I have grandparents buried in America. When they were young they would have been considered white Americans until they opened their mouths. My Spanish grandmother who was educated in England would have considered British unless you got her mad then the accent and English were replaced by Spanish that put you in your place. My very white skinned Italian grandparents would have been labeled wops or guineas and were loved by anyone who took the time to listen as they struggled to learn English.
If our misguided heroine from ohio took the time she would likely find her conquering neighbors either speak or are learning to speak English. Ethnic enclaves are a natural stepping stone to joining Americas culture. Problems arrise when people build social barriers to moving in and out of neighborhoods.
For christ sake get your favorite cake or dish and go meet your neighbors whose language you don’t speak.
Your personal story and its universal truth made my morning. I shared your narrative with a few Trump aligned relatives starting with the woman’s grievance, my cousin nodding her head and quickly added a horrific story read about immigrants murdering and raping.
I interrupted sharing your history of immigration. I witnessed a quiet thoughtful response. She is now thinking.
You know a few minutes ago i read an article stating how women leaders are always better than male leaders and I countered with , etc. So how about Miss Marbach.? Because she's a woman does that mean she would be a good leader
As someone of Pakistani dissent, I imagine you know much more about the situation than I do, but I know they have not always had the best prime ministers, including B. Bhutto, though she seems to have been popular with the people more than she was with some of her political counterparts.
Be that as it may, 12 generations might push Ms. Marbach's ancestors beyond the great European exodus you are speaking about. If her family was immigrating from Germany in the 1840's. During that time there was a great movement towards liberalizing German leadership and introducing democracy. Of course, the princes cracked down and the city of Marbach was a scene of a massive slaughter and arrest. The ones that managed to escape, escaped all the way to the US.
So if Ms. Marbach's 12 generations do lead there; like many bigoted E-A's (European Americans) they have no idea of their own history and why twelve generations ago her family came to America to escapre oppressive regimes themselves.
And exactly to Ms. Busby's point our education system is designed to disguise and doublespeak our own roots. So until Ms. Marbach can explain to herself why 12 generations ago her family immigrated to America, she's not even worth listening to or rebutting. Her brain is either suffering from premature menopause or simply hasn't achieved viability as of yet.
Our education system has failed....her ancestors are buried in the US? What about the ancestors of the First People who were here prior to the arrival of the Europeans who immigrated here, who stole the land, dispalced and killed many? Guess she 'forgot' about that.
Lizzie Marbach is a fool. My ancestry goes back to 1635 in Jamestown VA, a good 100 years before her paltry 12 generations. This country is not an enclave for entitled "white" people. It is a nation of immigrants. Since I have no Native American ancestry, I qualify. So does Marbach. Doesn't she realize that her German ancestry has been maligned and scorned, not just during WWI and WWII when they were the enemy, but when they arrived here speaking no English, considered hicks and rubes? I'm well aware of that because the more recently-arrived (1854 and 1880) portion of my ancestry is also German.
The purpose of the U.S. is to be a refuge and a home for those who are brave enough to leave behind everything they know and struggle to succeed in a new and difficult environment. I don't care what color they are. I don't care what language they speak. I believe they must assimilate, without discarding their culture's essence but rather offering it to the rest of America as another link in the necklace of national diversity.
My grandfather, born in the 1880's, was the son of German immigrants. He spoke of discrimination the German immigrants faced in the area around Milwaukee where they lived.
One fourth of my ancestry comes from a forebear who arrived in Jamestown from England, In the colony of Virginia, in 1635. Another 1/4 showed up around 1750, of British forebears, in North Carolina. Ancestors from the third 1/4 came from Bavaria to Wisconsin in 1854. The final 1/4 showed up in the U.S. from northern Germany in the late 1870s.
A couple of comments: What does she mean by “not seeing color?” I hate that statement. Not seeing color means not seeing individuals. It means “white washing” the world in a way it does, nor has ever, existed. Not seeing color means people fading into the mist unacknowledged and disrespected for who they are ethnically and culturally.
