I was chatting with my dad recently about immigration. Primarily about how I ignored his advice to emigrate from the US til it's too late, but also about what brought my great-grandparents to these shores.
Like most immigrants, they were economic refugees.
But here's a twist that finally occurred to me after years of meditating on the nature of western colonialism: My ancestors were fleeing the same influences of colonialism that have been at play in the "New World" since it's "discovery".
Hear me out, and I'm NOT creating any equivalencies here - to be clear, my ancestors were not slaves in the sense of being bought/sold/owned, and nothing that they did have to endure is equal to the suffering of those stolen from homelands to be exploited as free labor, nor is it equal to the holocausts of the 20th century, nor the global holocaust that occurred to indigenous peoples by the Europeans for 400 years+.
My ancestors were peasants. Some were carpenters, loggers, butchers, seamstresses. By the early 20th century none of them were yet property owners. Here's why: after the Great Black Death/Plague, the oligarchs (nobility, church, etc.) in Italy took two approaches to dealing with the subsequent reductions of available cheap labor (because so many died). In the North, where the Renaissance began, laborers were encouraged to learn and ply trades, guilds were strong, and tradesmen were free to move about and go wherever they wanted to work. In the South, laborers were tied to the lands, guilds were discouraged, they weren't free to seek work elsewhere (especially not the North) - they were "locked in" to the old feudal system.
This system remained in effect until WWI, and only started to really disappear after WWII, although in Southern Italy, things have never been as prosperous as in the North. This also led to the rise of criminal syndicates: Cosa Nostra, Mafia, Ndrangheta - because it became nearly impossible to make an honest living.
Back to my ancestors: the reason they left Sicily and southern Italy was, simply put, starvation. Any profits they made from whatever they cut, grew, made, sold went to the local oligarchs. It wasn't even subsistence as there wasn't enough money to feed the whole (large) family and those who were farmers weren't allowed to keep enough of what they grew to survive. Add to that the pressure of criminal gangs extorting anyone they could, and it's not a pretty picture. I think this is why I feel such strong empathy for those coming to the US from central and south America, many of those refugees are coming from no-win-possible situations, and from what my father says (and what my grandparents told me before they died), it's not too far off the mark from what our ancestors endured.
In summary, my ancestors were fleeing the same kind of oppressions that were at the base of the founding of this country, entrenched on one side of the Atlantic and expressed as Colonialism on the other.
I'm so pissed off that they didn't choose Canada...
@laura-f So sorry, but I for one am glad you are here. Your voice has been an important one. I don't have an immigrant story that truly relates to what is happening now. But, it shouldn't take a similar experience to want to help those who are suffering or are desperate. I think that is what the GOP before and since Trump has failed to recognize: We are all ONE. We are all brothers and sisters, and my true belief is that each of us will be judged by how we treat one another. Thank you for posting your story.
HA Hi I forget you know the area. Actually I'm originally from West Harrison NY (they call this town "Silver Lake") and was walking distance to White Plains. The signs on the stores used to be in Italian and English and most of the folks were "off the boat" Italians so their children were first to be born in the US. My dad had to read his friends mail to them since many couldn't even read English! LOL
Changing Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day would help dispel the myth that Native people in the eastern US "died out." I had the privilege to work with members of the Wampanoag Nation in Massachusetts, and their worldview is hiding in plain sight:
Today I sent this letter to the local papers and am feeling good.
Why I am voting yes for Indigenous People’s Day
For many the second Monday of October has never been about a European explorer but about the land upon which we live. Every October, the leaves turn gold, and New England becomes indescribably beautiful. We called it Columbus Day because we thought we owed it to him for discovering this land.
But now we know that he didn’t discover anything since millions of people were already living here. Not only was there no discovery, but Columbus committed such atrocities when he conquered these people that Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand had him brought back to Spain in chains. Within 25 years of his landing, the beautiful people who lived there in a near perfect utopia, were killed off from enslavement, suicide, murder, and disease.
I am a white woman who is half Hispanic. My ancestors sponsored the journey Columbus made that ended in the extermination of the indigenous people. Thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement, I’ve been awakening to the myths of White dominion that much of my life were invisible to me.
Voting yes on March 2nd is a way we can begin to correct some of these myths. We will be asking our Select Board to change the name from Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day.
It is time for our town to honor those who should be honored. It is time to correct the message we send with this holiday.
We teach our children to be kind, ethical, and to operate from truth. Last year, the town’s children wrote dozens of letters to Town Meeting members asking us to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day. They are learning the history of our country, the ways that racism and White dominion have shaped and warped our culture. They are asking us to stop honoring the person who exploited, murdered, and enslaved these people, and honor those who cared for this land for 10,000 years.
At the last Town Meeting, after hours of discourse from all sides, Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly in favor of changing Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day and to send the question to the townspeople for a referendum. On March 2nd, our citizens will weigh in.
As the Governor of Maine said when she signed the bill to change this day’s name to Indigenous People’s Day, “There is power in a name and in who we choose to honor.” By voting yes March 2, you can change the meaning of Columbus Day from one of massacre and enslavement to one of healing. Let us do what 15 states and 150 cities have already done and change the name to honor the first people who cared for this beautiful land for which we are so grateful.
Right on! But every day we need to be inclusive with indigenous people. I think we should make cultural misappropriation illegal! Watch bison horns riot Guy be roasted by Native Americans in this video. You can peek into native pride here. They also talk about a little girl who wore a ribbon skirt to dress up day, and her teacher knew nothing of that sacred tradition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWR4iU9T7HM&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWR4iU9T7HM
The native community responded very strongly to his headdress.
Maybe spending time realizing no culture is a monolith, and getting to know one another will bring us together as one race the human race. Buy from native owned companies. Understand native art. Like and subscribe to patrickisanavajo. The guys are funny in an unassuming way that rings true of the native senses of humor I have known.
@jeanne-mayell I am. Read your reply, started praying and heard church bells start to ring. It was really striking!