Immigration has been integral to our interesting and mostly peaceful Niagara. We stumble along and manage to coexist.
Yes, I read a lot. Too much, some say. Including an almost complete perusal of the New York Times once a week. So much information, following their mantra of “All the news that’s fit to print” (not “Print all the news that will fit”).
Everyone seems to agree that most of the current world news is negative, taking our moods down. I am trying my best to stop consuming the news of the world.
Permit me to quote Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba’s foreign minister, who wrote that Cuba has the right to import oil without interference. “Law and justice are on Cuba’s side. The U.S. is behaving like a criminal and uncontrolled hegemon that threatens the peace and security not only of Cuba and this hemisphere but of the entire world.”
What a nice way to talk about your neighbour.
Heavy. Deep. I’ll try to lighten up.
How can we still be debating the subject of immigration? Especially here in the new world, and specifically in Niagara? We have been so fortunate in so many ways. Our terroir, our physical location, surrounded by virtually limitless amounts of fresh water. A generally temperate climate. (Well, not this week.)
The families of the people in our agriculture sector emigrated from so many parts of the world. For different reasons. Religious and political persecution, and also, many of them were just plain hungry.
This week’s Ramblings is veering way out of my usual lane. Normally I stay local, sometimes with a message, perhaps with a touch of humour. But for a variety of reasons, the recent news cycles have been all over immigration, deportation, refugees and shifting the borders of sovereign nations.
I love to be amongst people from a variety of backgrounds. Earlier today I had a look at the list of the recent lord mayors of Niagara-on-the-Lake. All well-meaning and hard-working, and I believe each of them did their best to make our home town a better place to live.
To list just a few, Jim Marino, Mike Dietsch, Stan Ignatczyk, and my first lord mayor, Art Viola. Arturo and his wife, Julie, had immigrated to Canada from the Philippines via America, and they made a real contribution to our Niagara.
Art’s guiding principles were respect and collaboration. This is such a contrast to the attitudes of today. At all levels of government. Negativity, nitpicking, mudslinging, accusations of wrong doing, threatened lawsuits and on and on.
I really think that, without exception, our NOTL councillors are working hard, in good faith.
Since I am way out of my normal lane, let me take it a step further, into a discussion of inclusivity. Way back to 1963, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s unforgettable “I have a dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
I have studied this brave and eloquent speech and its impact on history. Dr. King said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Bringing this Ross’s Ramblings to a conclusion, I will again say I am not a philosopher or a historical scholar. Just an amateur scribbler. My thoughts are only my thoughts.
I hope I sometimes encourage readers to think and communicate.
Going forward, our world needs our help. Be kind.
