My grandfather came over from Italy in the late 1890s. Southern Italy at that time was a “s--thole country.” He was a carpenter and kindled a thriving construction business.
Whenever I see Hispanics working in construction, I imagine my grandfather and his men speaking Italian rather than Spanish, doing almost exactly the same thing.
When my Italian ancestors first came here, they would rent the attic of someone’s house because they couldn’t afford a house of their own. Slowly, they made money, had families, and helped build the United States that we know today. The Irish did the same, as did the Chinese, Japanese, Germans and Scandinavians.
Before them were the migrations of English, Dutch and French, as well as the swells of African slaves. Thousands of years before them, Native Americans arrived from Asia.
Our ancestors were all immigrants, most of whom were leaving an impoverished existence hoping to find a better way of life. Politicians have historically gained power and influence by convincing us that “we” are different and more worthy than “those others” of different racial, cultural or religious decent.
We aren’t. We’re all the descendants of immigrants who helped to make the United States what it is. The latest mass migration is of Hispanics from Central and South America who harvest our crops and, like my grandfather, build our houses.
We need the energy of these immigrants to enhance and enrich the nation that we will become.
Chuck Romaniello
Montrose