The Land of Everybody

"The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges, or churches, or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people."

-Walt Whitman

If you had been driving the two lanes that cut through the limestone hills of Central Texas, you might have seen him running. There are fine trails and country roads that rise above the Colorado River and open to glimpses of the long western horizon that hides the distant Chihuahuan Desert. In his hometown of Marble Falls, he has been a diminutive figure whose churning legs have carried him places his parents never dreamed.

Leonel Manzano was a two-time NCAA 1500 meter champion for the University of Texas and won nine state titles for Marble Falls High School, and he has become, almost improbably, a member of the US Olympic team bound for China. The improbability of his success has nothing to do with his 5 foot 5 inch stature in a sport of spider-legged athletes. Manzano's story, which will be told with a flourish next month on television, is the distinctly American type that fills us with both pride and political conflict.

Manzano, who was born in Mexico, immigrated to the US at age 4. According to reports, his father, Jesus, crossed the Rio Grande into Texas 16 times searching for work and returning with money to his impoverished family. And he did not even know how to swim. Eventually, in 1987, he acquired legal residency. What Jesus Manzano was able to provide for his family in America as a farmworker went beyond simply food and shelter. He gave them a chance. And Leo ran off with it to finish second in the US Olympic 1500 meter trials.

"I've been looking forward to this day since the summer of my sixth- or seventh-grade year in high school," he told his hometown newspaper the Marble Falls Highlander. "I hear everybody say it is a dream come true, but I guess you really don't know what it feels like until you make it. Let's just say I almost don't believe it. I am excited, really excited."

We can build a wall along the Rio Grande to match the height of the skyscrapers of our great cities and we will not stop the Jesus Manzano's of the world. They know what our country represents for them and their children. Many of our accomplishments are by-products of a long history of calling out to immigrants and now we are trying to tell them to stay away. Along the Rio Grande, people have lived on both banks of the river for thousands of years and thought of it as a body of water that connected their families and cultures. They do not want to believe it is what divides us.

In Marble Falls, though, they are not thinking of political affairs. The phones are ringing with chatter about Leo, the son of an immigrant who walked the desert and the brush country to find work to feed his family. Leo, who learned humility from his father, may bring an Olympic medal to the little town in the Texas Hill Country. They all might get to be a part of his amazing story.

Leo Manzano's teammates in the 1500 meters are also immigrants. Bernard Lagat, a naturalized US citizen from Kenya, who won the trials, is the reigning world champion in the 1500 and 5000 meters. When he turned around to see who had finished in second and third in order to qualify for the team, Lagat saw Manzano and Lopez Lomong, a refugee who had been swept up into the Sudanese civil war when he was kidnapped at the age of 6. Lagat seemed as struck by the demographics of the race as much as he was by the fact that he was going to be wearing the red, white, and blue at the Olympics.

"That means America is a melting pot and America is where they welcome everybody regardless of their place of birth," Lagat said.

For Lomong, America has been a kind of resurrection. After spending 10 years in a Kenyan refugee camp, Lomong ran away and came to the US where he was known as one of Sudan's "Lost Boys." But he has found himself through running and brought an NCAA national championship to Northern Arizona University. When he earned a spot on the US Olympic team, he jumped up and down, shook his head wildly, and jiggled in a childish kind of wonderment.

"I'm dreaming my whole life, Olympics, Olympics, running for the United States," Lomong said. "This is America, this is the land of everybody."

There may be a politician somewhere who knows how to solve our immigration problem. But when you look at the 1500 meter runners it is not easy to think we have a problem. Building walls at the border won't change them or the dreams of any other immigrants. But it will change us. Who knows what we might become? And why would we want to be something different?

We are the land of everybody.

Read more HuffPost coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

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Comments

[TRYKER]

Nice post Mr. Moore, thank you. I'll be watching the Olympics and hoping for his success.
As much as Mr. Bush wants to make sure we have many enemies to rail against, here and abroad, why don't we all get in his face and say "Stop it."
It is from the top down that this divisive racism hate-mongering is born and that is the head that will be changing in January.
We should be glad to be offered a second language in our schools and delighted to learn Spanish...for a lot of reasons.
If its so easy for immigrants to speak English immediately, why is it so hard for Americans to learn Spanish? Can't have it both ways, we must be reality based.
When people complain to me about "those illegal immigrants", I ask them to tell me of their personal experiences with them, and or their experiences with non-English speakers. The air gets still, there is a long pause and then usually its : "W-e-l-l-l-l I haven't had any myself, but my sister's husband's brother said...." or some other platitude.
An awful lot of people are groveling around in the mud and slime and their minds are turning to mush.

