I know you won't believe me when I tell you this but I promise it's true. I might exaggerate a bit whilst imparting this to you but the general story is not fake. Did that seize your attention?
I've been “on vacation” from my column as of late but said that I would return to the scene of the crime in September. Well it is September now or it will be by the time you read this and I'm not writing this week's piece nor am I reaching into the dark and mysterious vault for content. Judith M. Villenueve of Maine got with me yesterday and said she had something she wanted to get off her chest in written form. She then asked if she could borrow my column space. I told her that would not work out due to my return but she begged me wildly to let her do this.
I finally caved because she just wouldn't quit bothering me about it. It was easier to give in as I'm quite the pacifist and don't really enjoy confrontation. For those who are new (bless you), Judy is a native western PA kind-of-gal and used to come up to the park in her youth. She is the one who goes over my work weekly in order to let me know if I have offended the masses too much or not enough.
The following is from her heart as she is a first generation American and has some sort of inside scoop about this particular topic. She forgot to mention or she was too shy to say, her parents were sponsored by a church in New York state. After they settled in the Pittsburgh region and found employment, etc., they paid back every dime that they received. In fact, Judy has the receipt to this day!
I like giving people a platform so they can express themselves. Agree or disagree, I think people should be heard, as long as it's within reason, of course. In this day and age of censorship, it's small papers like this that will loan a platform when needed. My boss should be commended at this point as well for not being overly strict about this. I'm done bloviating. Here she is:
Some Thoughts about Immigration
- By Judy Villenueve
With the mid-terms coming up, I feel a strong need to talk to you about a possibly divisive issue that will no doubt be addressed in many political advertisements we will soon have to endure every day on our local television stations. At least, I'm assuming this issue will be at the forefront. Although I may be pleasantly surprised! But I'm not going to hold my breath.
The issue is immigration. This word encompasses a lot. It also stirs up a lot of feelings. There are people who claim liberals all want us to just throw open our borders. These same people will shamelessly (and against the young victim's own family's wishes I might add) exploit the image of a young woman murdered by an "illegal alien," in order to strike fear in the hearts of their constituency. They will do this while they conveniently ignore all of the even more horrible murders being committed by our own home-grown citizens.
There are people who insist they only want to uphold the law. But recently, these people have subtly begun lumping legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, and refugees into the same basket. I've seen a few of these people in the media moaning about our "changing demographics" and how, very soon, if we aren't vigilant and if we don't act to do something about it, our society will be unrecognizable. Those words, "changing demographics." I would like to take a closer look at those words.
Now, I just looked up the word "demographics" in the dictionary. Here is the definition: "Demographics: noun. 1. the statistical data of a population, especially those showing average age, income, education, etc."
I wonder if any of those population characteristics are of any particular concern to people using the phrase "changing demographics"? Are they bemoaning our society becoming older or younger? Are they concerned that the USA may soon become wealthier or poorer? Maybe they're concerned about American society become better educated! I'm just joking. We all know what the words "changing demographics" mean. Sometimes these folks even come right out and call it "The Browning of America." I have to ask myself, if the immigrants who are overstaying their visas, or the refugees who are showing up at our borders were a more suitable color, would there be the same uproar?
There is a very personal reason that I'm interested in this subject.
My family has immigrants in it.
Some of them, like my parents, were refugees. My parents came to the USA in the 1950's. They were escaping from an Eastern European country, right before the Iron Curtain went up. My mother, father, and a handful of aunts and uncles walked out of a country that was about to be annexed by the Soviet Union. A couple of my uncles had been imprisoned for years, and were running for their lives. My parents, while not in immediate danger, decided to leave while they could. They were in their mid-twenties, they left with only the clothing on their backs, and they relied on foreign governments and charitable organizations for a short time, until they could get on their feet. They went to night classes to study English. They got whatever jobs they could, they bought homes, they raised children.
Did they try to assimilate? Well, yes and no. On the one hand, they were grateful to the United States, and appreciated the freedom and opportunities they enjoyed here. They told us many times how lucky we were, and talked about the restrictions the relatives who had remained in the Old Country were subjected to.
On the other hand, we were raised speaking Hungarian, eating Hungarian food, and studying Hungarian history. We joined the Hungarian scouts in our city (Pittsburgh), and went to Hungarian literary club meetings. We sang Hungarian songs, danced Hungarian dances. I still feel both 100% Hungarian, as well as 100% American. I'm proud of both of my heritages. When I visited Hungary a few years ago, I was able to converse with all of my relatives there, and I felt right at home.
I think about my parents these days when I visit my son in a nearby town that has welcomed a large number Somali refugees. When we go to the grocery store, our cashier might be a Somali woman wearing a veil. We see groups of Somali children playing basketball at the playground near my son's apartment. We live in Maine, one of the whitest states in the nation, so seeing people of color is unusual. But when I see these families, I can't help thinking about my own family.
These are the "changing demographics" that certain groups in our society appear to be so terrified by. I suspect Laura Ingraham, for example, would not have found my mom and dad, or any of their offspring, particularly terrifying. These newest immigrants remind me of my parents. They love their children, and are trying to find a better life for their families. They are willing to work hard. They have brought new and interesting customs and traditions from their homelands, and I hope they are teaching their children about the music, language and history of the lands they have come from.
I can't help but feel that if my parents' skin had been a different shade, their experience in their adopted country would have been very different. I don't feel any self-loathing, and I don't think all white people have easy lives. But I can acknowledge that because of the way I look, my life has been much easier than, for example, the lives of South American, or Syrian, or Somali refugees. If you speak to me, you will not be able to tell that my parents were immigrants. Even though I didn't speak a word of English until I went to school, I don't have an accent. I look just as white as Laura Ingraham and Anne Coulter. But unlike them, I don't believe it's particularly tragic if America gets a little less white.