The other thing is that in 1924 almost all non-Western European immigration stopped. People from Eastern and southern Europe facing many of the same horrors as immigrants today face—political corruption, war, lack of education and employment opportunities, bad foreign policy—were shut out of the US and considered subhuman. Eugenics became popular and the KKK was at its historic height. We have a long history of not wanting anyone coming to the US who is not white and Protestant. Catholics were not welcomed and certainly not Jews. Few Muslims were coming in, though they, too, would have been turned away as they are today. And let’s not even go to how we treated East Asian peoples in the 19th and 20th century! My point is that hatred based on fear (and I do believe it is all fear-based) is in our cultural DNA and it rises up strongly in the likes of Ms. Marbach and her co-Ohioan Mr. Vance and his party. The only way to change it is to open our arms and share our enormous wealth and resources with people who are likely here because of the many push and pull factors that have always sent people to North America, including my very white, Western European ancestors.
The response to this disgusting woman is so clear, on point, and productive like only Qadim Raschid can be. Oh how I wish to take lessons on how to react to this type of hate as I encounter it.
I once lived in Columbus Ohio & if I had to guess, Marbach is offended by the large Somalian population. Back when I lived there, we took in a large Somalian population on purpose because we didn’t want them & their families to die. Helping others isn’t always easy & the common sense thing to do, since she is the one with the power, would be to learn a few words in many languages & make new citizens feel WELCOME. Even the word hello is better than nothing.
Also, (decades ago) when I lived in Columbus, the black & Hispanic gangs were always fighting each other. My apartment complex was horrible for it. I suspect her fellow “black” people comment hints immediately to her hate of the Spanish language speakers. It was so bizarre how they hated each other. The only thing they both had in common was hating white people more. I was harassed incessantly. 😂
Whenever I hear people complaining about immigrants moving into the community I think of the time years ago when my car got plowed into a heavy pile of snow along the street. I was out there for ages trying to dig it out. Across the street was a business run by several pastors and leaders of my church...people well known to me. Some of them saw me trying to dig out and drove away without even acknowledging me. A block over was a large house with a number of immigrants living in it. Suddenly this guy comes trotting over with a snow shovel, proceeds to GO TO TOWN on my trapped car and has me shoveled out in about 20 minutes. He smiles, waves, and heads back home. Which of these was a better neighbor, the 'here for 12 generations' ones, or the immigrant? (And yes, this does suspiciously sound like a Bible story, because humans always tend to have an out group, and we're always wrong.)
I had a flat tire one scorching hot summer day a few years ago, and was having trouble getting the lug nuts off. I was drenched in sweat and dehydrated, and felt like I was going to pass out as I struggled with the lug wrench. Dozens of good citizens passed by without so much as a glance at my struggle. Then a guy whose first language was Spanish came up to me and offered to help. He had the lug nuts off in a jiffy, put on the donut tire, and waved as he went on his way, with me thanking him profusely. Seems like Jesus had a parable about this sort of thing.
Hi, Qasim Rashid! I am please to have finally moved a bit further than reading your weekly emails and watched the Hate Mail video of you and the racist Columbia person. You said everything I would have said--had you not said it first! Thank you. Too bad it didn't change her mind, judging from her following comment. I have a relative I adore, who is the sweetest, most giving-hearted person I know. Yet, her most often spoken reason for voting for Trump is the dreaded "immigration problem." I know she has been brain-washed, as so many have been, by Trump's promises to solve single-issue touchstones. But, I just wish there was some way to get through all that dark matter clouding her reason. Thanks for your valiant effort with that woman.
thank you for reading Beverly, and watching. As far as your relative, the best antidote to that fear is to get to known immigrant Americans. Put a face of humanity on what she perceives as a problem. Relationships are how we break down barriers.
There is nothing worse than a completely reasonable person who just won't agree with you. You monster! (Lol). I'm not exactly certain who her intended audience was but I don't think she expected this. Good work!.
