Occasional PJ contributor Ruben Navarrette just went and tore down the definition of “American.” In a column on a documentary made by an illegal alien, Navarrette writes:
After watching this inspirational film, I now realize that this undocumented American has a better understanding than I do of what this country is about.
In speeches, I tell audiences that – while I’ve written about immigration for a quarter century – I don’t really understand the topic. I was born in the United States. You want to know about immigration? Talk to an immigrant.
Still, I’ll take up Vargas’ challenge. How do I define American? It’s someone with courage, ingenuity, perseverance, work ethic, love of freedom. It’s someone who raises issues, raises consciousness and – if needed – raises hell.
The title of the piece is “Jose Vargas challenges us to define an American.” That’s not true. Vargas isn’t an American citizen. He’s here illegally. He has used his position in media to gather up sympathy for himself, despite the fact that he admits to breaking US laws while living here illegally.
Mr. Navarette is entitled to think whatever he wants, but the law is against him. American citizenship means certain things, or once did. People fought and died to protect that meaning.
We have these things called “laws.” Navarrette would remove them and replace them with his own subjective standards.
Because to Mr. Navarrette, “American” has no legal definition, and therefore literally means nothing at all.
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