“E PLURIBUS UNUM”
Have we forgotten the meaning of “E Pluribus Unum?” In English it translates as “out of many, one.”
In retrospect, our Founding Fathers should have coined their motto in plain English. If they had done so, “we the people,” those among us who did not study Latin, would have understood what they were trying to convey to their compatriots: We are a nation of immigrants.
Our forebears came to America from England, Scotland, Germany, Ireland, Italy and many other countries. From immigrants who came here early, a nation was born and that was the United States of America, which was founded on the principles of liberty and justice for all.
Among those who came were victims of religious persecution and people so poor they had little more than the clothes on their backs. Wave after wave of immigrants came. Some spoke English, but others spoke in strange tongues and had difficulty being understood, let alone accepted, by people whose parents or forebears had arrived earlier. Gradually, newcomers were assimilated in the mix and many made great contributions to our country.
Without immigrants, our country wouldn’t even exist, let alone be the leader of the free world.
So please, let us not build walls, whether of steel, or of words.
Monique Begg