Also..12 generations of ancestors? I have family bona fides to apply to be a Daughter of the American Revolution (...but ..nah) and have just barely 12 generations of ancestors buried on US soil. If this isn't hyperbole on her part, math says her family has been here since late 1700s. So that kind of cements the probability that her family did and benefited from the Conquering she is now so upset about.
Please, if you have time, think about joining the DAR. I'm a member and we do a lot of good stuff. It's not all little old conservative white ladies. Well, okay, there are still a lot of those, but not all of us, and the times they are a changing. Senator Tammy Duckworth is a member!
I did not know that! My mother and sisters thought about it back in the 70's but it WAS little old white ladies then. Thank you for the encouragement. I'll look into it, I think.
This is why I follow you. You have a way with words that I would describe as cool. You do not cloud the issue with personal opinion. You destroy their arguments with kindness. It is like hot coals pouring down on their heads. Please never stop doing the good work. Personally, I am happy that you are an American in every sense of the word! I am very happy and proud to support your fine work!
Her proper question should have been how do I bridge the culture gap so we can be good neighbors. Language barriers can be stressful but there are often people who do speak English in the home. Then learn at least proper greetings and introductions in their native language. It’s not hard to do. Your neighbors may actually speak some English but can feel your distaste for them so they only speak their “foreign” language in front of of you.
Many people born and raised in other countries were taught English in school. We are just too damn stupid and stubborn to do that here. I’m learning Spanish (at 70) so I can speak with the Hispanics in my town. I find people love the fact that you’re trying do no need to be afraid if you sound ofd.
An other way to connect is bring a dessert as a gift. It’s an old custom in many countries. Even if the language is confusing. Food is a good hello.
I have grandparents buried in America. When they were young they would have been considered white Americans until they opened their mouths. My Spanish grandmother who was educated in England would have considered British unless you got her mad then the accent and English were replaced by Spanish that put you in your place. My very white skinned Italian grandparents would have been labeled wops or guineas and were loved by anyone who took the time to listen as they struggled to learn English.
If our misguided heroine from ohio took the time she would likely find her conquering neighbors either speak or are learning to speak English. Ethnic enclaves are a natural stepping stone to joining Americas culture. Problems arrise when people build social barriers to moving in and out of neighborhoods.
For christ sake get your favorite cake or dish and go meet your neighbors whose language you don’t speak.
Your personal story and its universal truth made my morning. I shared your narrative with a few Trump aligned relatives starting with the woman’s grievance, my cousin nodding her head and quickly added a horrific story read about immigrants murdering and raping.
I interrupted sharing your history of immigration. I witnessed a quiet thoughtful response. She is now thinking.
Keep up your good works
Thank you
You know a few minutes ago i read an article stating how women leaders are always better than male leaders and I countered with , etc. So how about Miss Marbach.? Because she's a woman does that mean she would be a good leader
As someone of Pakistani dissent, I imagine you know much more about the situation than I do, but I know they have not always had the best prime ministers, including B. Bhutto, though she seems to have been popular with the people more than she was with some of her political counterparts.
Be that as it may, 12 generations might push Ms. Marbach's ancestors beyond the great European exodus you are speaking about. If her family was immigrating from Germany in the 1840's. During that time there was a great movement towards liberalizing German leadership and introducing democracy. Of course, the princes cracked down and the city of Marbach was a scene of a massive slaughter and arrest. The ones that managed to escape, escaped all the way to the US.
So if Ms. Marbach's 12 generations do lead there; like many bigoted E-A's (European Americans) they have no idea of their own history and why twelve generations ago her family came to America to escapre oppressive regimes themselves.
And exactly to Ms. Busby's point our education system is designed to disguise and doublespeak our own roots. So until Ms. Marbach can explain to herself why 12 generations ago her family immigrated to America, she's not even worth listening to or rebutting. Her brain is either suffering from premature menopause or simply hasn't achieved viability as of yet.