[pmag88]

In virtually every western state the majority of the people have voted time and again to control the borders and grant some kind of conditional amnesty and a right to earn citizenship for those already here. Yet the minority on the right who wish to exploit, and the minority on the left who fancy themselves the champions of human rights, have muddled up the works at every turn. The fence is a testament to their inability to be honest and come to consensus around a fairly straightforward issue. This hideous scar between our nations is their fault.

[clr2]

And he couldn't have done this legally?

[Beaux510]

He did do it legally. Read it again.

[clr2]

His parents came here ILLEGALLY.

[dubster]

I just wanted to thank you Mr. James Moore. This was an excellent piece, I enjoyed reading it very much. I had not heard of this Leo kid prior to reading your post and I'm glad he is competing for America in the Olympics . Moreover, I especially liked it because it was a piece about an immigrant that wasn't a negative depiction of one. This debate has turned rancorous and vitriolic and it is very saddening to see so many negative and spurious depictions of Hispanics blasted across TV screens throughout the U.S. The majority of Hispanic people are good, honest, and hardworking who do not want to cause nor commence any unnecessary trouble. I'm so jaded from all the xenophobic and anti-Mexican rhetoric going around right now, it is absolutely despicable. The reason it is so grotesque is because it smacks of sinister overtones as well as ethnocentric and bigotry which are intellectually dishonest to the debate. Again thank you for writing something positive and not nefarious because that sort of stuff sticks to the minds of otherwise good people.

[JBoy]

"The majority of Hispanic people are good, honest, and hardworking who do not want to cause nor commence any unnecessary trouble."...this is true, but there's no reason they can't immigrate & become Americans by the established legal process. Many people aren't xenophobic on this issue as much as they are irritated at the skirting of the law. Millions of Americans immigrated here, followed the legal route to citizenship, learned our common language, and adapted to our culture. The Mexicans should too.

I'm all for immigration...when it's done properly, but too many Mexicans come here and don't even make an effort to learn our language, and that's wrong. If I visit Mexico, I don't expect them to adapt to my language...I need to adapt to their language! Likewise, when foreigners come to America, they need to speak English. Now Obama wants us all to learn Spanish? That's crazy! America is a melting pot of cultures with a common language. This is an obviously insincere ploy to lure the hispanic vote.

[pmag88]

What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Tri-lingual. Two languages? Bi-Lingual. One language? American. That's the joke and that's the issue. It isn't about accommodating those who can't speak our language, hell, pretty much everyone speaks English. It’s about being more culturally diverse and competitive in the future. Obana said we should teach a second language, not specifically Spanish. At this point Mandarin looks like it might be a better bet.

I agree people should come here legally. I strongly disagree with many of my liberal friends who can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that hundreds of millions of people would come here, virtually overnight, if we had an open borders policy. It's pure fantasy.

[oafishcad]

I'm a firm believer that illegal immigration is a bane on America and that legal immigration is a blessing. America has a right to have a secure border free from illegal entry. But putting up a wall between Mexico and the USA has to be one of the stupidest ideas ever. And the fact no fence is planned for the Canadian side speaks volumes.

[dubster]

Thank you Mr. James Moore, I enjoyed reading this piece very much. I hadn't heard of this Leo boy before this. He is a blessing to the U.S. Moreover, it was very refreshing to read something positive about Hispanics in America and the great that they can do! This debate has turned so rancorous and vitriolic that it is often saddening to see so many negative and often spurious depictions of Hispanics. They are a good, honest, and hardworking people that don't want to cause or commence any troubles. I'm tired of the xenophobic and anti-Mexican rhetoric that appeals to people's fears and causes new prejudices. Again I just want to reiterate how refreshing it was to read a post about an immigrant that wasn't sinister or nefarious in nature. Thank you again!

[osturk]

It is ok to call him a Mexican. Nobody will be offended.

[osturk]

I hate the idea of a wall as well. We can secure our country and still have common sense immagaration reform.

[artsandminds]

NO fence is planned for the Canadian side because on our northern boarder more people migrate to Canada than from Canada. So if anyone were to build a wall it would be the Canadians. Furthermore, how can you even compare the two borders, millions of people are crossing up from Mexico each year, and as I said far more people migrate to Canada from the United States, than the other way around. Immigration is good, but thanks to the flood from the south, America is becoming less a melting pot and more a two-course meal, American and Latino.