I grew up realizing that immigration changed the course of our lives. For my mom's side of the family, it literally was life saving. Our great Uncle was a judge in Sicily. My grandmother, who was 5 years old at the time was the survivor of a massacre at my great Uncle's wedding. She would come to America due to fear of the Sicilian mafia seeking revenge for a ruling my Uncle made against the mafia. This was not unusual at the turn of he 20th century. Many who immigrated from Italy wanted asylum to escape the mafia, fascism, and extreme poverty. Knowing this, I would think that descendants of Italian-American immigrants would be welcoming of refuges. Right? Unfortunately, for descendants of such tyranny, this is not the case. In fact, the disturbing pattern emerges that is quite the opposite. Many Italian-Americans where quite xenophobic. Ironically, they are among the least welcoming people of refugees that I know. I would find myself asking, how could this happen?
Many I have questioned have been directly impacted by the media. My father, prior to his passing was a huge fan of Bill O'Reilly . I would ask him, "Dad, how could you share countless emails about banning immigrants with family and friends, when you yourself benefitted from immigration?" He would struggle to answer the question. Often times referring to quotes from Fox News as a resource. I learned that the power of the media on seniors is quite strong, often influence a strong reaction to anti-immigration rhetoric.
Before my father's passing he would listen, and eventually agree that there is no difference. In fact, today's refugees are far more peaceful than immigrants in the past. It took us awhile to come to terms with the facts versus the myths.
Another problem today that exists is that Italian-Immigrants often criticize today's refuges as violent Ironically, Italian-American immigrants were a murderous bunch. They were much more dangerous than today's refuges. They infiltrated law enforcement and supported gambling, bootlegging and the sale of drugs in the name of profit. They were so dangerous, our country had to enact RICO legislation to help overcome the violence and influence of the Italian mafia. In order for our country to right the wrongs of corruption, we had to knock out the influence of the Italian mafia. This is a fact that is well documented.
What makes the history of Italian-American ancestry so complicated is that Hollywood made Italian-American mafia families out to be grandeur, albeit violent. This made it okay in some ways to be in the mafia. However, thanks to Hollywood and today's media, this lack of historical perception has negative impacted how we perceive today's refuges.
Nothing can be farther from the truth regarding how safe today's procedures are when it comes to entering our country. Today's refugees are vetted and less likely to be anywhere near as violent as Italian-American immigrants. Yet, the myth is that today's refuges are a danger to our existence. Today's refuges are more likely to be like my father's side of the family that came over from Italy. They are seeking asylum from poverty and extreme circumstances. We can not fully understand without actually learning from the refuges why they are here. Their story is one of survival from similar horrific experiences that my grandmother experienced as a child. In some cases even worse.
Many descendants of Italian-American immigrants oddly share the same values.
Today's descendants fear what they do not know. For this reason, I am sharing my story, to help people understand how fear works. It causes us to accept a reality about refuges that simply is not true. It is up to this generation to change those fears into hope. It will be difficult during the next four years, however many are up to the task. We need to tear down the walls of mistrust, and help everyone realize what unites us with today's refuges. The bond that ties us together is our hope for humanity, not mistrust and misinformation.
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