Immigrant Stories

I don't have an immigrant story but I will say that the anti-immigrant sentiments growing thanks to people like Donald Trump make me depressed. I grew up in the Midwest with a heavy Arab American population in my neighborhood. And by neighborhood I mean right across the street from my house. My little brother was best friends with a couple Arab American christian kids growing up. Of course the more black and minority people that started moving into our neighborhood, the more white people started to move away.

Hell, one of my best friends through middle and high school was a mellow laid-back Filipino dude. His immigrant family def had different customs but that didn't our friendship at all. He was actually one of the cool kids in school who was also a low-key nerd. Was voted "Class Coolest" at our predominantly black high school.

I say that to say, I grew up believing in the whole American immigration story, that this country was a refuge for all willing to work hard, help their families and be productive citizens. Now the tide is seemingly turning, even moreso than what people expected immediately after 9-11

 

I also, wish that I had some exciting story that I could share with you and the rest of the guys. I especially want to respond because I listened to one of the podcasts (not sure which one-). You were the featured guest? I wanted to hear so much more. You don't hear stories like this from a black persons perspective. This for me is another chapter.

I have begun to take immigration issues a lot more serious after listening to your story and similar ones. Growing up in a working class neighborhood that topic was the last thing being discussed. The ignorant speeches and racial slurs that have come from Donald and his nemesis are both sad and depressing. But, you're a testament in yourself.

If, my family has a story which I HIGHLY doubt than I will come back and share.

 

First I want to say to @acessential I'm sorry to hear your mom was treated in such a disrespectful manner. That is totally uncalled for. People can be so rude and nasty when all it takes is a little effort to understand someone. I don't have an immigrant story from an immigrant perspective since like most African Americans I was born and raised here and most of my family were born and raised here going back generations however my interactions with immigrants has been somewhat problematic. It's my experience that people from other countries have just as much anti-black racism as white people. They come to this country either already thinking they're better than black people or they adopt the attitudes of whites as they become more "Americanized. " Since I am a "race conscious" black man my perspective on Donald Trump is different than most SJW black people. I don't see it as our(black Americans) problem or duty to defend immigrants against white racism or anti-immigrant feelings because these people don't even respect us. I'm speaking in broad terms here not individually because I've met some cool people from other countries but as a group most other so called POC don't really respect black Americans and have no use for us until they need help with tackling people like Donald Trump, or when they want to take our money when they setup businesses in black neighborhoods. So I tend to look at most immigrants with the side eye.

 

I hear your argument quite often. However I disagree with it. I see little to no upside for black people in trying to seek solidarity with non-black POC. We've been trying that approach since the 1960s and we're still at the bottom of the heap. Black people are going to have to overcome white supremacy on our own. Also like I said before many immigrant group come to the USA already with anti-black attitudes. You can't build alliances with people who are already the enemy.

 

My grandmother is an immigrant. She is Italian and Eritrean and immigrated from Asmera, Eritrea with her parents when she was 7 in the 30s. She learned conversational English listening to CBS radio and via an Italian to English translator. She still speaks it with a slight accent. My greatgrand dad said when they first moved to the US they tried to get an apartment in upper Manhattan which was near the law school he was attending they leased the apartment to him but when he brought his family along they wouldn't even give my greatgrandma keys and tried to make my mom and her use a different entrance because the doormen didn't want to service them. They said it had nothing to do with her being black but because she was a "dirty Arab" who didn't believe in the "right God" came to find out the building was owned by the Catholic Church and both my grand dad and grandma are Catholic! So anti-Muslim or the perception of someone's supposed Muslim belief has been long standing.

 

The funny thing is not all Arabs are Muslims. Some are Christians. Most Christians are intellectually challenged. They barely know anything about their own faith let alone any others. Muslims worship the same god as Christians and Jews. They just believe Jesus was a prophet and not the son of god.

 

My father's a Jamaican immigrant and he was deported on domestic violence and drug-related offences. I'm the oldest son and I don't identify with my Jamaican side, but my younger siblings and step siblings do and I'm just left out. Nothing more to really add there.

I live in a predominantly Mexican community and those are my people! I'm not sure how they view me or the other black families around here, but I believe there's respect and solidarity.

 

I work on the front lines and interact with people with varying immigration and refugee statuses. Some of these people I have met over the years left everything to see their families to safety. They left everything to offer a future generation some peace and prosperity. So it saddens me that we have a resurgence in anti-immigrant sentiments in the United States. The United States, whose entire existence is based upon immigrants coming from far lands to engage in an improbable experiment.

The one immigrant story I will write about is the story of a friend I had in high school, let's call him Ivan. Ivan was this quiet kid who fled the wars in the former Yugoslavia (now Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia. Slovenia, Montenegro, and Macedonia) when he was a middle schooler. Ivan and his family were Croatian Christians who fled because people were being systematically slaughtered. Ivan seemed angry and I didn't know why until one day I joined him at the lunch table and we became friends. Ivan and I were from different worlds but we had a strange connection that we would discover years later. Ivan and I attended the same college and I was surprised when he asked me to come be a witness at his naturalization ceremony to become an American. I was honored. At 22 years old, I had never actually taken the time to recognize how much work and money it takes to become an American citizen but that changed, my life changed when I saw the pride in the faces of my newly minted fellow Americans. The day that Ivan became an American, I felt like his entire outlook on life changed. The shadow of the war he fled was replaced with opportunity. His accent became a little more Americanized. That is a powerful immigrant story and it is so much more meaningful than the shit demagoguery that The Donald spits out. Ivan and I are still friends today, even though we don't see each other that often. Ivan is now a police officer, serving his community. From war torn community to protecting his community. That is an immigrant story.

P.S. Both Ivan and I were closeted in college. We had one really awkward AIM conversation a couple days after we graduated where Ivan asked me about some common friends on FB and I was like yeah....we went to the same schools for high school and college but what he meant was we had some SPECIAL friends in common and my jaw hit the floor. I had NO IDEA!! Now we just laugh about it.

 

Lovr

Love it. Especially, the last part.