Scotiabank Family History Centre<\/strong> <\/a><\/span>with staff who will help any\u00a0visitor with genealogical research. It doesn’t matter whether a family member landed at Pier 21 or Ellis Island or any other port in Canada or USA.<\/p>\n<\/h3>\nImmigrants and USA<\/h3>\n
While at the museum, I thought again about Trump’s\u00a0ongoing rhetoric\u00a0about immigrants. Since he began running for pre![\"pier](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_1493.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1\")
sident, immigrants in the USA, and those wanting to go there have been under the spotlight and microscope. It\u2019s become more difficult for those foreign-born to become Americans.<\/p>\n
Every terror attack committed by\u00a0an immigrant\u00a0has fuelled American fear-mongers, even though mass shootings by their own far outnumber those by foreigners.<\/p>\n
These naysayers\u00a0are supported by the Fox News channel (and perhaps Russian hackers who want to mess with America’s democracy and what the Statue of Liberty stands for). Fox hosts and news anchors are quick to underline the horror and the potential horror that they believe is connected to immigrants, whether they are Mexicans, Syrians, or any other group hoping to find security for themselves and their families.<\/p>\n
A Child of Immigrants<\/h3>\n
I\u2019m particularly sensitive to this\u00a0kind of rhetoric\u00a0as I come from parents, who were both\u00a0emigrated from Ukraine\u00a0to Canada. Dad arrived with his mother when he was 2 in 1913, and Mom came with her mother and brothers in 1929 when she was 14.<\/p>\n
They experienced a lot of prejudice but their parents worked hard (weathering the Great Depression); Dad\u2019s three brothers fought valiantly in WWII; and all members of the family on both sides proved to be loyal, proud, honest, and hard-working\u00a0Canadians.<\/p>\n
Syrian Immigrants to Canada<\/h3>\n
I see the same spirit in the immigrants arriving in our country today. Our prime minister, Justin Trudeau,\u00a0famously let in 25,000 new Syrian immigrants in his first year of office.<\/p>\n
During our recent trip to the Maritimes, I saw a number of them working hard to make ![\"pier](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_1655.jpg?resize=397%2C268&ssl=1\")
a home in their new land. Two young men sold sweets from a stall in the marketplace in Halifax, We saw two other tables at a different market in Mabou on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Again, they sold what they made. We bought a box of chocolates from one vendor. They were so delicious, I wish we had bought more.<\/p>\n
All the immigrants we met greeted us with the warmest smiles. We left\u00a0the markets\u00a0feeling proud that our country had given them a home.<\/p>\n
Knowing my own family’s immigrant experiences, I know\u00a0that every\u00a0immigrant’s journey is very hard.<\/p>\n
The Tragedy of Prejudice<\/h3>\n
As a child of immigrants, I experienced prejudice and have written about it. I now know\u00a0it was\u00a0ignorance that propelled my fellow students and teacher to treat me with contempt.<\/p>\n
Contempt breeds more contempt. Hate breeds hate, although having said that, I\u00a0never felt\u00a0hate, but I did feel sadness and loneliness. It’s no fun when you’re not being accepted by a group,\u00a0by the\u00a0society you’re hoping to be part of, because you’re seen as a threat.<\/p>\n
A threat because of your name and the fact\u00a0you speak the English language funny, or because of how you dress, or the colour of your skin, or your customs and\u00a0your faith. And on and on.<\/p>\n
![\"pier](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_1497.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n
The photo above is of\u00a0one display case at the immigration museum. Someone had written on birch bark:<\/p>\n
We walked the Gravel Path<\/em><\/p>\nPast the Sleeping Stalls<\/em><\/p>\nThe Rock Fence<\/em><\/p>\nAnd Cryptic Stones<\/em><\/p>\nLike the Earth, Trying<\/em><\/p>\nTo Discern Autumn<\/em><\/p>\nFrom Snow.<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/em>We Tethered Our Tongues<\/em><\/p>\nTo The Wind and Wondered<\/em><\/p>\nWhich Way Did The Ancestors Go? <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Not All The Same<\/h3>\n
I wrote this blog post in hopes that\u00a0more would view immigrants in a more\u00a0compassionate way. Those who make the trek, leave the land they loved, want what we all want. A loving family, a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and joy in our hearts. I’d like to think that\u00a0more of us\u00a0can stop and think and not paint all immigrants with the same brush.<\/p>\n
I hope I haven’t turned too many off with my musings. The immigration museum brought all of this home in a big way. Well worth the visit.<\/p>\n
Comments are free. \ud83d\ude42<\/h4>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently, Robert and I toured the Maritimes. We went there to see our granddaughter, who\u2019s attending Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. That city is also home to Pier 21… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88,1,4],"tags":[78,982,981,980,984,824,979,983,913,5],"class_list":["post-3466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-uncategorized","category-writing","tag-diana-stevan","tag-ellis-island","tag-halifax","tag-immigrant-museum","tag-immigration","tag-justin-trudeau","tag-pier-21","tag-syrian-immigrants","tag-trump","tag-writing-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/pier-21.jpg?fit=1280%2C854&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-TU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3504,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2017\/uncategorized\/a-year-of-unexpected-delights-and-frustrations\/","url_meta":{"origin":3466,"position":0},"title":"A Year of Unexpected Delights and Frustrations!","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"26 \u0413\u0440\u0443\u0434\u043d\u044f, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I love year-end reviews.\u00a0I look back at what I\u2019ve experienced, what I\u2019ve learned and what I\u2019m planning for the new year. The delights were many: travel, family visits, theatre, and writing, always writing. The frustrations had more to do with what happened outside our home: politics in the USA and\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"year-end review","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_0739.jpg?fit=1200%2C527&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_0739.jpg?fit=1200%2C527&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_0739.jpg?fit=1200%2C527&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_0739.jpg?fit=1200%2C527&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_0739.jpg?fit=1200%2C527&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":91,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/uncategorized\/my-neighbour-the-majestic-eagle\/","url_meta":{"origin":3466,"position":1},"title":"My Neighbour – The Eagle","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"15 \u041b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I took this photo several days ago. 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![\"pier](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/pier-21.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1\")
Recently, Robert and I toured the Maritimes. We went there to see our granddaughter, who\u2019s attending Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n