Lynn Rudmin Chong: Continually striving for the American ideal

To The Daily Sun,

We strive, still, our America, for better than the 1800s when we had overt racism (slavery to overcome), oppression, riots. A great movie, set in 1846 about rejection of Irish immigrants in New York City, "Gangs of New York" (2002), stars Daniel Day-Lewis.

Immigrants came for so many reasons. Erie Canal construction brought my Irish ancestor George Loftus for employment. Our beloved country aims for elusive perfection, but always — hurdles. A great hurdle — lying-low Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump urging on upset of our Constitution's goals and laws. Our Supreme Court, alas, falls in line.

From Henry Roth's 1934 novel, "Call It Sleep." What immigrants saw and felt as they arrived: "Liberty [statue of Liberty]. The spinning disk of the late afternoon sun slanted behind her, and to those on board who gazed, her features were charred with shadow, her depths exhausted, her masses ironed to one single plane. Against the luminous rays of her halo were spikes of darkness prowling the air; shadow flattened the torch she bore to a black cross against flawless light..." "This was that vast incredible land, the land of freedom, of immense opportunity, that Golden Land."

Those we deport now for being non-white, English a second language if that, coming into our country at borders so not necessarily seeing the Statue of Liberty — they still wish for freedom and opportunity but we deny them. Not glorious. Truly, we still reach for the ideal.

Lynn Rudmin Chong

Sanbornton