Also known as the Gravity Tree. In the grounds of Woolsthorpe Manor, near Grantham. It is the descendant of the tree under which Isaac Newton sat in 1666, when he saw an apple fall near him, inspiring him to fully realize his theory of gravity. Photo by It’s No Game from Leicestershire, UK. (CC BY 2.0)
The Ink this morning one-ups Washington Post satirist Alexandra Petri in reflecting on the “Unity Statement.” You know the ones, the pro forma statements Democratic politicians make in response to mass shootings or, in today’s news, an attempted assassination. Certain stylistic conventions must be followed:
First, the statement maker’s spouse’s name should be included prominently somewhere: “Becky and I were sad to hear…” “Corey and I were deeply shaken by the news…” “Charlie and I join together…” The inclusion of the spouse is important here because it signals that this is a special kind of statement. More Christmas card vibes than political statement vibes. The normal rules are suspended. There will be no jabs here, no stridency, maybe not even any truth.
Second, the Unity Statement must deplore effects without naming or shaming their causes. Now is not the time for blaming someone for their role in contributing to what has finally now come around to imperil them, too. The Unity Statement thereby defies physics with its conception of uncaused effects; it defies botany in its vision of reaping with no connection whatever to sowing.
Third, a Democratic Unity Statement must mention temperature. Specifically, it should suggest that the temperature has risen too high. Though it may be Republicans who are overwhelmingly responsible for raising the temperature, planetarily and politically, in a respectable Unity Statement, this cannot be said. Instead, it should be argued that the temperature be lowered. Who knows how it got raised, and who really cares? And the Democratic statement maker must immediately volunteer to participate in the lowering of what they may have had no part in raising.
Fourth, the Unity Statement must, duh!, call for unity. Oh, and it must be unilateral unity. “Unity,” unmodified, is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the quality or state of not being multiple,” even “a condition of harmony.” The issuer of the Unity Statement knows that this ain’t gonna happen nationally. What the well-meaning Democratic leader means when they call for unity is that they want you, their followers, the people who would actually listen to a Democrat’s words, to engage in some unity making all by yourself. Reach out to an uncle you cut out of your life just because he made the honest mistake of degrading your very being at Thanksgiving; bake brownies for a neighbor whose only sin is flying a Trump flag — plus the Aryan Nations tattoos. Go do some unity — and don’t wait for anyone else to join you. Dance like no one’s watching, they say. Do unity like the other side isn’t ever going to do it also.
Is it any wonder the public perceives Democrats as measly-mouthed while the bomb-throwers are seen as strong leaders? And how does the unity statement reinforce that?
For one, because these events, as a Kamala Harris meme reflects, have context, context which Unity Statements elide. They offer a salve without relieving ongoing injury. They soothe symptoms without addressing root causes.
It is possible to believe that shooting leaders we don’t like is absolutely, incontrovertibly out of bounds and — and — that this event has a history and a context. It didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree. It is possible to wish a man a speedy recovery and to insist on the urgency of doing every peaceful thing humanly possible to prevent him from driving the country even further down this road to where what happened to him — even though it never should have — becomes unexceptional.
Newton realized that apples don’t fall to Earth by themselves. Actions have causes.
“This business will get out of control. It’ll get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.” — Pre-Sen. Fred Thompson (Admiral Painter) in The Hunt For Red October (1990)
Another apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump occurred Sunday. A keen-eyed Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel poking through the perimeter fence of Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla. golf club and opened fire. The gunman, 58, fled in his car and was captured alive miles away. The suspect has a criminal history and a “quixotic past.” Scrambled eggs where his brain should be, by multiple accounts.
Trump is safe. Prominent political figures expressed their relief and condemned political violence. Again. We’ll know more about the guy in due course. He’s “all over the map.”
The man in custody in connection with what is being described as a second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump has a long criminal and civil court history, including a conviction for possessing a machine gun. pic.twitter.com/4r70QTWpm6
Ironically, I wrote hours earlier that “Between now and Jan. 20 anything might happen.” A wrong turn in Sarajevo touched off WWI. Events like this assassination attempt, J.D. Vance and Trump stoking hate against immigrants, and more devious political shenanigans from MAGA Republicans before and after the election are what I had in mind. Political tensions were already running high.