Our education system has failed....her ancestors are buried in the US? What about the ancestors of the First People who were here prior to the arrival of the Europeans who immigrated here, who stole the land, dispalced and killed many? Guess she 'forgot' about that.
This is a perfectly true and telling send-up of enfranchised descendent of immigrants, as virtually all of the AMERICANS are.
Lizzie Marbach is a fool. My ancestry goes back to 1635 in Jamestown VA, a good 100 years before her paltry 12 generations. This country is not an enclave for entitled "white" people. It is a nation of immigrants. Since I have no Native American ancestry, I qualify. So does Marbach. Doesn't she realize that her German ancestry has been maligned and scorned, not just during WWI and WWII when they were the enemy, but when they arrived here speaking no English, considered hicks and rubes? I'm well aware of that because the more recently-arrived (1854 and 1880) portion of my ancestry is also German.
The purpose of the U.S. is to be a refuge and a home for those who are brave enough to leave behind everything they know and struggle to succeed in a new and difficult environment. I don't care what color they are. I don't care what language they speak. I believe they must assimilate, without discarding their culture's essence but rather offering it to the rest of America as another link in the necklace of national diversity.
My grandfather, born in the 1880's, was the son of German immigrants. He spoke of discrimination the German immigrants faced in the area around Milwaukee where they lived.
One fourth of my ancestry comes from a forebear who arrived in Jamestown from England, In the colony of Virginia, in 1635. Another 1/4 showed up around 1750, of British forebears, in North Carolina. Ancestors from the third 1/4 came from Bavaria to Wisconsin in 1854. The final 1/4 showed up in the U.S. from northern Germany in the late 1870s.
A couple of comments: What does she mean by “not seeing color?” I hate that statement. Not seeing color means not seeing individuals. It means “white washing” the world in a way it does, nor has ever, existed. Not seeing color means people fading into the mist unacknowledged and disrespected for who they are ethnically and culturally.
The other thing is that in 1924 almost all non-Western European immigration stopped. People from Eastern and southern Europe facing many of the same horrors as immigrants today face—political corruption, war, lack of education and employment opportunities, bad foreign policy—were shut out of the US and considered subhuman. Eugenics became popular and the KKK was at its historic height. We have a long history of not wanting anyone coming to the US who is not white and Protestant. Catholics were not welcomed and certainly not Jews. Few Muslims were coming in, though they, too, would have been turned away as they are today. And let’s not even go to how we treated East Asian peoples in the 19th and 20th century! My point is that hatred based on fear (and I do believe it is all fear-based) is in our cultural DNA and it rises up strongly in the likes of Ms. Marbach and her co-Ohioan Mr. Vance and his party. The only way to change it is to open our arms and share our enormous wealth and resources with people who are likely here because of the many push and pull factors that have always sent people to North America, including my very white, Western European ancestors.
The response to this disgusting woman is so clear, on point, and productive like only Qadim Raschid can be. Oh how I wish to take lessons on how to react to this type of hate as I encounter it.
Life is too darn short to waste energy on hate. It makes a person physically and spiritually sick!😬
I once lived in Columbus Ohio & if I had to guess, Marbach is offended by the large Somalian population. Back when I lived there, we took in a large Somalian population on purpose because we didn’t want them & their families to die. Helping others isn’t always easy & the common sense thing to do, since she is the one with the power, would be to learn a few words in many languages & make new citizens feel WELCOME. Even the word hello is better than nothing.
