That rhythm mostly comes from the dominant culture. And for a culture to survive, it has to be good for people. It has to help them flourish. It works best when it’s practiced in the open, with nobody forced into it, and when it expects a lot of each person: show up, own your choices, carry your share.
I used to train couriers. The job was fast, the demand was high, and there was little room for mistakes on efficiency or safety. The first thing I taught every new driver was that every area has a rhythm.
So I’d ask them, “Is Minneapolis different from Duluth?”
Nobody ever said no. Not once. They all knew it. Minneapolis moves one way and Duluth moves another. The traffic, the people, and the pace are all different.
Then I’d say, “Well then, routes have rhythms too. Learn it, and you can do this job at the highest level and enjoy it.”
The ones who learned the rhythm got good. They got fast, safe, and trusted, and they liked coming to work. The ones who fought it were miserable, and they made everyone around them miserable too.
Cultures are the same.
It’s the same lesson and the same comparison. America has a rhythm. You didn’t have to be born here to learn it. Millions of people who weren’t have learned it and done well. But you do have to learn it.
LEARN IT AND LIVE IT.
Presidents from both parties have told us who we are for decades.
Barack Obama, 2014: “My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants.”
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q_Xk66gsRU&t=828s
Transcript: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/20/remarks-president-address-nation-immigration
George W. Bush, 2006: “We’re a nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws. We’re also a nation of immigrants…”
Transcript: https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060515-8.html
Hillary Clinton, 2016: “I think we are both a nation of immigrants and we are a nation of laws…”
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANT_ZBhpvtw&t=1439s
Transcript: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-debate-the-university-nevada-las-vegas
Ronald Reagan, 1984: “We call ourselves a nation of immigrants, and that’s truly what we are.”
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGhP78y8BM8&t=785s
They’re right. We are a nation of immigrants.
But listen to what’s under the words. Bush and Clinton both said it out loud: a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. That’s the rhythm. Anyone can come, but coming isn’t the end of it. Learning to live here is the part that counts.
Every courier I trained started out new to the route. Being new was never the problem. What mattered was what they did next.
Be that as it may, there are two kinds: Grateful and Ungrateful.
The Grateful learn the rhythm. They learn the language, keep the law, raise their kids to love this place, and leave it better than they found it.
The Ungrateful take everything the rhythm offers and fight it the whole way. They wave another flag, sneer at the house that took them in, and demand it be remade to look like the place they left.
It’s the same doorway, but they walk through it with a different spine.
What to expect
Up to now, I’ve written one post at a time, whenever something needed saying. Starting this week, it’s a weekly series: Grateful vs. Ungrateful.
Every week you’ll get two real stories, one Grateful and one Ungrateful. They’ll be from people of every background and color, because we judge conduct, not where someone came from. Every clip and every story is checked before it goes up. I’ll trace the original source, confirm the date and place, and link it so you can see it for yourself. There’s no rage bait here, only facts.
Then I’ll hold both stories up to the same barometer, the three A’s:
Accountability. Do they own their choices, or blame everyone else?
Assimilation. Do they do the work of becoming American, or demand that America become like the place they left?
Allegiance. Is their loyalty to this country, or to another flag?
Then you judge. Cast your verdict, and send it to someone who needs to see it. Each week I’ll post the results from the week before.
The first verdict comes this week.
Grateful or Ungrateful?
LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸
Gratitude starts in the spine, not on the knees.
— A Grateful Immigrant