People like Elon Musk mean to dial them up to 11. Tucker Carlson thinks demonizing nonwhite immigrants is “so great!”
In all seriousness, as a former federal prosecutor, I can tell you that a statement like Elon Musk's below DOES require an immediate visit by the U.S. Secret Service. That is the protocol in every similar situation. https://t.co/OuZ4lYoNlu
Trump is melting down like that cake left out in the rain. He blasted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” on Truth Social yesterday because she endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and urged Swifties to register and vote. What sane candidate does that? Trump has surely seen the polls indicating his chances of winning the presidency and staying out of jail are slipping away. He’s panicked and lashing out. He’s not even trying to win. Trump will burn the place down if he does not, and take as many of his enemies with him as possible.
God knows what comes next. Strap in. It’s going to get bumpy.
Jamelle Bouie and (Adam Serwer) have some choice words about JD Vance and his crusade against Haitian immigrants:
In his speech accepting the Republican nomination for vice president, Vance rejected a creedal notion of American identity. America, he said, “is not just an idea. It is a group of people with a shared history and a common future. It is, in short, a nation.” He went on to add that America is a “homeland” and that “people will not fight for abstractions, but they will fight for their home.”
To some overly credulous commentators, this was nothing more than respect for place and a call to assimilate. But as Adam Serwer observes in The Atlantic, Vance’s argument was more radical than it appeared at first glance.
To say that Americans are willing to fight for their plot of land is to say that they are like every other group of people that has ever existed and that exists now. It is to say that there is nothing particularly special about America or American ideals at all. But the ideals that have animated the American project have exercised such a powerful appeal around the world precisely because they speak to more universal aspirations.
To reject creedal nationalism, Serwer says, is to embrace, in its stead, a blood-and-soil nationalism that hold some Americans as more American than others. It is to say that there are some people who, on account of their origins or those of their parents and grandparents, cannot be full and equal members of the national community.
In waging rhetorical war on the Haitian immigrants of Springfield, Ohio, Vance has clarified the meaning of his convention speech. It does not matter, to Vance, that these Haitian newcomers came here legally, under the Temporary Protected Status program. It does not matter that they filled a valuable need. It does not matter that they reversed a slow collapse that has already sapped the life from so many former industrial towns. It does not matter that they work hard and seem eager, by all accounts, to establish themselves as productive members of the community.
What matters to Vance is who they are, where they come from and what they look like. They don’t belong to this soil, he might say, and therefore they don’t belong. Right now, the most Vance can do to wage this war is use his words. I shudder to think what might be possible if he had the authority of the state to wield as well.
We might as well melt the Statue of Liberty into Trump commemorative coins and let him sell them for a thousand dollars apiece. The ideals (often unfulfilled) that animated Americans since the founding are dead if th4ese guys win.
I don’t think there is any doubt what Vance and his tech-bro mentors have in mind. They aren’t trying to hide it.
Update:
The NY Times originally had this accurate headline on this story:
Apparently, they succumbed to pressure from the right to change it to this milquetoast headline:
LL: We love you! Trump: Oh! Laura! LL: I love you! Trump: *blows kiss* LL: I love you president Trump LL: Amazing speech! I loved it! Trump: There’s never been one like it LL: I will never give up on you! Trump: How did you like that? LL: Amazing! You’re amazing! Trump: Call me tomorrow. Call me, *blows another kiss* LL: Amazing! Best president ever
Have you ever seen Trump blow a kiss to a “supporter” before? Twice?
Any thoughts anyone ever had that Chief Justice John Roberts was the moderate consensus builder on the court should be thrown right into the rubbish bin. According to a new shocking NY Times expose, it is Roberts who pushed the three big decisions protecting Trump from accountability for his crimes.
Last February, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. sent his eight Supreme Court colleagues a confidential memo that radiated frustration and certainty.
