Mom, apple pie, baseball, Chevrolet … even this list is not as American as the American Dream. A belief that holds us together as a nation more than our laws, our language or our interstate highways.
The belief that America is a land of opportunity where people who work hard, play by the rules, pay taxes and help their communities will be able to give their kids a better life than they had. That belief is fundamental to our nation.
We build bridges and dams, invest in public schools, send our sons and daughters into combat – all to protect the American Dream, which crosses regional, linguistic and cultural barriers. It truly is older and more powerful than apple pie, baseball and Chevrolet, and just as fundamental as our belief in democracy.
Yet despite this idea that America can be a place of unlimited opportunity, some continue to fight over who can believe in, and participate in, the American Dream.
Since our earliest days as a free republic, Alexander Hamilton, our first Treasury secretary, was harassed by charges he wasn’t American enough due to his birthplace in the Caribbean.
Waves of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Croatia and Eastern Europe came to America for a better life, yet when they arrived they faced discrimination and had to fight for a fair shot to make it, just like everybody else.
For more than 200 years, Americans have struggled for a more perfect union, for justice and equality and opportunity for all. And as we have overcome discrimination against slaves and the descendants of slaves, as we expanded the right to vote to women, we also fought against discrimination against Jews and Catholics and people of all faiths.
We had to fight for equality in schools and at the voting booth, and the fight is never over, because a more perfect union is never completely perfect. And that is why there are struggles for justice today for gay and lesbian Americans and everyone facing the same issues that Alexander Hamilton was confronted with regarding his birthplace and Martin Van Buren faced as the only president who didn’t speak English at home as his first language.
The struggle for justice and equality continues for those seen as new Americans, people who suffered and sacrificed to come to our shores because they believe this is the land of opportunity.
While most immigration issues must be sorted out and solved at the federal level, our state can do a few things to protect people in our communities who are here contributing, paying taxes and striving for the American Dream.
Washingtonians can and do recognize that our newest neighbors help us compete in a world economy. A family that moves here from Mexico to pick apples may produce the child that grows up to lead trade delegations to India, where we want to sell more apples. The family that moves here from Somalia as refugees may have a child that writes the next killer app for Google or Microsoft. And the family that comes to Bellingham from Bosnia may have sons and daughters that design the next Boeing airplane that connects the cities of our world.
We have always been a state that welcomes talent and merit, that encourages risk-taking. This is why we have a diverse economy and why we’re growing when many states aren’t. It’s why we went into the recession later than the rest of the country and why we’re climbing out sooner. Because we recognize and encourage talent around us, no matter where that talent was born.
Today, our system allows kids who graduated from local high schools, live in Washington, and speak English to pay in-state tuition at our universities. It’s common sense to let kids who earned it get into our colleges. But some of these kids can’t prove they were born in the U.S., even if they grew up here, graduated here and want to put their talents to use here. So the Legislature will consider ideas to give these young dreamers access to financial aid, which only makes sense since tuition is so high these days. Otherwise, college is out of reach for most people.
Through hard work, these students have earned high grades and a place at our state’s best universities. It will benefit us all when they get that college degree, start working at our local businesses and start a family. Because we all want the same things.
Letting everyone have a shot at the American dream really is about mom, apple pie, baseball and Chevrolet. It shouldn’t matter where your mom gave birth to you, we wouldn’t have apple pie without the influence of German immigrants, baseball is full of talent from Japan, and the Dominican Republic and Chevrolet was born in Switzerland long before coming to the US to race cars and start a car company.
We need to embrace the idea that we are a stronger and better nation when we allow the most talented among us to succeed. That’s the American Dream.