Know your American History

The world turns upside down. - Lin-Manuel Miranda

I think a lot about those words, I unabashedly listen to my show tunes and I’m always proud of who I listen to. I’m always proud of what I do, What I listen to while I make my magic and recently I’ve been driven to write my own powerful piece about immigration.

To be honest dear readers, I think quite a lot- I also listen to more show tunes than the average unemployed nerd. Even more than the average theater kid that never participated in actual theater. I had one of those afflictions where I detested going to school in general, That included but is not solely revolving in me showing up 3 hours late- Or even better leaving 5 hours in.

However musicals had given me things to look forward to in school, Listening to La-Vie Boheme while painting in art class- Feeling the full power of the RENT ensemble backing me as I poured all my soul into my art. Listening to ‘The world will know’ from the Newsies Broadway soundtrack, Filled me with enough rebellion to show up to school and shove a metaphorical middle finger to all the people who were saying I couldn’t do it or I shouldn’t bother. As of late I’ve been obsessing over Hamilton’s Broadway soundtrack and although I’m a self proclaimed theater nerd, I was a history nerd first.

Throughout elementary school I always wanted to know more, My teachers would rant about columbus and the Native Americans he had made compromises with- Told the generic lies about how he ‘discovered’ america, Fed us the whitewashed version of history- And little Kellie Dougherty who was always eager to learn more raced to her family desktop to get the real truth.

My father had a wonderful habit of quizzing his kids at the dinner table- A competition that may seem meaningless now- But it felt like everything to me. If I could come up with the most unlikely fact to shock my dad- I knew I’d win and I’d feel like the smartest little girl in the world.

Around the same time I was searching for facts on the internet, My mother had told us we were descendants of Cherokee indians. After doing an Ancestry DNA test, We learned that wasn’t true, But this little piece of false knowledge led me on a history rampage. I wanted to know the truth, Not just what the New Jersey curriculum wanted to tell me.

If my fifth grade history teacher mentioned the uncleanly conditions in Boston in the 17th century, I’d be raising my hand to mention how there were similar conditions leading to the Black Death in the 14th century. If some kid thought they knew something about history, I’d prove I knew more- Maybe I was a know it all, But at least I wanted to learn.

People are influenced so much by what they watch, By what they read- People are a mosaic of who we surround ourselves with and what we consume. The reason I even mention that is because I’ve learned we are quite literally a puzzle piece made of other people. My mother always tells me “One second” In italian, Even though neither of us know how to spell it- Because my GrandFather could speak italian, Why? My great grandparents immigrated from Naples, Italy to New York.

My father is irish and Polish,Most recipes my mother used to cook for us were Irish and Polish. There are physical attributes you can easily recognize in a irish person, The red hair, Blue eyes, Freckles. I wasn’t gifted with them, I got the other attributes, The temper, Love for bread, Exc.

I recently binged all of Outlander, Coincidentally around the same time I took my DNA test and learned I’m also Scottish. It made me sit for a second and truly think about who I am, Where I’ve come from and what my Ancestors must have gone through.

The Musical “West Side Story” you see the struggle Puerto Rican immigrants had to go through just to live in america. There's even an amazingly composed song titled “America” in which they sing about the struggles to just survive here. They talk about how people are so racist they double the price of an item when they check out, About how you’d be lucky to live in an apartment by yourself but instead you're stuck with generations upon generations in one small living space.

When my Great Grandparents (On both sides) moved to America they had to do everything they could to assimilate to the “American way” which included learning English, Including slang and teaching my Grandfather and great uncles to only speak English and not the native italian. My Grandfather was the only one born in the U.S. and the only one who didn’t speak fluent italian.

On my father’s end it was extremely similar, Their history, Their cultures and languages becoming eradicated to the point where the only place people could be themselves were in small sections. Those sections? Street blocks.

You’ve heard of little Italy, China town- Although they exist they are exaggerations of what living on a block really is. My parents grew up on two different blocks in brooklyn, My father being in an Irish and Puerto-Rican- My mother had many Polish, Irish, and Italian inhabitants on her block.

Living in parts of the city is quite literally like living in a miniature version of the Country your Ancestors hail from. I want to stress that most of the people who immigrated here didn’t isolate themselves. In fact, They were isolated because of bigotry and fear. Both ridiculous things to factor into business and friendship.

Often people didn’t even get to enter the Country with their own last name, Not speaking English they would say their jobs- Or what they had been working with at the time. Leading to last names like, ‘Carter’ being shortened from carpenter, Or “Sledder.”

After entering the United States it would sometimes be impossible to find a job. Many people who already lived in America had a similar stigma to Immigrants as people do now. Like I said before, Parents would be teaching their children to learn English but sometimes weren’t capable of doing so themselves, Leaving them to find jobs with people who spoke their native tongue. It was never self isolation, Just a matter of survival.

What I truly hate about America is the phrase ‘Go back to where you came from.’ or ‘Speak American’ can be used so often. I need to stress that those two phrases are actually the most unAmerican things to ever be uttered, Because Every language is American and If you are contributing to this society, If you have asked us for help- If you are helping to improve this Nation you are American.

Most Whiskey is Scottish.

Pizza is Greek.

Modern Tomato Sauce is Italian.

Most Words in ‘Modern’ English are Derived from either Latin, Roman, Or Native American.

Donuts are Russian, but Remember “America Runs On Dunkin’.”

HamBurgers are German, “The All American Lunch.”

James L. Kraft Immigrated from Canada and made Yellow American Cheese.

German Born Ralph Baer invented the modern concept of playing games on a Television screen.

Alexander Graham Bell was Scottish born and invented the telephone.

Louis Le Prince was a French Artist who ACTUALLY invented Movies and had dreams of moving to America to patent his moving pictures before disappearing.

The true American way is being yourself. It's walking into your house and knowing that you are making a living for yourself and your family. It's knowing that what you’re doing is enough and that you’re safe. It's loving yourself and your family, Never shaming your neighbors for religion, Color of their skin or who they love.

If you say you’re proud to be an American, I never want to see or hear you tell someone to go back to their Country. If you see someone and their skin color is different than yours they are just as American as you- And if your Ancestors moved here before December 18th 1865, Remember they probably had a hand in bringing their Ancestors here and you shouldn’t open your mouth.

Remember every language is American, Because without all the other countries and cultures there would be no modern English. Remember that without immigrants there wouldn’t be half the things you love. Being American is just being here.