Made in America

Fresh out of the oven, cradled in a checkered red and white towel, mom's apple pie permeates the kitchen with a sweet cinnamon aroma. 

Awakened by a cadence of wind gusts, the stars and stripes unfurl and snap crisply in a brisk autumn breeze. 

New Jersey’s favorite son, The Boss - Bruce Springsteen with his 

E Street Band belt out ‘Born in the USA’. 

All are 100% pure Americana. 

What about the Corvette, Levi jeans, Rawlings baseballs, Brooks Brothers suits, Converse All-Stars, even Ken & Barbie? They too are classics instantly identified the world over as ’Made in America’. 

But wait, are these icons  of Americana actually ’Made in America’? 

Hint, only one can claim the distinction. Can you guess?

    empty racks awaiting

Unless you selected Brooks Brothers suits, you’d be mostly wrong! Almost all production of the other classic Americana is shipped out.

Eighty percent of Brooks Brothers stately attire is made in the US. In fact they are produced in Haverhill, Massachusetts at Southwick, a company with a huge, impressively clean, and brightly lit integrated facility. By ‘integrated’ I mean the cloth comes in through one portal and the finished suits go out to retailers and custom order clients through another. 

                                                                                      

on Southwick’s factory floor

Next question — who are the craftsmen, gifted with the skill set to cut, sew, stitch, and assemble the high end suits?

Answer - immigrants, newcomers to the USA!

Southwick’s philosophy, coming directly from the top, is that all Americans - unless they are Native Americans - came from somewhere at some point. We have that in common. Southwick enables newcomers to continue coming to our country and realize their potential. Currently five hundred men and women, originating from Latin America, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Middle East, and further reaches buzz about the Haverhill plant. When hired, if their skill set is not up to par, they are trained at the company and put on a path to English proficiency. Southwick even provides subsidies for relocation and housing. The company is profitable and competitive while helping to weave new immigrants into the fabric of American life. 

                                                                            passing through Quality Control before the label and flag go on

Southwick doesn’t just share the American dream we talk about, it walks the walk. It keeps the American dream alive.

                          

                                                                                                                                 images © David Greenfield 

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Coming to America

© David Greenfield 2017

Far

We've been traveling far 

Without a home, but not without a star

Free, only want to be free

We huddle close, hang on to a dream

On the boats and on the planes, never looking back again

They're coming to America 

excerpts from America by Neil Diamond

For a hundred and thirty years these tempest-tossed souls yearning to breathe free have seen … a mighty woman with a torch … and silent lips, lifting her lamp beside the golden door!*  upon arriving to our shores.

* excerpts from Emma Lazarus’ The New Colossus poem in Lady Liberty’s pedestal 

                      © David Greenfield 2017                                                                                         

But after a century plus of proudly welcoming the tired, huddled masses entering America through New York Harbor, the golden  door is closing and a tightly meshed screen has been inserted before it. Perhaps a closer view of Lady Liberty’s face expresses what her silent lips now cannot. 

Just  few days ago, my wife Carol and I boarded a ferry for the cold, wind-swept journey out to Liberty Island on which the Statue stands. Both of us wanted to reconnect with her spirit at this time. I first saw the Lady in New York Harbor at the end of a Germany to America trans-Atlantic journey more than six decades ago. 

While in the Big Apple, we met and had revealing conversations with a lot of folks, people with names like Assumana, Marzena, and Ali just to name a few. The first was a man from the Dominican Republic who tucked our car away in the parking garage. He lit up when we mentioned fellow Dominican Big Papi and the Sox. Then there was  a hotel worker who inadvertently slipped into his native Polish as he passed us in the lobby offering a friendly good morning greeting of dzien dobry. He did an about face when I responded in kind. 

At our favorite Mediterranean restaurant, co-owned by a Greek and Jew, our Greek waiter introduced us to Ali from Bangladesh. Ali beamed recounting how he’s been working at the restaurant for fifteen years and has a sole purpose of providing the best education possible for his kids. Our friendship immediately blossomed. Within moments he followed up with presentation of complimentary double espressos and what Carol described as the best plate of assorted sweet treats she ever tasted.

So where are these little vignettes pointing? 

In short, the city that never sleeps would be taking a nap - actually very long and frequent ones - were it not for the efforts of immigrants. Not only that, if it weren’t for immigrants we might still be singing Rule Britannia to English monarchs. 

Consider this interchange in the play Hamilton between the Marquis de Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton. While savoring their key roles in General Washington’s Continental Army defeat of Cornwallis’s Red Coats during the decisive battle of Yorktown, the Marquis and Alexander turned to one another and proclaimed, “Immigrants, we get the job done!”

By now you probably know Alexander Hamilton was a native of the West Indies and the Founding Father on our ten dollar bill. He was also the first Secretary of the Treasury, and responsible for developing the national bank and our Coast Guard.

Bottom line, immigrants are truly the ones contributing to making America great. 

Yours truly in Hamburg boarding the SS Marine Tiger, a converted WWII troop transport and cargo ship, for the two week voyage to New York. Family stories note I was always ready to eat during the journey whenever the dining bell rang. My parents unfortunately were often too sea-sick to join in.

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