Immigrants are exceptional people who have transformed Orleans and USA

Editor:

Rumor has it that the Irish were disliked because they were red-haired, Catholic, and worked hard. The Chinese followed Gautama Siddhartha and Kung Fu-tse, among their other “faults.” Italians revered a Pope and often had dark hair. Mexicans lived in what is now the United States before the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

Without native-Americans and these—and other—ethnic groups the United States might not be the fascinating and great country that it is today. We might never have had an Erie Canal or a transcontinental railroad. The sandstone churches of Albion, Holley, and elsewhere may never have been built. For that matter, Orleans County might not have an agricultural economy were it not for the migrant farm workers who came here from Africa via the old Confederacy and what was once part of Mexico.

My grandparents came from Austria after World War I when having a German surname and an accent to go with it often worked against you. So, the Kantuschers changed their name to something English sounding.

Immigrants are exceptional people when you think about it. They are but a tiny minority of every nation they come from. They are the ones who would not tolerate deplorable conditions and wanted something better for themselves and their children. They believed in themselves and were hoping their abilities and willingness to work their tails off would allow them to succeed in a place which often was not that welcoming.

My thinking is that if you dislike living in an extraordinary country whose immigrant origins and ancestry helped make it what it is, in my opinion, maybe you should ask yourself how great a fit you are for the USA.

Sincerely yours,

Gary F. Kent

Albion