My Sicilian grandfather was also taunted with 'go back'

To The Daily Sun,

When I first heard Donald Trump’s combative words of “go back” (directed at four congresswomen of color) I was reminded of my family’s stories of similar requests being hurled at my grandfather. Like three of those four women, my paternal grandfather was born in this country — but his olive skin betrayed him. His father and mother had both immigrated from Sicily in the early 1900s, and my grandfather was the first in his family to learn English. He was told to “go back” as a kid in school. Later, when he would take any honest job he could find during the height of the Depression, he was told to “go back” again.

When Mussolini aligned himself with the Axis, his community and his country questioned my grandfather’s patriotism. Like many Japanese Americans, Italians were also rounded up and housed in camps during the height of the war, when xenophobia peaked. In the recent days, I’ve wondered what would have happened had he listened to all those who yelled “go back.” Would someone else have enlisted in the military in his place (at age 35 the men in his battalion labeled him "Grandpa")? Would someone else have manned the gun on his tank? Fired the first shot over the Rhine, propelling allied forces closer to victory? But then again, maybe someone other than his son would have been at the receiving end of new taunts and jeers in the sixties — when kids at the neighborhood pool told him he couldn’t swim there because he’d turn the water to oil.

Now, three generations in as being American born, the xenophobia hurled at my family feels like a thing of the past. I’ve certainly had the privilege of never having experienced it first-hand. The hard work and dedication my grandfather gave his country (his only country, by both birth and choice) laid the groundwork for generations of his family to continue to climb.

What if immigrants, and the children of immigrants, listened to these demands? Would Einstein have ceased his political activism in the United States? Would he have stopped advocating for reforming the American immigration system to give refuge to those in need during the war? Would Alexander Hamilton have given up the fight to ensure our fledgling nation had a strong enough financial backbone? Would he have ceased his work with President Washington, left his appointment at the Treasury? Instead, these immigrants stayed. They challenged the status quo. The made America better for it. When our country is open to new ideas (and new people) we are better for it. If we disagree, then we rebuttal — with logical argument and proven research. If we can’t do that, then we listen. We learn. We grow.

Aimee Terravechia 

Alton Bay