America is and always has been a country of immigrants. Every single resident of the United States, besides the Native Americans, is either an immigrant or a descendant of immigrants. This fact makes it hard to understand why new groups of immigrants are typically greeted with anxiety, suspicion, discrimination, and even hate.

The first major wave of immigration came mainly from Europe from approximately 1880 to 1920. This group included many Irish, Polish, Italian, and Eastern European immigrants among many other groups. The established white American population reacted very harshly to this new group of immigrants; they called these immigrants hateful names and prohibited them from working and living in certain areas. This is the climate into which my two Irish great-grandparents arrived in the late 1800s.

My grandmother was the youngest of nine children (all of whom were raised in New York among many other immigrant children), she herself was victim to several instances of discrimination by the WASP population. When she first moved to Elmhurst in 1935 or so, the neighborhood was overwhelmingly white and full of the aforementioned immigrant groups. Within her lifetime, the group of immigrants that her parents came to the U.S. with became more or less incorporated into mainstream society.

She lived in Elmhurst as the second wave of immigrants began to come into the U.S.: Chinese, Hispanics (from many different countries), Indians, Middle Easterners, etc. As the people she grew up with left and passed away and as white Elmhurst began its shift into becoming one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the world, my grandmother experienced anxiety over change. As she grew older, she grew bitter, and as a young child I could not understand what the fuss was about.

This is still a question that I deal with years after my grandmother’s passing. How could a child of immigrants be so scared of other immigrants? She herself was even discriminated against for similar reasons. One answer that I have considered is that it’s an ongoing process of new Americans trying to claim a piece of their own here in the U.S. When the first wave of immigrants came in, the established white population was scared that they’d lose their power, their jobs, or their values. Now we see the ostracized doing the ostracizing.

People naturally fear change and the unknown. Until we stop being so terrified of our fellow Americans, we cannot fully embrace the skills and vitality that they can deliver once they are accepted and incorporated. Those who understand this can tap into the energy and potential of these immigrant groups in ways that can better the society as a whole. For those who do not, it may already be too late for them to see.