The other day I overheard some people talking about how
recent immigrants are trying to take over the government by strategic voting. I
thought that all voting was strategic in the sense that you vote for the people
that you think will best serve your needs and desires.
This got me to thinking about how immigrants have been
treated whenever they come to a new land. The first ones that I was aware of
were the Italian immigrants when I was growing up in Toronto .
I can remember people talking about how they live like animals with five
families living in the same house, how the whole neighbourhood stinks when they
are cooking their food. Five years later, when all five families owned their
own homes (outright) and had started businesses which employed many others you
didn’t hear as much complaining.
I worked a summer job at a door manufacturing plant and the
bulk of the workforce there were Italian. They were incredibly hard workers and
other than the fact that I couldn’t figure out how they could speak to each
other and not use English, they were pretty cool people. It was there that I
learned to swear in another language. There was a second generation Italian kid
about my age working there and we naturally got together on breaks and lunchtime.
We talked about many things and he told me that all but $5 of his pay went to
the family bank account. I told him that was bullshit and he had the right to
keep his pay for himself. He understood where I was coming from, but pointed
out that when he gets married, his parents will buy them a house and her
parents will furnish it. Hmmmmm…
There was a time when the Irish came to North
America in droves. There was difficulty getting jobs and food in Ireland
and the west promised a better life. They were thought to be no good for
anything but drinking and fighting, and of course the Leprechauns. Eventually,
the Irish got into law enforcement (according to the TV shows) and eventually
politics. More of that strategic voting I suppose. Say, wasn’t John Kennedy
Irish? Today, most of the Irish people that I know are good citizens and
contribute to the betterment of the country, although they still like to drink
and fight. Right Linda?
Today we have a large influx of people from the Indian
sub-continent that are immigrating to our country. Their food smells different
and if you are to believe the gossip they are taking over the country. Maybe
so, but from where I sit, all that I see are people who are hard working and
wish to make a better life for themselves and their families. Don’t we all wish
for that?
The people that complain about losing jobs and our values
being changed are just wrong. Some things will change, but change comes no
matter what, it is the nature of life. In a generation or two no one will be
able to tell who was who and when they came to this country because like it or
not there is a good chance that your kids or grandkids will be marrying “one of
those Irish”! Or Indian, or Italian. Oh, and that stinky food that we
complained about thirty years ago is the same food served at restaurants we
line up at now.
I wonder if it is just a coincidence that the countries I
mentioned all start with the letter “I”? If not, there is a good possibility
that in the future we will be able to complain about the Icelandic, Indonesian,
Iranian, Iraqi and the Israelis. Maybe we will give the Israelis a pass in lieu
of the past 5000 years or so. It seems that we are being alphabetical in our
mistrust of immigrants. Just a warning to all of those countries “J” through
“Z”, I have my eye on you and would it be possible to put in a reservation for two, Saturday
February 13th 2044 for 7:00PM ?
No comments:
Post a Comment