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Bored, why not rant?
12 years ago
General
Little known fact: I have a fairly functional brain. It even occasionally thinks sometimes. So the other day, I got around to thinking about my family history.
I'm about 35% Native American, all on my mum's side mixed in with some Hungarian, but I don't know my mom's side of the family very well. On my fathers side, however, I have 25% Slovenian and 25% Italian. I am so Slovenian, I have an aunt Solveg. My family calls me Agus, even.
When my great great grandmother came to America, where she met her husband, she didn't speak a word of English. Her husband barely spoke any. Their children learned English in the school system.
My family, as you might imagine, began working in the factories during the industrial revolution. They were the poorest of poor. When the Italian side of my family reached the Americas, they also barely spoke English and were also very poor. The Slovenians did factory work, the Italians joined the military. By the next generation, things improved. My great grandmother on the Slovenian side didn't have to work, she raised her children while my great Grandfather worked in a mine. By the time my grandparents merged the Italian and Slovenian, they could afford to build their own three bedroom house for them and their four kids. My grandpa was in the Navy, then worked at a car factory, my grandma cleaned houses and waitressed. Half of their kids were able to pay their way through college.
Now, generations later, I am about as white and "American" as you can get. I grew up in an upper middle class family with a well paid machinist father and a stepmother in human resources. I am going to a university with a fairly good reputation, probably one of the best state schools in the country.
Compare this to a current first generation Mexican immigrant. She doesn't speak English, she'll (statistically) have a lot of kids, be very low income, her husband will do some terrible job with horrid working conditions. And we hate her. We think she should learn English before living here, that she's corrupting our streets with her weird culture.
Why? How does she differ from my great great grandmother? How is she any less American than the woman I've never met who I am so proud of- Who came here without understanding a word of our language, without knowing an ounce of our culture. Whose husband worked 12 hours a day in a factory, whose 8 children barely spoke English either. I don't think anyone would argue that she wasn't some symbol of the American dream. Why is the current immigrant such a foreigner to us?
Pay attention to other people, other cultures. Be empathetic. You might actually seem like a decent human being if you do.
I'm about 35% Native American, all on my mum's side mixed in with some Hungarian, but I don't know my mom's side of the family very well. On my fathers side, however, I have 25% Slovenian and 25% Italian. I am so Slovenian, I have an aunt Solveg. My family calls me Agus, even.
When my great great grandmother came to America, where she met her husband, she didn't speak a word of English. Her husband barely spoke any. Their children learned English in the school system.
My family, as you might imagine, began working in the factories during the industrial revolution. They were the poorest of poor. When the Italian side of my family reached the Americas, they also barely spoke English and were also very poor. The Slovenians did factory work, the Italians joined the military. By the next generation, things improved. My great grandmother on the Slovenian side didn't have to work, she raised her children while my great Grandfather worked in a mine. By the time my grandparents merged the Italian and Slovenian, they could afford to build their own three bedroom house for them and their four kids. My grandpa was in the Navy, then worked at a car factory, my grandma cleaned houses and waitressed. Half of their kids were able to pay their way through college.
Now, generations later, I am about as white and "American" as you can get. I grew up in an upper middle class family with a well paid machinist father and a stepmother in human resources. I am going to a university with a fairly good reputation, probably one of the best state schools in the country.
Compare this to a current first generation Mexican immigrant. She doesn't speak English, she'll (statistically) have a lot of kids, be very low income, her husband will do some terrible job with horrid working conditions. And we hate her. We think she should learn English before living here, that she's corrupting our streets with her weird culture.
Why? How does she differ from my great great grandmother? How is she any less American than the woman I've never met who I am so proud of- Who came here without understanding a word of our language, without knowing an ounce of our culture. Whose husband worked 12 hours a day in a factory, whose 8 children barely spoke English either. I don't think anyone would argue that she wasn't some symbol of the American dream. Why is the current immigrant such a foreigner to us?
Pay attention to other people, other cultures. Be empathetic. You might actually seem like a decent human being if you do.
