Christopher Columbus Should Have Learned the Language

What is your stance on illegal immigration? Should legal immigrants learn to speak English? Does anyone really care?

OK! So, Christopher Columbus in his infinite wisdom came to America thinking he was going to India.  I wonder what would have happened had he made it there. Would he have been so eager to rape and pillage? Would he have been just as eager to claim the land? Would he have forced the Indian people to learn his language instead of trying to learn his?

Today in America, the conversation is illegal immigration. It seems that people have been sending their children to America illegally in dangerous situations from other countries. Now America has been trying to figure out what is the right thing to do about these children. Some say send them home. Others say that we have to do the moral thing and keep them. The conversation has been going on for months.

I here quite often people saying things like, "If you come here you should learn the language." This entire illegal immigration thing got me to thinking a little deeper into the subject. Let me first say that I personally believe that illegal immigration is just that…….Illegal. That is why the word "Illegal" is apart of the description. I do not have any problems with immigration, not to be confused with "Illegal Immigration." I think that this is what America is all about, taking in the strays of the world.

When I was a little girl, my mother took in a girl that was screaming and crying up and down the street. I was very little so I do not know what happened to the girl but my guess is someone beat her and she managed to get away from them. She stayed with us for a couple of weeks. My mother cleaned her up and got her fresh clothes. We fed her and took care of her for that two weeks, then put her on an airplane to somewhere. When I was older, friends that got into trouble at home became temporary residents at my house until they could return home to their families. She always took someone in. So, when she was trying to get herself an email address I suggested: Grandmastray9. She had at the time six grandkids and three children of her own, hence the nine.

I believe in helping others. I help people constantly in my day to day life. It is who I am to assist others. So, I am not against immigration. I am however, against breaking the law. Any law! I understand being desperate and living in bad situations. If you have read any of my blog post you know I have had my share of hard times. I have never however, broken the law to better my situation. It is a sin and it is wrong.

So, Columbus! I was thinking about all of this and came across a thought: Christopher Columbus came to our land without the indigenous people's permission, set up shop, robbed the people, raped their women and forced his language and beliefs upon them. Now I know, there were no laws about immigration in those days. Everything was young and knew. But my point is this, if we are going to sit here and bitch and moan about immigration, we really should look at how things were handled in history and how they are being handled now. Who the hell was Columbus to come to America and force the natives to learn a new language instead of he and his guys learning theirs? This was their home. I don't know about you, but I will not tolerate someone coming into my home and telling me how to live and speak. We celebrate Columbus because he was the first noticeable person to set foot on this land but the natives were here long before he learned how to sail a ship.

So, should we really be talking tons of crap about the immigrants of today? Remember I'm on the side of follow the rules. I think people need to remember how this country came to be. It was taken over by a bunch of immigrants that didn't belong here. These immigrants were disrespectful to the indigenous people and took over their land and treated them like second class citizens because they felt they could. Isn't that what the illegal immigrants are doing? Those without sin, cast the first stone.

I'm half Native American, so clearly I see things from the side of the native. However, I am empathetic enough to see everyone's side. Columbus should have learned the language. He should have learned the culture and customs. It was not his right to come here and change things, but he did. In California, the subject of immigrants learning to speak English instead of creating communities where they don't have to, is an ongoing subject. Sound familiar?

What is the answer? What should we do as Americans? What should we demand our government do? I personally think that we need to demand that the government enforce our immigration laws. As an American, if I commit a crime I will be prosecuted and sent to jail. If I went to someone's house and took it for myself, while they still lived in it,


I would be considered crazy and put away. Coming across the border is illegal and we are having a discussion on whether or not to let them stay. This is an insult to Americans and the many immigrants that came here legally and followed the laws and procedures. America has huge problems with child trafficking, drugs, criminal actions in the government, murders etc. and so on. We need to make our problems a priority and not someone else's problems. We cannot help other countries if we can't help our own. We need to put our ducks in a nice tidy row. Sometimes in life you have to realize you cannot take care of others if you are not taking care of yourself.

America needs to wise up and look back. This country was built on inappropriate behavior. If we do not demand respect, we won't get it. It is time to change the way things are run. It is time to change the way we look to others. Most of all it is time to change the way we look to ourselves. Columbus should  have learned the language. He should have been respectful. Would India be the America of today if he made the right turn? The world will never know.

What is your stance on illegal immigration? What is your opinion on Columbus conquering America?