After WW II America changed. Foremost may have been the population burst, the result of returning soldiers eager to start families, and marriages postponed during the war. What came to be called the Baby Boom, represented nearly 40% of the nation's population, with nearly six million babies born.
Another important change during that time was the result of the GI Bill, which allowed many of the returning soldiers to attend college. As a consequence, some young men chose careers that did not include returning to the family farm or other careers as laborers. Expected or not, those changes reduced the labor force.
The Vietnam War, and the fall of Saigon in 1975 resulted in an arrival of Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian refugees, estimated to be a million. Many had aided the U.S. military, and even after the war ended, deaths and disabilities, such as those caused by Agent Orange, were impossible to calculate.
This blog is not long enough to address all of those who have slipped over our borders, nor the many from other nations who have become legal American citizens. The objective is intended only to summarize the impact of changes in the ethnicity of the American population. From the time it became possible to sail across the ocean to reach what became America, the indigenous people were displaced.
During the early colonial era, the first typical arrivals were English, Spanish, French, Dutch, and Swedes. At that time, not all of those arrivals may have been eagerly welcomed, but they and their children became what we called Americans. When enslaved Blacks were brought to America, they were brought not to be welcomed but to be used as slaves, disrupted from their homes and families. It was Orientals that were brought to do the risky and dangerous work of blasting through mountains to link America from East to West, using Americans for less dangerous work.
For most of us, especially those whose ancestors came from European Nations, we do not have to go far on our ancestral chart to find immigrant ancestors. My precious Grandmother came to America in her mother's arms. She was British, and her parents came to America for the same reason most of those wishing to become Americans today come...to make a better life for their children.
Our founding fathers had clearly left no question that Americans have been welcome without regard to their religions, nor because they had no religion at all.
Sometimes we forget that we were not here first. That history belongs to the indigenous people we displaced. We were also the ones who brought people who did not look like the majority. Today I sense a failure to recognize the unique value of our population. Once we took pride in what we called our melting pot and celebrated it with parades and festivals. Today I sense a loss of pride in our unique population, and an arrogance to ignore the carefully drafted constitution that has guided us for so long. I sense not only a decline in the pride of our unique nation, but also an effort to separate us.
We can live in a changing world...in fact, we must. But we should not throw away history that has served America well. The past idea of each generation having the opportunity to have more than their parents if they worked hard is declining, while wealthy families can amass enough wealth to support their decedents for generations. Something is out of balance, and I believe the source of change rests with those we have elected.
I shared my thoughts because I think all of us sometimes need to pause and look around us. If you had written this blog, you would probably have commented on different things, but that is the point. We all should reflect on what is happening, and that includes paying attention to those we elect. Too often they seem to vote as their party tells them, or whatever benefits them, rather than honoring their responsibility to act on behalf of those who elected them. They seem to ignore the duty the Constitution gives them. Unless we pay attention, we may not know that is happening. The Founding Fathers expected more from us.
When our Constitution was new, people treasured the privilege of voting. Newspapers were filled with information, not always accurate but certain to have other newspapers to challenge their content. People attended rallies and argued with friends, trying to persuade them with well-prepared advice. Today most of us are reluctant to openly discuss politics, except with friends likely to agree on the same issues.
The intention of this blog is simply to offer food for thought.
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