Former President Donald J. Trump, seeking to retake the White House, had made a bold, last-ditch appeal to the justices. He wanted them to block his fast-approaching criminal trial on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that he was protected by presidential immunity. Whatever move the court made could have lasting consequences for the next election, the scope of presidential power and the court’s own battered reputation.
The chief justice’s Feb. 22 memo, jump-starting the justices’ formal discussion on whether to hear the case, offered a scathing critique of a lower-court decision and a startling preview of how the high court would later rule, according to several people from the court who saw the document.
The chief justice tore into the appellate court opinion greenlighting Mr. Trump’s trial, calling it inadequate and poorly reasoned. On one key point, he complained, the lower court judges “failed to grapple with the most difficult questions altogether.” He wrote not only that the Supreme Court should take the case — which would stall the trial — but also how the justices should decide it
“I think it likely that we will view the separation of powers analysis differently” from the appeals court, he wrote. In other words: grant Mr. Trump greater protection from prosecution.
In a momentous trio of Jan. 6-related cases last term, the court found itself more entangled in presidential politics than at any time since the 2000 election, even as it was contending with its own controversies related to that day. The chief justice responded by deploying his authority to steer rulings that benefited Mr. Trump, according to a New York Times examination that uncovered extensive new information about the court’s decision making.
The Times got access to “private memos, documentation of the proceedings and interviews with court insiders, both conservative and liberal” who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Roberts wrote the majority opinion in all three cases including the unsigned order that forbade Colorado from removing Trump from the ballot. And apparently he gave took the majority opinion in Fischer (the one that said prosecutors couldn’t bring obstruction charges against some of the J6 insurrectionists) to from Alito after it was reported that his wingnut wife Martha Ann had been flying an upside down flag after January 6th. My God. (Oops, I misread that part originally. It’s still weird.)
And Roberts insisted, over the objections of even some of the conservatives, that the immunity case be held before the election, siding with the liberals. But once he got the vote he basically told the liberals to pound sand, There would be no compromise with them to try to form a consensus which partially explains the level of anger in Sotomayor’s dissent.
He seems to be a tad delusional:
In his writings on the immunity case, the chief justice seemed confident that his arguments would soar above politics, persuade the public, and stand the test of time. His opinion cited “enduring principles,” quoted Alexander Hamilton’s endorsement of a vigorous presidency, and asserted it would be a mistake to dwell too much on Mr. Trump’s actions. “In a case like this one, focusing on ‘transient results’ may have profound consequences for the separation of powers and for the future of our Republic,” he wrote. “Our perspective must be more farsighted.”
But the public response to the decision, announced in July on the final day of the term, was nothing like what his lofty phrases seemed to anticipate.
WTF??? He really thought that heinous opinion would persuade the public? Good lord, these people are in a more secure bubble than even the most delirious Fox News viewer.
Despite the chief justice’s reputation as a methodical craftsman, many experts, both conservative and liberal, say he produced a disjointed, tough-to-interpret opinion.
“It’s a strange, sprawling opinion,” said William Baude, a University of Chicago law professor and a former clerk to the chief justice. “It’s hard to tell what exactly it is trying to do.”
Others said the ruling was untethered from the law. “It’s certainly not really tied to the Constitution,” said Stephen R. McAllister, a law professor at University of Kansas and former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas.
But inside the court, some members of the majority had complimented the chief justice even as they requested changes. Two days after the chief justice circulated his first draft in June, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh responded to what he called an “extraordinary opinion.”In a final flourish, he wrote, “Thank you again for your exceptional work.” Soon afterward, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch added another superlative: “I join Brett in thanking you for your remarkable work.”
Sounds like a Trump cabinet meeting.
Read the whole thing, It’s clear that the Chief and his five wingnuts are just going for it. It’s worse than we thought.
I have long suspected that the negative opinion polls on the economy at least somewhat reflected people’s discomfort with Biden’s age and the fact that we are still struggling with Trumpism. With Biden out and Harris having a lot of energy and looking positive, I’m not surprised to see those numbers turning around a bit.
