Transcriber: Leonardo Silva Reviewer: Ariana Bleau Lugo
On November 25th, 1954,
a New York newspaper heralded the arrival
of three refugee families to the Unted States:
a Russian family, a Ukrainian family and a Greek family.
These children, nine children and six adults,
were uprooted from their families by war.
They had lived on their homelands since medieval times.
The new regime told them
that they could join the new collective,
they could leave immediately with the clothes on their backs,
or, if they were disruptive,
they would be shot where they stood.
Wisely, the families chose to walk to the nearest consulate.
In a lucky twist of fate at the consulate,
the families were invited to join the program
that was aiding families fleeing
from what was then called the Red Terror of Communism.
The US State Department,
the Tolstoy Foundation
and Macy's department store
whisked these families out of the war-torn areas,
across the Atlantic Ocean and on to floats
in the Thanksgiving Day parade in the US.
For these families, immigration was a gift.
I would like to talk a little bit
about the gifts of immigration today,
not about disputed borders,
or who's legal or ilegal,
but what gifts does immigration hold.
One of the best gifts of immigration
is when families come and join our community,
bringing with them their progeny, hope for the future,
their energy, music, culture,
traditional medicines and even great cuisine.
We probably shared in some of that today, at lunch.
But there's even so much more than this.
Immigrants correlate very strongly with prosperity.
Of the top 28 countries in the world
that have the highest gross domestic product - wealth -
those countries too have the highest rates of immigration.
And while it may seem, especially in some cities in the US,
that we're being overwhelmed with immigrants,
the current rate, roughly 13% of our population,
is actually less than the rate
that was during the late 19th and early 20th century.
In 1920, in the cities of New York, Chicago and San Francisco,
over 40% of those cities
had foreign-born populations.
As early as 1650,
New Yorkers spoke over eighteen different languages,
and that's not even including the Native American languages
or the African languages.
There are some that would have us believe
that we're seeing a recent browning of America,
but I would say that America has been brown for a long, long time.
Let's look at immigration another way,
in terms of the microcosm of this hall.
According to the CIA Department --
the CIA, the Central Intelligence of the US --
the current immigration annual rate
is 3.62 people per one thousand population.
This auditorium holds about five hundred people.
So, at that rate, next year we would have two new people
joining us at TEDxBloomington.
I think we can handle that.
(Laughter)
Right over there.
And I think we can handle it as a nation.
When I came out, did I seem like the embodyment
of an immigrants' story?
You might have guessed through my accent or through this picture.
That's my family.
They were on the floats, in 1954.
That's my sister, the child.
She was ten years old at the time
Her name is Efigenia. Her American name is Genie.
Though the details of my family's story are atypical,
the commitment and the leap of faith it takes
for someone to go to another country,
even under the best of circumstances,
is very difficult.
I would like to suggest
that every family that comes to the US
or individual seeking immigration
is given a metaphorical Thanksgiving parade.
And, in future conversations that you might overhear,
and you will overhear them, about immigration,
or that you might join in,
that you also consider the gifts of immigration.
Thank you.
(Applause)