Also, (decades ago) when I lived in Columbus, the black & Hispanic gangs were always fighting each other. My apartment complex was horrible for it. I suspect her fellow “black” people comment hints immediately to her hate of the Spanish language speakers. It was so bizarre how they hated each other. The only thing they both had in common was hating white people more. I was harassed incessantly. 😂
Whenever I hear people complaining about immigrants moving into the community I think of the time years ago when my car got plowed into a heavy pile of snow along the street. I was out there for ages trying to dig it out. Across the street was a business run by several pastors and leaders of my church...people well known to me. Some of them saw me trying to dig out and drove away without even acknowledging me. A block over was a large house with a number of immigrants living in it. Suddenly this guy comes trotting over with a snow shovel, proceeds to GO TO TOWN on my trapped car and has me shoveled out in about 20 minutes. He smiles, waves, and heads back home. Which of these was a better neighbor, the 'here for 12 generations' ones, or the immigrant? (And yes, this does suspiciously sound like a Bible story, because humans always tend to have an out group, and we're always wrong.)
Reminds me of the parable of the Good Samaritan. I suspect that many of our young people including my own children gave up on churches.
I had a flat tire one scorching hot summer day a few years ago, and was having trouble getting the lug nuts off. I was drenched in sweat and dehydrated, and felt like I was going to pass out as I struggled with the lug wrench. Dozens of good citizens passed by without so much as a glance at my struggle. Then a guy whose first language was Spanish came up to me and offered to help. He had the lug nuts off in a jiffy, put on the donut tire, and waved as he went on his way, with me thanking him profusely. Seems like Jesus had a parable about this sort of thing.
Well done!!! 👏👏👏
Hi, Qasim Rashid! I am please to have finally moved a bit further than reading your weekly emails and watched the Hate Mail video of you and the racist Columbia person. You said everything I would have said--had you not said it first! Thank you. Too bad it didn't change her mind, judging from her following comment. I have a relative I adore, who is the sweetest, most giving-hearted person I know. Yet, her most often spoken reason for voting for Trump is the dreaded "immigration problem." I know she has been brain-washed, as so many have been, by Trump's promises to solve single-issue touchstones. But, I just wish there was some way to get through all that dark matter clouding her reason. Thanks for your valiant effort with that woman.
thank you for reading Beverly, and watching. As far as your relative, the best antidote to that fear is to get to known immigrant Americans. Put a face of humanity on what she perceives as a problem. Relationships are how we break down barriers.
There is nothing worse than a completely reasonable person who just won't agree with you. You monster! (Lol). I'm not exactly certain who her intended audience was but I don't think she expected this. Good work!.
Also..12 generations of ancestors? I have family bona fides to apply to be a Daughter of the American Revolution (...but ..nah) and have just barely 12 generations of ancestors buried on US soil. If this isn't hyperbole on her part, math says her family has been here since late 1700s. So that kind of cements the probability that her family did and benefited from the Conquering she is now so upset about.
Please, if you have time, think about joining the DAR. I'm a member and we do a lot of good stuff. It's not all little old conservative white ladies. Well, okay, there are still a lot of those, but not all of us, and the times they are a changing. Senator Tammy Duckworth is a member!
I did not know that! My mother and sisters thought about it back in the 70's but it WAS little old white ladies then. Thank you for the encouragement. I'll look into it, I think.
This is why I follow you. You have a way with words that I would describe as cool. You do not cloud the issue with personal opinion. You destroy their arguments with kindness. It is like hot coals pouring down on their heads. Please never stop doing the good work. Personally, I am happy that you are an American in every sense of the word! I am very happy and proud to support your fine work!
I’m honored. Thank you Huley
Her proper question should have been how do I bridge the culture gap so we can be good neighbors. Language barriers can be stressful but there are often people who do speak English in the home. Then learn at least proper greetings and introductions in their native language. It’s not hard to do. Your neighbors may actually speak some English but can feel your distaste for them so they only speak their “foreign” language in front of of you.
Many people born and raised in other countries were taught English in school. We are just too damn stupid and stubborn to do that here. I’m learning Spanish (at 70) so I can speak with the Hispanics in my town. I find people love the fact that you’re trying do no need to be afraid if you sound ofd.
An other way to connect is bring a dessert as a gift. It’s an old custom in many countries. Even if the language is confusing. Food is a good hello.