We Are the People
Jun 18 2009
Visiting D.C. was both educational and inspiring. We visited The National Park for the White House as well as the National Park for the Monuments. The kids earned a Junior Ranger badges at each park and were drilled by the park rangers about their answers.
Along with the Junior Ranger badge for the monuments, we visited the monuments (funny how that works). We told the kids about the World War II, the Korean War, Abraham Lincoln, and the Jefferson Memorial. At the Jefferson Memorial, we were given a personal presentation about the memorial and what it stands for.
This presentation in itself was inspiring because it dealt with how the Declaration of Independence and its statement that all are created equal really represents the foundation of our country. President Franklin D. Roosevelt emphasized this when he dedicated the memorial; Lincoln also called people’s attention to it when he gave the Gettysburg Address.
But for me, the ranger’s presentation also was a metaphor for what our country stands for. The ranger was a young woman who came to the U.S. from Somalia more than 20 years ago as a young girl and eventually achieved citizenship. What was fascinating to me as I listened to her was that here was a young woman from another country representing our government at a memorial to one of our most important figures and giving us the most extensive talk we have heard yet about our nation. She discussed the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s intentions for the country, and FDR’s designs for the memorial. We also discussed other issues such as civil rights, U.S. history, and her desire to see more national parks. Her wealth of, and desire for, knowledge about the U.S., as well as her broad vocabulary, were greater than that of most U.S.-born Americans — including myself. It was inspiring to listen to her and see her appreciation for her citizenship and her desire to know so much about her country. I’ve got to start reading some more history now.
