This is the statue that stands atop the U. S. Capitol. It was cast in bronze and Mr. Phillip Reid supervised the entire process. Mr. Reid, a slave that was freed just one year before it was put in place.

This is the statue that stands atop the U. S. Capitol. It was cast in bronze and Mr. Phillip Reid supervised the entire process. Mr. Reid, a slave that was freed just one year before it was put in place.

Dear Mr. President,

Why do I have to sit in the back of the bus?

Is it because I embrace what the Republican Party believes in?

Would it help if I told you my Dad’s side of the family came here only 50 years ago, that I am a Latina, that I am the first of his entire family born on U.S. soil, and that I don’t take the honor lightly? I mean his entire family. The first branch on the family tree to spring forth on the soil of the Good Ole U.S. of A. That is me. The beginning of a new era for the Familia C. Perez.  Does this earn me a seat at the front of the bus?

Maybe if I told you that my husband, children, and I make many sacrifices because we are indeed middle class citizens.  Will that earn me a seat in the front?

Maybe I am just supposed to be glad that you LET me on the bus…

The bus that (I thought) all members of America had a right to be on…

The bus that the Noble Statue of Liberty beckons “huddled masses yearning to be free” to board…

Did you really throw a gigantic blanket over the entire Republican party? Did you really slap a label on an intelligent, thinking, diverse group of people that was

The First Hispanic Governor - A Republican - Romualdo Pacheco. He was the twelveth Governor of California. He then served three terms in the House of Representatives before moving on to become a US Ambassador.

responsible for one liberation after another? The party (Republican) that was responsible for racial integration in the United States military, for racial integration in the public school system, for granting the right to vote to the African-American man, and years later to the American woman… I am just scratching the surface of the Republican party’s accomplishments for minorites.

I am not sure if you are aware of the fact that in Washington alone, every single democrat voted against the D.C. Emancipation Act; a measure passed to free every African-American living in our nation’s capital.

How could you discriminate, oh yes, I said discriminate against an innumerable amount of persons whose cultures create a beautiful medley of Americana? Our dreams for this country are made of the stuff you are apparently struggling to understand, or willfully ignoring.

Would to God you would remember that you are the leader of a nation – not just one party anymore.  You lead an entire nation of people rich in history, and bursting with pride over their heritage. A vast number of persons who have paid a price to be here, a vast number of children whose parents have gone before them making sacrifices – giving their lives to guarantee them a blessed existence.  This nation is united by one common goal: the pursuit of happiness. Would you threaten that unity with your words?

In a corporation, a good CEO brings individuals together to work toward a common goal: the success of the company. This is to further their prosperity – to contribute to a better quality of life for all employed by said corporation.  Why? To improve their lives is to facilitate even more success.  To do so, again, is to improve even more on the quality of the associates’ lives.  It is a very healthy cycle from which all whom are fortunate enough to be involved – will benefit.

You; however, Mr. President, are drawing a line in the sand – separating class and race in our nation when many died to achieve its unity. Your speech is divisive. How could you go to California and give a radio address that was nothing more than blame-shifting and finger-pointing at Republicans? You would turn my own race against me? For I am a Latin-American Republican.  I took your words very personally. I think most Republicans did.

We all know that the majority of listeners that day believed you.  We know they did not rush to the internet or their libraries to prove or disprove your words.  Many Americans today have been lulled into an apathetic state of simply believing what they are told. Many simply trust.

You speak of immigration reform as if it is going to solve all the problems of the Latino people.  You hang it on a string from a stick like the pictures of burros I have seen plowing fields for a carrot.  The burro keeps trudging forward hoping to acquire the much desired prize that is set before him. I wonder if the burro salivates while he plods toward it…

Are you aware of the deep-seated yearning – the burden – that Latinos carry in their bosoms?  The same Latinos who “salivate” for the freedom of their loved ones in Latin-American countries? Many of their dearest – and my dearest connections are trapped; victims of poverty, yearning to be free. The “huddled masses”.

You took note of their desperation, their love, their desire for a better life for their families and friends and you used it to get into their minds and hearts.  You saw the fathomless depths of “dare I hope” in their eyes – the ache that they live with every single day – and you used it to seduce them into voting “against their enemies.” You are supposed to be perpetuating the United States of this land, not separating them. Shall Americans rise up- brother against brother – again?

Even in High School, the campaigning is more about what the students want to achieve for their betterment of their school and classmates.  There is very little fingerpointing toward their opponents.

Are you aware of School Spirit, Mr. President? It is a tiny example of what this nation is known for. Patriotism. Love for Country. Devotion to Country.

When are you going to promote “School Spirit” in America?

You grieve me.

I weep at your divisive words.

I weep for my beautiful intelligent race that has no idea what the Republican party has done to advance their cause, because so few will tell them.  You had the chance of a lifetime. You had the opportunity to unite a people that day on the radio in California, and instead you used it for selfish gain. How sad.

I weep for my nation because their leader is so concerned with getting his way that he is purposely separating citizens of character who would rather set their differences aside in order to achieve the greater good for all of their children and grandchildren to come, than to remain divided.

If President Lincoln were alive, he would weep with me to see lines of division re-drawn; to see anger once again dividing American men and women.  Especially after having witnessed first-hand the vast outpouring of blood that men and boys drenched America’s fields with.  It took the blood of this country’s forefathers to erase the very lines you seem to take pleasure in reinforcing.

I know I speak for the vast majority of Republicans when I say we would love to have President Lincoln as our candidate – were he alive today (as you “wondered” publicly – mocking us in front of all of America, just a few days ago).

I am not sure if you are aware of the fact that a woman, who moved here to Detroit, Michigan, waged a battle in Montgomery, Alabama in regards to where she could sit on the bus, Mr. President.

Mrs. Rosa Parks moved a nation over so she could sit down; she and her friends who supported her.

I don’t have to sit in the back of the bus, Mr. President.

And thanks to her, Sir,  neither do you.

Almita Palomita is a regular contributor to usACTIONnews.com

She blogs at Del Corazon ~ From the Heart