Fifth in a series
Re “American Generosity Is Not Always Rewarded”
In the wake of last month’s Boston Marathon bombings, allegedly by two immigrant terrorist brothers, we ask, Who are Americans? Americans are made up of individuals from all over the world. Eagerly, they have come to this country of their free will.
We immigrants are here because this is a blessed country, the land of opportunity and freedom. If some are not happy living in this country, they always can return from where they have come.
But if the terrorists are satisfied to kill innocent people, they only have helped the Angel of Death to do his job faster. Nothing more. Americans have seen worse. Some are survivors of the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust and numerous other atrocities committed around the world.
I have met many Americans who told me that they came to this country alone, with no living families, nor even luggage.
They stood on the deck of the boat and gazed at the horizon, wondering how and why they are perusing life that has been so cruel to them. Yet upon their arrival in America, they started working hard, doing any available jobs that they could find in order to live.
Once in their beds, though, the horrors that they had experienced back home passed in front of their eyes and their minds every night.
Yet after some years, they mastered the English language, studied, worked hard and achieved.
I can name so many of them who went through extreme hardship. Later, they succeeded and became major donors for good causes. So humble were some that they did not want their names mentioned anywhere. Others were obliged to participate in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War to honor their newly adopted country and to guard the freedom that quickly became so dear to them.
Others grew into famous politicians and Nobel Prize winners.
The Boston brothers had to succeed fast because they lacked patience and endurance.
Hard work is the secret of success. It is not true that dollars are piled up along with beautiful girls who are available in American streets, there for the grabbing when desired.
Among the fantasizing myths they heard in their homelands, Americans sleep at night as regular people and wake up millionaires in the morning. All successful people have studied and worked hard to be what they wanted and to reach lofty levels.
Unfortunately some Americans will continue to struggle all their of their lives, perhaps because of a missed opportunity or maybe of a bad luck.
Immigrants should know that many born Americans do not receive all the help that you are receiving. Some Americans unfortunately are not able to go to the doctor or the dentist because they do not have the proper insurance or money!
May be it is time for Americans to learn from a wise Muslim proverb (used commonly in Persian literature and everyday life):
A light needed at home is haram (forbidden) to be offered to the mosque.
Dr. Rosemary Hartounian Cohen, who lives in the Fairfax District, received her Ph.D in sociology from the Sorbonne in Paris. She lived in two other countries before moving, with her husband and children, to Los Angeles in 1984. She has published four books in America. Since 1985, she has operated Atelier de Paris, an international art business, on Robertson Boulevard. Her email address is Rosemary@atelierdeparis.com
