As the Trump administration successfully intimidates news outlets, these outlets have begun to describe immigrants and immigration from the administration’s distorted and biased point of view. We’ve now experienced several years of listening to lies about immigrants. Do we believe these lies or are we still in control of our own minds? Our own ancestors and our own experiences tell a different story. Will we allow our narrative about what our country is and can become to be stolen from us?
We have been a unique country, a multicultural democracy. The creative energy of
incorporating new cultures has made us more innovative and economically strong. We’ve been called a “melting pot” or a “beautiful mixed salad.” I implore people to reclaim the narrative about immigrants. Think about how you know and celebrate traditions from many cultures — eating corned beef and wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day or seeing a dragon dance to celebrate the Asian lunar new year. Your life has been enriched by celebrating the traditions of our fellow Americans.
Our communities have come to appreciate each other. Think about your own background; as it’s been pointed out, your ancestors were either Native Americans, came to this country enslaved, or came as immigrants. If your ancestors were immigrants, you probably have stories of how they struggled at first, then thrived here. This is even true of Donald Trump, Steven Miller and others who are now cruelly disrupting and destroying countless immigrants’ lives.
As an ESL teacher, I’ve had many wonderful students. Often they came from countries with impossible living situations. They’ve been ready and willing to work incredibly hard to make a life here. I know immigrants who worked during the COVID pandemic, risking their lives to serve in frontline positions at nursing homes. Whether with legal status or undocumented, all immigrants are human beings and only a tiny minority have committed criminal acts. How do you really feel about your country treating human beings who’ve committed no crime so horribly? Can you really not imagine fleeing an unlivable situation to go to a safer place?
As the director of the Concord Multicultural Festival, I have been blessed to get to know immigrants from all over the world. They are people, just like us. Parents, children, students, artists, healthcare workers and business owners. They love their families, just like you and me, and just want to rebuild their lives in a safe community — just like you and me.
I’ve had the honor of helping immigrants open businesses — they are the hardest working people I have ever met. They open restaurants that provide delicious cuisine from their home countries. They start businesses like adult day cares and in-home health care services to help care for our senior citizens. They start nonprofits that allow them to help their community members integrate. They start free dance programs that enrich the lives of children who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity. The result is that ALL of our lives are enriched.
Let’s reclaim the real story of immigration and our country. This story is built on the pride and uniqueness in our own heritages and the welcoming offered in this country. It’s exemplified on the poem that accompanies the Statue of Liberty. It ends with “I rest my torch beside the golden door.” Let’s not rejoice in slamming the golden door, but in prying it back open.
Jessica Livingston is an artist, community event organizer, and director of the Concord Multicultural Festival where she has spent many years working with diverse communities in her hometown of Concord.
Glen Ring is a retired public school teacher. She now teaches ESL to adults in Manchester. She has been involved in immigration rights issues for seven years and is the coordinator of the 45,000 Quilt, a six-panel artwork that is a response to immigrant detention in the U.S.