Keep in mind that Republicans will not change so there won’t be a “Morning in America” reaction. Those days are gone. But there might finally be a long overdue lifting of the economic gloom.
It’s been pretty much love and light for Democrats since their national convention in August. The ceremonial roll call that named Vice President Kamala Harris the party’s 2024 presidential nominee became a dance party. Descension was minimal and all but invisible. Harris crushed Donald Trump at last Tuesday’s presidential debate. Polling looks good. Momentum is with the Democrats. But even if Harris wins in a popular vote landslide, this election won’t be over until she and Tim Walz are sworn in on Jan. 20, 2025.
That’s because Republicans are working feverishly to make it harder to vote, harder to count votes, and harder to certify election results in a timely fashion.
Here is the Republican plan for 2024:
1. Make it harder for you to vote. 2. Harass election officials and challenge voters. 3. Prevent accurate timely election certification.
Between now and Jan. 20 anything might happen. Last week, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, GOP candidate for vice president, gave oxygen to an internet rumor that was false both backwards and sideways. It might have triggered a pogrom against legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio and elsewhere. Trump on Saturday refused to condemn bomb threats made against Springfield, saying, “I don’t know what happened with the bomb threats. I know that it’s been taken over by illegal migrants, and that’s a terrible thing that happened.”
Should he reclaim the Oval Office, Trump is determined to launch massive roundups and deportations of nonwhite residents of non-European heritage. Their status as naturalized or birthright citizens doesn’t matter to him. Expelling anyone whose complexion he doesn’t like is what he’ll do (with Stephen Miller’s help).
“Woman who first spread Springfield rumor regrets it.”
“I deleted the post. I was wrong. I messed up royally. I never meant to cause so much hate.”
This woman has more courage than JD Vance. Please share this video far and wide. pic.twitter.com/2s0OyEWNHP
The First World War was not exactly an accident — geopolitical fault lines were in tension and ready to slip — but a wrong turn based on misunderstood directions triggered it. When Trump loses in November, something as minor as a hyped internet rumor or as deliberate as a MAGA propaganda campaign could trigger violence.
The U.S. Secret Service last week designated the Jan. 6 electoral vote count a National Special Security Event. Security will look more like what I saw in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention in August. Meaning, federal officials will secure the perimeter of the U.S. Capitol with more than bicycle racks. Oath Keepers and Proud Boys brushed those aside in 2021 when MAGA insurrectionists stormed the building shouting “Where’s Nancy?” and “Hang Mike Pence!”
Last night windows were smashed and acid thrown on Haitian owned cars. Now these Neo-Nazis are on the streets of Springfield. Trump and company are sponsoring America's own "Kristallnacht." It's disturbing and-frightening. https://t.co/RghRPWVnsG
MAGA plotters failed to overturn the 2020 election when faced with less security and with the Oval Office still in Trump’s hands. They won’t attempt that route when Trump loses again but commands no troops or law enforcement.
The stakes are much higher now
What MAGA activists and attorneys will do is throw a metric fuckton of rhetorical smoke bombs at state capitals, loudly scream “VOTER FRAUD,” and swear that where there’s smoke there’s a stolen election. Sanewashing media will accord Trump’s and fellow authoritarian travelers’ frivolous lawsuits and evidence-free allegations credibility by reporting them uncritically. The press will give cover to MAGA politicians willing to lie and subvert the will of the people and the U.S. Constitution. Trump lackeys will interfere with states certifying their elections so they might turn over deciding the presidential election to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
That’s one scenario, anyway.
Trump’s estranged niece, psychologist Mary Trump, offers a similar warning:
The stakes are much higher now than they were in either 2016 or 2020, and he will stop at absolutely nothing to get back into the White House—which, at this point, is the only thing that will save his dwindling fortune or keep him out of prison.
[…]
Donald is signaling clearly to us what’s coming and we can’t depend on corporate media to confirm it. This election is too important to for us to rely on outlets that continue, against all evidence to the contrary, to normalize a deeply unwell traitor just so they can preserve the horse race of it all.
