ABSTRACT
Many of us writing in this volume are first-, second-, or at least third-generation North Americans. In my case, my mother emigrated from Scotland with my grandmother to the United States a century ago. The problems of winning acceptance in a strange land were central themes of my family’s legends and dynamics. Let me share four vivid examples of these themes.
The immigration officer at Ellis Island tried to misspell their simple four-letter name of Gibb. My fiery grandmother interpreted this as an unprovoked humiliation and caused a scene over the slight. My then 6-year-old mother was badly frightened for fear they would not be allowed to enter the country. Indeed, she never forgot the trauma.
My grandmother steadfastly refused to become a citizen. But she became extremely anxious each January when I accompanied her to a required annual visit to register with immigration authorities.
My mother also remembered the intense teasing she endured in school concerning her strong Scottish accent. She quickly adapted, and later developed the thickest Virginian accent one could imagine.
Finally, my mother came to identify passionately with the United States. Indeed, she would not tolerate any criticism of her adopted country—a not uncommon first-generation response. “If you don’t like America,” she would bluntly tell a critic, “go back to where you came from!” I would gently remind my mother that most Virginians were not immigrants; they were where “they came from.”
