An Irish immigrant came to America to work as a miner and a janitor. Jack, his son, immigrated with him at the age of six and grew to own a small mom-and-pop grocery store, where his son worked growing up.
The son went on to work for the President of the United States and is now running for US Senate in Virginia.
Listening to Ed Gillespie, I see the Irish love of country that I was surrounded by growing up myself. Kirwin is a heck of an Irish name (and according to my sister’s research, we fled Ireland to France because we fell out of favor with the ruling political elite. Some things don’t change.)
But my own family, just across the Delaware River from the Gillespie family, faced the same challenges. I’m the grandson of immigrants, too, and my grandfather worked as a plasterer. My dad owned his own business, an auto repair garage, and did well enough to retire early while sending four kids to college.
There is something uniquely American about Ed Gillespie’s story and it’s important to remember that Irish immigrants were treated pretty harshly. Finding work was met with “No Irish Need Apply.” Check out this 19th Century quote from the Chicago Post:
“The Irish fill our prisons, our poor houses…Scratch a convict or a pauper, and the chances are that you tickle the skin of an Irish Catholic. Putting them on a boat and sending them home would end crime in this country.”
Sound familiar?
I don’t claim to have all the answers to immigration reform today. I know a lot of immigrants are here illegally and I know the 10-plus years to immigrate to America legally is about as high a fence than we could ever really build.
The question I always ask myself is, “If I wanted to come to America, the land of freedom and opportunity for my family, would I illegally cross the border to come here?”
Would you?
Somehow, somewhere there is an answer. We have to discuss it in terms that don’t degenerate to the level shown by a defunct newspaper in Obama’s home state.
Ed Gillespie’s story is an inspiration. Two generations from janitor to Presidential advisor and a possible seat in the US Senate.
I’m sure of one thing. I don’t want posterity looking at me the way I’m looking at the writers of the Chicago Post.
