Inheritance- January 20, 2024

“Poisoning the blood.”  

That’s quite a phrase.  

Getting a blood test is one method to see if a person has blood poisoning, known by its medical term of “sepsis.”  It is a very serious condition, and it’s not a phrase to be used lightly. 

Recent usage of the above phrase seems to indicate that people from other countries, who aspire to be American citizens, can infuse a type of non-medical “sepsis” into American culture that will dilute what some people believe to be, in their minds, a specific national identity. 

This is not new.

Non-medical sepsis could likely be redefined from a vantage point of the people making the so-called “diagnosis.”  

I believe the term most applicable would be “xenophobia,” fear of strangers or outsiders. 

Sadly, xenophobia has been a continuing tradition in American history, where people who did not fit into a particular paradigm of skin color and religion were accused of doing what is noted in the phrase that begins this post, which I do not want to repeat.  

This accusatory and prejudicial perspective led to immigration being increasingly narrowed until 1924, when the Immigration act of that year imposed strict quotas on certain people.  That followed decades which saw waves of legislation that limited the numbers of Asian Americans (especially the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and successive acts) and certainly led to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.  

It may very well be that my grandparents, who came to this country in 1891 (maternal) and 1904 and 1906 (paternal) would have been accused of the doing what the phrase that begins this post indicates. 

   Of course, there are others who have been welcoming and supportive towards fellow citizens and newcomers alike.  That is also part of American history, an approach of many that has been in a constant struggle over against the narrow-mindedness of others.  Some who remember their immigrant past are ready to open minds and hearts to those who seek to join us in this ongoing enterprise of creating a vibrant society. 

I am just wondering what makes the “blood” of citizens in a country comprised of people who represent native populations and the descendants of people who were forced to come to this land and others who chose to immigrate over the course of nearly 400 years.   

According to the Collins Language Dictionary on line, “in your blood” means 

“something that is a very important part of you and seems natural to you, for example because it is traditional in your family or culture.”  

One example it uses is “music is in his/her blood,” meaning someone being born into a family of musicians.   It’s about inheritance.

  It makes me wonder what we, as fellow national community members, want to have in our “blood.”   It’s not literal.  It’s about inheritance.  

Do we want hatred and division?   Do we want cooperation and fellowship?  Do we want conflict and chaos?   Do we want partnership and respect? 

The choice is ours.   It’s a choice made not only at the ballot box, but also in our daily lives.  

If people truly believe in the phrase “love your neighbor/love the stranger as yourself” (Leviticus 19), they will know in which direction they should go.