Diversity and Pluralism in a Modern American Society
Brian C. Kennedy
University of Phoenix
ETH125
Amy Anderson
January 26, 2014
Abstract
The United Sates has always been a beacon for freedom and liberty to those across the globe looking to escape tyranny and oppression, or gain an opportunity to advance their personal interests that they would not otherwise have in the country of origin. National crisis like famine, war, poverty, unemployment and oppression have traditionally spurred people to emigrate from their home countries to find a better way of life within the United Sates welcoming borders.
Modern threats such as terrorism and organized crime have impacted the way we need to approach immigration to this country. Al Quaeda and other international threats to American safety and security combined with human trafficking by drug cartels and MS-13 gang members in Mexico and Central and South America have posed new issues that were not previously a risk.
A discussion needs to occur in which we can plan for a way to manage these treats in a sensible way without compromising our traditional role as a welcoming and gracious society to those seeking freedom, liberty and opportunity.
Roots
As the son of an immigrant, I was told stories by my father of a time and place in which poverty was accepted as the norm and opportunity to rise out of that poverty was all but impossible. A post World War II transplant from Ireland to Philadelphia as an adolescent, he was able to vividly recall the squalor in which his family was forced to live in Dungarven, Ireland. His father and mother new that the only way for him, and for them, to have an opportunity to gain a better station in life was to uproot themselves from generations of life in Ireland for opportunity in the United Sates. I have always had a great respect for those who have risked...