An American named Meb Keflezighi won the Boston Marathon yesterday. Remember that name, even if you cannot pronounce it. He was the first American to win in 31 years. He is older than I am, and I am no young man.
Mr. Keflezighi, having crossed himself before the Lord, broke the finish-line tape and pointed to the heavens; nearby which one year ago Jihadists, pointing to hell, sowed treacherous mayhem.
Americans still afflicted by that burn of indignation and fury, which warming every patriot’s heart, attends to those memories of the Marathon Bombing in Boston one year ago; may confess to a secret desire that Mr. Keflezighi might have chosen a different and very particular hand gesture.
His family fled persecution for their religion. They came to America, which still upholds religious liberty, though for how long we cannot say. He grew up in San Diego and ran track for UCLA. He won the New York Marathon in 2009, and a silver medal in Athens Olympics.
He is a brother in Christ, and a fellow American. He’s done us all proud.
Comments (6)
Paul,
Great post. One thing that really annoyed me when I saw it over at the website of VDARE (the anti-immigration folks) is they had a blog post about this milestone but they used the occasion to be snarky (and just plain annoying) to claim that Mr. Keflezighi is not an American.
Now, I consider myself relatively hardcore when it comes to the issue of immigration -- I think my bishops are mostly wrong about the issue, I don't think America needs comprehensive 'reform' legislation concerning immigration (I think we need to do a better job enforcing the laws we have on the books), etc., etc. But why be so churlish about an accomplished, Christian, African-born naturalized citizen? It was petty and unnecessary if they want to win the day with principled arguments.
Posted by Jeffrey S. | April 23, 2014 5:49 PM
Alas, that attitude was on display in more than one place after the race. My reaction to it is not fit for polite company.
Posted by Paul J Cella | April 24, 2014 8:23 AM
I'm basically with you on this, Paul. Without adding any caveats or throat-clearing, I can say that Christian men like Keflezighi truly are "made in America," and there is no good reason to belittle, much less disown, his accomplishments.
Posted by Sage McLaughlin | April 24, 2014 8:48 AM
What's not to like? His family moved here legally when he was 12. 11 years later he became a naturalized citizen - legally. He started running here, in grade school, then high school. He made took the opportunities God and his parents and America made available to him, and ran with them. And he retains his family's Christian faith, putting a quote from St. Paul - "I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me!" - on the banner of his web page.
Posted by Tony | April 25, 2014 8:55 AM
Tony, as you probably know, there are some on the right for whom "what's not to like" would be answered by "his skin color" and "the fact that he's an immigrant." And that would be enough for them. Fortunately, their view is about as marginal as it deserves to be, but to some extent the Internet has changed that, and they have garnered followers. As you may recall, I once had a lengthy debate some years ago with a female blogger in that feverish portion of the blogosphere who held that it is plain wrong for American Christians to adopt non-white children from other countries.
Posted by Lydia | April 25, 2014 9:21 AM
Yes, I recall that. Such beliefs are, thankfully, rather marginalized. I was assuming the listener is sane, intelligent, and decent.
Posted by Tony | April 25, 2014 9:15 PM