants." Yes, that is true. All people in the New World came from other places. The earliest immigrants thousands of years ago probably came out of Asia and were the ancestors of "indigenous" "Native" Americans today. For many generations it was their land.

Then came newcomers, later bringing slaves who came here involuntarily. Workers from Asia and other parts of the world were brought here to work for those who were in control.

Yes, we are a continent of immigrants, as are people from South America. But what has made America great is not just the descendants of European immigrants, but the people whose ancestors came here thousands of years ago, came here as slaves, as contract workers.

We are great not just because of a single group of immigrants, but of all those who came here, voluntarily or not.

-- Wally Olson

Auke Bay

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