That Facebook comment was no surprise. It had lots of clones last week, all in reaction to the pledge from Gov. Tom Wolf and Pittsburgh Mayor Peduto to welcome Syrian refugees to Pennsylvania.
“Remove the Governor and the Mayor now, before they welcome terrorists to our front doors…”
Similar comments followed: “We don’t need ISIS in our communities. Sign the petition “Pittsburghers against the Settlement of Syrian refugees in our City.” What’s wrong with these politicians, did they forget about the Twin Towers?”
The sentiment echoed what people felt in the 1980s when humanitarian organizations were looking for a Cuban settlement in Pennsylvania. The animosity towards those “commies” and “Castro lovers” was less pronounced though, maybe because the outlets for streams of consciousness were limited. But it was there. German refugees were “displacing American jobholders in the 1940s.” Vietnamese refugees “ruined” the culture. Bosnian refugees were “dirty Moslems”. The list goes on.
Yet the digital archive of stories of and about Pittsburgh refugees reveals a more mundane and nuanced narrative in the coverage of refugees — stories about community events, birth announcements, businesses, fashion, food, moments of loss and sorrow, human interest stories:
He came from Poland as a refugee, changed his name to a more Anglicized spelling, married a Polish girl, worked at a local bakery, they had three kids, people loved them.
They came from all areas — Kosovo, Nepal, Hungary, Haiti, Sudan, Cuba. And for different reasons. They settled throughout Pittsburgh — Squirrel Hill, Duquesne, Bloomfield, North Hills, Lawrenceville, Highland Park, Carrick. They ran away not from good lives, but from war and oppressive regimes, driven by fear. They left behind families and friends, and in many cases, homes destroyed by bombings. They sought refuge and Pittsburgh gave them shelter and hope.
For decades Pittsburghers have been opening their homes and sponsoring refugees’ entry to the U.S., helping these families acclimate to the new reality, overcome language barriers, start over. This charitable generosity comes up again and again on the pages of the Post-Gazette.
Why? John Szarka, who helped refugees to adjust in the 1950s, captures the motivation for this kind of charitable work thusly, “I am not a rich man in wealth but it makes my heart rich that I can help them.”
So, here is an inspiration from the past… in time for the holidays.
Back in the day, during holidays Pittsburgh stores, including Gimbles department store, had a tradition of making the holiday season special for the newcomers to Pittsburgh by giving them presents. One of the lucky ones, a 6-year-old Nemeth, a son of Hungarian refugees, upon receiving a gift in 1956 asked, “Are we in the country they call America or do we still have to keep going?”
Many Pittsburghers are asking the same question rereading those Facebook threads: Are we in the country they call America?
