Political Quotes

“when I was in the second grade--which I did twice because I was dyslexic, so I don't know which year of the second grade it was, but one of those 2 years--we were asked to line up in order of whose family had been here the longest period of time and whose family had been here the shortest period of time. I turned out to be the answer to both of those questions. My father's family went all the way back to the Mayflower, and my mom's family were Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust. They didn't leave Warsaw because my grandfather had a large family he didn't want to leave behind. And in the event--everybody was killed in the war, except my mom, her parents, and an aunt. They lived in Warsaw for 2 years after the war. Then they went to Stockholm for a year. They went to Mexico City for a year, of all places. And then they came to the United States--the one place in the world they could rebuild their shattered lives, and they did rebuild their shattered lives. My mom was the only person in the family who could speak any English. She registered herself in the New York City public schools. She graduated from Hunter College High School. She went on to graduate from Wellesley College in Massachusetts in one generation. My grandparents rebuilt the business they had lost during the war. I knew from them how important this symbol of America was to people struggling all over the world.…”