Tofu in this American Paradise

What do a U.S. congressman, a weapon-designing chemical engineer, an American general and a Disney executive have in common? Aside from a slew of impressive accomplishments to their names, they all immigrated to the United States, eventually naturalized and, today, they received "Outstanding Americans by Choice" awards.

The event was held at the White House in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (formerly the Old Executive Office Building) - incidentally, a building designed by an immigrant - where 25 other immigrants from 18 different nations became American citizens. Among nationalities represented were Afghanis, French, Brits, Filipinos, Peruvians, Iraqis, Chinese and a large handful of Pakistanis. Men, some dressed in service uniforms, women, young and old stood to pledge their allegiance to the flag. In his remarks, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration services mentioned that 650,000 immigrants naturalized in 2007. In 2008, he expects the number to be much higher. Each one of these, he pointed out, has his/her own unique story. Some of these stories are breathtakingly remarkable.
Living in Washington, D.C. affords easy access to the random events that occur only in the capital at places like national monuments, government buildings, and association headquarters. Today, when I went to lunch with the woman under whom I served as a White House intern, I was asked if I would like to tag along for a naturalization ceremony at which some fairly impressive Americans would be receiving awards. Field trip to the EEOB? You bet I wanted to go!

There is just something so cool about being "cleared" into a government building and handing your ID to secret service agents before walking around enormous halls that have seen some major history. So that alone would have been enough to make my afternoon. But what I witnessed today in one of the rooms off the high-ceilinged corridors stirred renewed pride in my country.

A marine sang the anthem while the Color Guard stood in rigid attention. Everyone said the pledge of allegiance. Then, after America's 25 newest citizens promised to defend and uphold, etc. etc., the US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services recognized four outstanding Americans. First, a Cuban-American U.S. congressman, who fled Castro with his parents in an early wave of refugees, told the room that they could accomplish anything they wished in this country. Next, a Vietnamese-American woman, with a series of accomplishments in science advising and weapons design that seemed incongruous with her slight frame, stood to dazzle the room with her eloquent and patriotic remarks. Following her, a Chinese-American general spoke of fleeing China in the 1950's and of rising ranks in the Army, in which he proudly served for a career. Finally, a English-American businessman thanked the director and Bureau for his award, saying that he and his Mexican wife had found the opportunity and diversity in America unique and necessary to realizing their dreams together.

Each one of the award recipients positively exuded pride in their citizenship and in the accomplishments that have served their adopted country. As the Vietnamese-American chemical engineer said, "America is a stir-fry. In a stir-fry, you want each ingredient to retain its flavor. You want the tofu to taste like tofu and the carrots like carrots. That's what makes it great. I will continue being tofu and doing all I can to help make this great American stir-fry the paradise - I repeat, paradise - it is."