2008/02/26 New York
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Immigrants

Hörzu, Stern, Weltwoche

Both my parents were immigrants. Although they had never thought of going to back to Germany they got married in 1961 in Berlin, Germany, and from my childhood I remember that only German magazines were being read in the house: Hörzu, Stern and Die Weltwoche.
I myself became an immigrant, but by no means my experience in the US can be compared to let’s say the immigrant-experience of my cleaning lady from Ecuador.
One of the things for which I have praised Ireland (I have an apartment in Dublin) is that Ireland is one of the few European countries where there are no anti-immigration parties, and that Dublin has gotten the sizzling energy of an immigrant city.
This article by Jason DeParle in today’s Times makes clear that Ireland is by no means a paradise for immigrants. But at the same time the article spells out why Ireland is still a pleasant surprise in Europe, when it comes to immigrants.
One of the good things about McCain as the probable presidential candidate for the Republicans is that it seems that we won’t have a nasty debate about immigrants in the US this election season.
Politicians might change, but I have good hope that the candidates for both political parties will confirm that the US always was (well not before and during World War II) and will be a country for immigrants.


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12 comments Last_comment
Three friends of mine lived for about 15 years in Mastergeehy, Kerry (Ireland), to realise a kind of back to nature dream. They told me about a very nationalistic Celtic Roots movement over there. Perhaps in a big town like Dublin, you hear less about those kind of people. Weird people can be found everywhere.
By the way McCain seems to be the moderate and more reasonable candidate on the republican side.
said Jan Thys 26/02/2008 07:42 • x
I was on a holiday trip in Ireland. Hosted in farmhouses and small Bed and Breakfast facilities.
Within two minutes you knew if the landlord was protestant or catholic. -WE or SHE-.
As long as the immigrants are needed and cause no trouble, nobody is against them, as it was in european countries about 20 years ago.
Would it be better for immigrants in Ireland?
Yesterday I read in the Volkskrant an article about “vergrijzing” In the European countries and US they gonna need highly educated young people in the future. They”ll be encouraged and invited to these countries to contribute their intellectual capital.
I suppose again the “rich” are going to steal from the “poor” but now under the flag of immigration. So politics don’t mention it.
said Helen Priso 26/02/2008 12:43 • x
This may have changed, but what I personnaly remember from living in Dublin as an immigrant six years ago is my first experience with xenophobia. A twenty years old Chinese student got beaten to death by Irish teenagers on his way back from work. I spoke with Chinese workers who told me that facing eggs and stones throwing was a connon thing. Within the same year, another young Italian was stabbed for the same reasons. In the spring 2003, a procession of african catholics was attacked by a mob of Irish teenagers during a pilgrinage. As a Frenchman, I had my daily share of go-back-to-fuckin'-Germany-you-wanker, but I do confess a slight Germanic accent in English.
-- I believe that about third of the city center population is made of non Irish, a majority of them from Western Europe. Most of them do not plan to settle in Ireland. After a decade of economic growth the part of the Irish population living under the poverty level is increasing. Many - mostly teenager from Dublin 5, 7 or 9, feel left aside and need someone to blame. Again, this is my experience and the situation may have changed...
said Nicolas Anderson 26/02/2008 13:41 • x
I thought you would write about the Oscars.
said Margot Morgan 26/02/2008 18:26 • x
And that is probably exactly the reason why he did not write about the Oscars, all those expectations... ;-)

In my opinion we should all strive to become an immigrant one time or another, it would make our live a lot less boring and/or intolerant towards other immigrants. To be a bit more 'Irish' in that account couldn't hurt any of us...
said Natasza Tardio 27/02/2008 01:25 (Updated 01:26) • x
Helen
Don't mention rich stealing from the poor. The revolutionaries nowadays have better slogans.
said Arnon Grunberg 27/02/2008 02:43 • x
Nicolas
I don’t want to idealize Dublin, or Ireland for that matter. I remember visiting Dublin for the first time in the winter of 1997. I thought what a depressing, gloomy town. I didn’t even like the pubs, not that I’m nowadays so much into pub culture.
This definitely has changed.
I don’t doubt that there is in Ireland petty racism, but I still have a weak spot for Dublin, and until proven wrong I’ll hang on to that weak spot.
And I don’t like that the visitors of the nightclub opposite of my apartment in Dublin tend to vomit on my steps. I still ask myself why young girls dress in the winter of Dublin as they are in the summer of Spain, but this I have been told is something British.
Let’s not forget Ryanair. A Swiss friend said to me a while ago: “Ryanair has done more for European integration than any European politician.”
He has a point.
said Arnon Grunberg 27/02/2008 02:51 • x
Margot
The Oscars? Nah.
said Arnon Grunberg 27/02/2008 02:51 • x
Arnon
What about me?
said Oscar Wilde 27/02/2008 05:29 • x
Arnon
I lived in Northern England for a year. The English and the Irish have at least one thing in common: a certain fondness for puking.
On my Sunday morning walks through the city center, I usually encountered several piles of puke. For reasons unknown to me, these piles were often situated on street corners.
I did not go out much at the time, but nevertheless witnessed several people vomit on the city streets. One person threw up against a store window. I found this particularly impolite.
said Oscar Wilde 27/02/2008 05:42 • x
Oscar
There must be a relation between alcohol consumption and puking don’t you think? Call me a nationalist but I prefer the Irish puke to the English vomit.
said Arnon Grunberg 27/02/2008 05:58 • x
So easily forgotten, but human live dispersed across the earth only through migration. From the core of what is now called Africa, humans crossed mountains and oceans to reach the other sides of the world. In it they showed proof of the capacity of mankind to survive in the most extreme conditions.
Sedentary life is only a recent evolution, nomad life was the standard. Untill deep into the first milleniumA.D., various nomad groups came to Europe and settled here. Thus most europeans ,as proven by the study of bloodtypes, are from mixed descent.
The recent migration waves to Europe are far from exeptional. I agree they often caused conflicts and changes in society, but I think it's time we consider it to be a challenge instead of a threat.
said Mieke Dutoit 27/02/2008 13:18 • x
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