My parents immigrated to the United States by the use of green cards. They started and grew a family for several years before naturalizing, which although it took months, and it was a relatively easy process for them. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, being a first-generation American was a bit out-of-the-ordinary. I had friends that had never even crossed state lines, much less left the country. My mother could have likely been the first person they had ever met from the southern hemisphere. While this made for an interesting experience, it was not at all unpleasant.

I believe that I am privileged to have been born to two white, only one or two generations removed from Europe, parents. My parents spoke English natively, although with an accent, and at first glance would appear to have what many have accepted to be the standard ‘American look.’ Most people assume that I am just like them in terms of coming from a family that has lived in the United Stated for generations and has a history and roots here. As I stated earlier, this has given me an incredible privilege.

In this day and age, that privilege had become even more invaluable. Although my mother naturalized years ago, and is from a country that is on friendly terms with the US, I feel blessed that I do not have to worry about complications arising from executive orders restricting her entrance to the United States. I also feel privileged that I do not have to worry about how others will react to myself or my family simply because we blend so well.

While I may be too young to make an educated observation, it seems as if the election of Donald Trump and his increasingly targeting approaches to immigrants both legal and illegal and even citizens has emboldened others to act with the same bigotry. This is not just a problem in ‘red’ states, it has even shown its face in State College, which voted ‘blue’. Just today, a review on Yelp circulated on social media. I have included the link below. To summarize the review, the Pizzeria customer was followed outside, aggressively told to speak in English, because, “this is America,” and asked to present a green card. When the manager was called, he took the abrasive man inside and refused to file a police report due to the man being a regular client, hence siding with the hateful individual.

Today, the Home D Pizzeria responded publically via Facebook, stating:
“First of all, we want you to know how much Home D Pizzeria’s staff & owner’s regret the incident that happened in on our property. It was an unimaginable insult to the customers and has not gone unnoticed by Home D Pizzeria. Although we had no control over the offending customer’s egregious behavior, we do have control over who may enter our doors. Please know that the offending customer has been banned from our properties. If he enters, he will be told to leave immediately.
We are trying to find the woman involved in the incident to offer our regrets and have them back to the restaurant as our guest. We would be horrified if they were left feeling, in any way, that Home D Pizzeria condoned this incident. If you know how we may contact them, please let us know.”

While I believe that this response is appropriate in a sense, I also believe that actions speak louder than words and this response falls in the category of, “too little, too late.” Their initial reaction was to side with the individual with hate speech for financial reasons rather than moral reasons. It is under stress that people show their true colors. Even then, it seems in the comment section, that while the main posts insures that what was done was wrong, Home D Pizzeria defends and stands by the employee, insisting that it will implement new policies instead of speaking of reprimanding the employee because of intent. Seeing as this error was committed by management, I also have concerns about the effectiveness of the implementation of such policies. These hateful actions do not always target similar groups and present themselves in similar ways, therefore a reactionary blanket policy may be even more difficult to enforce without proper training. Such training has been suggested by commenters, but does not seem to be a concern of Home D, who instead responded that they have already talked to those involved, as if a single conversation were equally effective.

In a nation with a history so richly influenced by immigration, I would hate to see these events become more common. We live in a highly globalized world and disdain for those that do not look or speak like us should not be tolerated even if the hateful individuals possess money or political power.

Yelp Comment Link:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/home-d-pizzeria-state-college-2

Article Relating Rise in Hate Crimes to Trump’s Election