My grandfather - son of an immigrant

With immigration being in the news (and not always in a good way)... it's gotten me to remembering my grandfather and his life as the son of an immigrant.

My great-grandfather, Giovanni Bianchi, came to the US from Italy. When he arrived, immigration officials "english-ized" his name so he became John White. Later, he sent for his wife and oldest two children. My grandfather, Louis White, was born in the USA in 1893 (followed by two younger siblings). Even though he wasn't born in Italy, his parents and 2 older siblings were... and Grandpa was still full Italian.

Grandpa grew up in the late 1890s and 1900s. It was a very very different country then. No television, radio, internet, cars, cell-phones. No 24 hour cable news channels publicizing protest rallies, sports stars gone bad, and the latest name-calling between political parties.

But there was discrimination. There was racism. Just like now. And my grandfather was targeted. Back then, Italians were targets of oppressive discrimination as were latinos and blacks and other ethnic groups. The messages my grandfather received about being Italian... they were dirty, sub-human, criminals.

When Grandpa was old enough he went into the military and at that point... started living a lie. He hid from his Italian heritage. To escape the intolerance of close-minded bigots... he began telling people his heritage was French. And so it went for over 50 years.

It was at his 50th wedding anniversary that the truth came out. I am guessing that since my grandmother met his family, she knew the truth. His children (my mother and aunts and uncles)... they were under the belief that their heritage was French. But at his 50th wedding anniversary in 1966... his sister told him that it was time to tell his kids the truth.

And that's when the lie stopped. A lie to protect himself from intolerance. Turned into a story told to kids and grandkids about Grandpa White's big secret.

As a gay man, I understand the desire to hide from intolerance. It's hard to feel good about oneself when so much of society points fingers at you and says... you are a big problem and don't deserve to be treated equally.

I don't see the real problem is the immigrants. Rather instead... close-minded groups who think they are better than everyone else and the intolerance, and yes... sometimes the out-right hatred, of anyone different from what they think is right.

So, remember that when you hear someone say something negative about mexicans or asians or middle-east groups. Just because they are different from what you are used to... doesn't mean they are the problem.