Ugly discrimination

John Gurda is absolutely correct when he says people (and especially those of European descent) should exhibit “more compassion and less ugliness” with regard to immigration policy (“America 101: Lesson for Trump,” Crossroads).

Lest those among us who are native born and possessing European roots think it acceptable to display dislike or outright discrimination toward people from non-European regions of the world, many of us would do well to remember just how much many of our kind (especially those from southern and eastern Europe) were not wanted in this country.

And not just a century or more ago. In 1960, lots of Americans did not want a Roman Catholic of Irish descent (and Harvard graduate and member of one of America’s wealthiest families) to become president. In ways more subtle and sometimes more overt, discrimination against people possessing certain types of European ancestry, culture and religion continued into much more recent times.

I shall never forget two job interviews I had as a young person in the 1980s. One was with a woman who said, “So, your name is obviously eastern European. I think my family had some Polish maids because we got them so cheap.” Another was with a man who said, “So, you went to Marquette University. Are you Catholic? I’ll be honest, we haven’t hired many Catholics here.”

Obviously, I didn’t like receiving such ugly treatment. No one does.

Some politicians and others may forget that compassion helps makes America, America. The rest of us must not.

Mary Stanik Oak Creek