For Donald’s part, he’s not really trying to win anyway. He knows that he just needs to keep it close enough so he can cheat by having his friends in the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court throw the election to him.
As a reminder, this is just one of the ways Trump attempted to hang onto power in 2020. He still faces a federal indictment stemming from it:
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 10, 2022
We watched that movie four years ago. Now there’s a sequel in development and its plot is more sophisticated than the last.
We know that the Secret Service is securing the Capitol. We know that in Washington, D.C., military veterans gamed out what might go down between the 2024 election and Inauguration Day 2025. They considered “what happens if the military fragments on January 6, 2025, and we’re faced with a crisis?”
What I don’t know and need to is this. What are Democrats in state capitols prepared to do to secure the election from a post Nov. 5 coup when it starts closer to home? When it’s perhaps a physical intervention, not just a court battle? What contingency plans for dealing with intimidation and violence have they made beside lawsuits, press releases and harsh language?
I’ve been trying to get answers from my election protection people. It’s been 10 days. I’m still waiting.
Sadly, I can’t say that I was completely surprised by this:
Bomb threats on Friday forced the evacuation and closure of public schools and municipal buildings [in Springfield, Ohio] for a second consecutive day, as the city continues to deal with sudden national attention due to false claims involving its Haitian population.
Students at Perrin Woods and Snowhill Elementary Schools in Springfield “were evacuated from their buildings to an alternate district location,” school district spokesperson Jenna Leinasars said. […]
In addition to those school evacuations, several city commissioners and a municipal employee were the target of an emailed bomb threat, city spokesperson Karen Graves said. […]
Local police and FBI agents based in Dayton are working “to determine the origin of these email threats,” the city official said.
The city just west of Columbus has been the focal point of a national political firestorm that has included false rumors that Haitian immigrants have been stealing and eating household pets. City officials and police have said there is no credible information to support those outlandish claims.
Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have pushed those false claims as part of a broader effort to use Springfield as an example for what they say are the harmful consequences of immigration.
Vance has also said there’s been a “massive rise in communicable diseases” in Springfield, but Clark County Combined Health District Commissioner Chris Cook said Friday that’s not accurate.
And then there was this:
JD Vance on CNBC says that if immigration was the path to prosperity, then "America would be the most prosperous country in the world." (Who wants to tell him … ) pic.twitter.com/XY9RDUlvjo
The strapping young man in the photo above is my grandfather Philip Kramer (in his late teens or early twenties, to my best estimation). He immigrated to America from Bialystok circa 1910. While the area is now part of the Republic of Poland, Bialystok “belonged” to the Russian Empire when he lived there (ergo, he was fluent in Russian, Polish, and Yiddish).
One of the reasons his family emigrated was to flee the state terror inflicted on Russia’s Jewish population by Czar Nicholas (the Bialystok pogram of 1906 was particularly nasty).
I suppose I have Czar Nicholas to thank for my existence. If my grandfather had never left Bialystok, he never would have met New York City born-and-raised Celia Mogerman (the daughter of Jewish German immigrants). Consequently, they never would have fallen in love, got married, and had their daughter Lillian, who never would have met and fallen in love with a young G.I. named Robert Hartley (a W.A.S.P. farm boy from Ohio) at a New York City U.S.O. Club. They, in turn, produced…me (otherwise, you’d just be staring at a blank page here).
In light of all the dehumanizing (and obviously incendiary) anti-immigrant rhetoric and disinformation currently spewing from Trump and his surrogates, I am re-posting the following piece, which I wrote in the wake of a 2021 mass shooting in Atlanta.
(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on March 20, 2021)
The story of America’s immigrants is all of our stories, all Americans. Outside of indigenous Americans, none of us are really “from” here; if you start tracing your family’s genealogy, I’ll bet you don’t have to go back too many generations to find ancestors born on foreign soil. Unfortunately, some Americans have conveniently forgotten about that…
It’s been over five years since Donald Trump rode down his golden escalator and launched a longshot bid for president with a xenophobic, immigrant-bashing speech that electrified white nationalists and set a dark tone for his campaign and presidency.
