WHAT PRICE BIGOTRY?

When I hear about the immigration "problem" I think of my grandparents and why they came to this country so many years ago. Speaking a different language, dressed "funny," traveling with children, some infants, they came in steerage across an ocean, leaving their families behind. They came to make a better life for themselves and not even the fear of being denied entry here stopped them.

They and their children became citizens who became business people some of whom were successful, some not, and some worked for others. From this humble beginning, 6 generations of families now include doctors, lawyers, writers, scholars, educators, photographers, artists, publishers, charitable benefactors, and religious leaders.

In many ways, members of our family have contributed in large and small ways to our country in return for the opportunities accorded us. Even so, individually and collectively we have experienced bigotry and meanness without cause or reason. How unfortunate for all us, family and strangers alike, that we are living once again through a time of bigotry and meanness.

I wonder what price do we pay as individuals or country for bigotry?