I did not make up that phrase. It is the title of a book written by Lisa U. Vartanian, our guest in the studio on April 28, that describes the struggle she and her family had to endure while in the process of immigrating to America, the land of opportunity. She starts off her book with an old quotation (which I have taken the liberty to shorten) from a speech made by Theodore Roosevelt in 1907.
“………..if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes
an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated
on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to
discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace,
or origin…..predicted upon the person’s becoming….nothing but
an American….there can be no divided allegiance here…we have
room for but one flag, the American flag…..we have room but for
one language here…….the English language…..and we have room
for but one loyalty here…..a loyalty to the American people.”
That is one of the premises of her book.
One hundred and one years ago, the Ottoman government implemented a policy of official discrimination against anyone of Armenian extraction that resided within the borders of what is known today as Turkey. This official policy of discrimination quickly turned into what is now recognized as the first program of modern genocide. The number of victims ranged from about 800,000 to as many as 1,500,000 that occurred during and after World War I.
Many Armenians were able to escape the carnage that was about to envelop them. Thus began the story of Lisa’s family which took them on a pilgrimage, a very long, tiring and sometimes dangerous trek through the backwaters of Europe, including some of their capitals such as Moscow and Athens, to name a few, before they were finally able to settle in America. During their travels the family had to put up with countless hardships, including their having to live under Communism and being subject to bribery in order to able to move across borders.
Their story includes not only what they had to go through in order to come to America but also what it took in order for them to remain here.
One of a number of quotes contained within the pages of the book, describes the attitude of Lisa’s family once they were able to settle in America.
“You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the
wealth out of prosperity. The government cannot give to anybody
anything that the government does not take from anybody else.
You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
Obviously, Lisa’s family were hard working people then and still are today. Case in point, Lisa and her husband Albert started from scratch wherein they now own and operate a successful jewelry store in Thousand Oaks, California that boasts of an enormous selection from which to pick from or if you don’t like what you see, they will create for you new jewelry items as per your own specifications.
I’m not going to tell you anymore about the adventures of the Vartanians, Lisa’s book, while coming to America, but I do recommend that you get a copy of, “The Price And Power of Freedom”, by Lisa U. Vartanian and read it for yourself. You will not be disappointed.