Throughout his tenure, Trump continued to sow division and hate with a steady stream of racist conspiracy theories and lies – all while installing extremists in positions of power and executing radical policies, such as banning Muslims from entering the country, separating immigrant children from their parents at the border and reversing basic protections for the LGBTQ community.
Trump’s words and actions had consequences.
Hate crimes and far-right terrorist attacks surged. Teachers across America reported a sudden spike in the use of racial slurs and incidents involving swastikas, Nazi salutes and Confederate flags. And in the first two years of Trump’s administration, the number of white nationalist hate groups rose by 55 percent, as white supremacists saw in him an avatar of their grievances and a champion of their cause.
Now, Trump is gone from Washington. But the extremist movement he energized may be entering a perilous new phase […]
While this week’s mass shooting in Atlanta that left 8 people dead (6 of them women of Asian descent) is still under investigation and not yet been officially declared a hate crime, the incident has sparked a much-needed national dialog addressing recent spikes in racially motivated violence, particularly targeting members of the Asian-American community.
President Biden and Vice President Harris called for unity after attacks against Asian Americans have surged since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“There are simply some core values and beliefs that should bring us together as Americans,” Biden said during a speech at Emory University in Atlanta on Friday. “One of them is standing together against hate, against racism, the ugly poison that has long haunted and plagued our nation.”
Biden’s remarks came three days after a gunman opened fire at three massage businesses in the Atlanta area, killing eight people, including six women of Asian descent.
While the suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long of Georgia, told investigators that the shootings were not racially motivated, physical violence and verbal harassment against members of the Asian American community have spiked over the past year.
“Whatever the motivation, we know this, too many Asian Americans walking up and down the streets are worried,” Biden said. “They’ve been attacked, blamed, scapegoated, harassed, they’ve been verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, killed.”
The president said that these incidents are evidence that “words have consequences.” […]
Harris, who joined Biden during the trip to Atlanta, called Tuesday’s shooting rampage a “heinous act of violence” that has no place in Georgia or the United States.
She also said that the uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes is a reminder that racism, xenophobia and sexism is real in America and “always has been.”
Looking on the bright side of this week’s news…one of the most oft-quoted lines from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech from the March on Washington on August 28, 1963 is this one: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I’d like to think that we edged a little bit closer to that better day this past Thursday:
That would be Kamala Harris, a woman of South Asian and West Indian heritage, a daughter of immigrants and the first female Vice-President of the United States… conducting the swearing-in ceremony for Deb Halaand, a woman who now holds the distinction of serving as the first Native-American Interior Secretary of the United States.
That only took us 245 years. But you know…baby steps.
Granted, it doesn’t solve all our problems, but it gives one hope, which is in short supply.
That’s why I think it’s time for some music therapy. I’ve chosen 10 songs that speak to the immigrant experience and serve to remind us of America’s strong multicultural bedrock.
Alphabetically:
“Across the Borderline” – Freddy Fender
This song (co-written by John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, and Jim Dickinson) has been covered many times, but this heartfelt version by the late Freddy Fender is the best. Fender’s version was used as part of the soundtrack for Tony Richardson’s 1982 film The Border.
“America” – Neil Diamond
Diamond’s anthemic paean to America’s multicultural heritage first appeared in the soundtrack for Richard Fleischer and Sidney J. Furie’s 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer (thankfully, Diamond’s stirring song has had a longer shelf life than the film, which left audiences and critics underwhelmed). Weirdly, it was included on a list of songs deemed as “lyrically questionable” and/or “inappropriate” for airplay in an internal memo issued by the brass at Clear Channel Communications in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Go figure.
“America” (movie soundtrack version) – West Side Story
This classic number from the stage musical and film West Side Story (with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Leonard Bernstein) is both a celebration of Latin immigrant culture and a slyly subversive take down of nativist-fed ethnic stereotyping.
