saved lin

[mirandahamiltn]

As a daughter of two immigrants, one from Mexico and one from Nicaragua I was always told that being American was a privilege. I never truly understood what that meant. I just thought-- hey I was born in California and that was it. It’s not until recently that I truly understand how important that was, and the frustration I must have given my parents at taking everything for granted. 

I never understood how my mom could make something so simple like getting an ID a big deal. I figured that voting when you were eighteen was just something you did. It was why I didn’t understand how my mom who came to the US at the age of 17 looking for a better life, cried because she wasn’t with me to drive me to go vote for the first time. I didn’t understand at first how my mom cried and told me with tears in her eyes that she was more American than she was Mexican and didn’t understand why it was so hard for her to get something so simple as a bank account. 

As for my father-- he never truly pushed me towards understanding politics. To him George Bush senior and junior were both the devil but Ronal Reagan for all of his immigration reform was king. To him Clinton was nothing more than a philanderer who wrote a huge book that he would never read. That’s not to say that my dad didn’t shape any of my political thought. Among many things he shaped my thought on immigration. For years he struggled and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees only to get his green card a few weeks after he had died. Knowing that my dad never got to open that envelope and see the horrible picture he had taken was heartbreaking. 

All this is just for me. A reminder of why it is so important for not just me but for countless other first-generation sons and daughters to get involved and just like Obama said “Don’t boo. Vote.” While Obama reminded us of our shared American dream I also have to remember my parent’s American dream. I have to remember that I am not just my own voice but the voice of my dad who worked 7 days a week until the day he died just so that I wouldn’t have to worry as much.