“Ave Que Emigra” – Gaby Morena
Speaking of exploding stereotypes-here’s a straightforward song explaining why cultural assimilation and cultural identity are not mutually exclusive. From a 2012 NPR review:
As a song that speaks of being an immigrant, [Gaby Moreno’s “Ave Que Emigra”] strikes the perfect emotional chords. So many songs on that topic are gaudy, one-dimensional woe-is-me tales. Moreno’s story of coming to America is filled with simple one-liners like “tired of running, during hunting season” (evocative of the grotesque reality Central Americans face today at home and in their journeys north). Her cheerful ranchera melody, with its sad undertone, paints a perfect portrait of the complex emotional state most of us immigrants inhabit: a deep sadness for having to leave mixed with the excitement of the adventure that lies ahead, plus the joy and relief of having “made it.”
No habla espanol? No problema! You can see the English translation of the lyrics here.
“Buffalo Soldier” – Bob Marley & the Wailers
Sadly, not all migrants arrived on America’s shores of their own volition; and such is the unfortunate legacy of the transatlantic slave trade that flourished from the 16th to the 18th centuries. As Malcolm X once bluntly put it, “[African Americans] didn’t land on Plymouth Rock; the Rock was landed on us.” Bob Marley entitled this song as reference to the nickname for the black U.S. Calvary regiments that fought in the post-Civil War Indian conflicts. Marley’s lyrics seem to mirror Malcom X’s pointed observation above:
If you know your history, Then you would know where you’re coming from Then you wouldn’t have to ask me Who the heck do I think I am
I’m just a Buffalo Soldier In the heart of America Stolen from Africa, brought to America Said he was fighting on arrival Fighting for survival
“Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” – Arlo Guthrie
Woody Guthrie originally penned this “ripped from the headlines” protest piece as a poem in the wake of a 1948 California plane crash (the music was composed some years later by Martin Hoffman, and first popularized as a song by Pete Seegar). Among the 32 passengers who died were 28 migrant farm workers who were in the process of being deported back to Mexico. Guthrie noticed that most press and radio reports at the time identified the 4 crew members by name, while dehumanizing the workers by referring to them en masse as “deportees” (plus ca change…). His son Arlo’s version is very moving.
“The Immigrant”– Neil Sedaka
Reflecting back on his 1975 song, Neil Sedaka shared this tidbit in a 2013 Facebook post:
I wrote [“The Immigrant”] for my friend John Lennon during his immigration battles in the 1970s. I’ll never forget when I called to tell him about it. Overwhelmed by the gesture, he said, “Normally people only call me when they want something. It’s very seldom people call you to give you something. It’s beautiful.”
I concur with John. It’s Sedaka’s most beautifully crafted tune, musically and lyrically.
“Immigration Blues” – Chris Rea
In 2005, prolific U.K. singer-songwriter Chris Rea released a massive 11-CD box set album with 137 tracks called Blue Guitars (I believe that sets some sort of record). The collection is literally a journey through blues history, with original songs “done in the style of…[insert your preferred blues sub-genre here]” from African origins to contemporary iterations. This track is from “Album 10: Latin Blues”. The title says it all.
“Immigration Man” – David Crosby & Graham Nash
After an unpleasant experience in the early 70s getting hassled by a U.S. Customs agent, U.K.-born Graham Nash (who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1978) didn’t get mad, he got even by immortalizing his tormentor in a song. The tune is one of the highlights of the 1972 studio album he recorded with David Crosby, simply titled Crosby and Nash. I love that line where he describes his immigration form as “big enough to keep me warm.”
“We Are the Children” – A Grain of Sand
A Grain of Sand were a pioneering Asian-American activist folk trio, who hit the ground running with their 1973 album A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle of Asians in America. Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto, and William “Charlie” Chin use minimalist arrangements, lovely harmony singing and politically strident lyrics to get their message across. I find this cut to be particularly pertinent to reflecting on the events of this week and quite moving.
Bonus Track:
John Legend…not to sing us out, but to offer a few words of wisdom. Amen.
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