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Immigrants are backbone of community

Immigrants are backbone of community

I was raised by refugees. A fact that I never could shy away from once I’d learned it. And would never choose to, now that I understand exactly what it means and the responsibility that comes along with it.

My name is Betsy Rose Ujvagi, and I was born and raised in the Birmingham ethnic neighborhood in East Toledo, but my story started on the Obuda side of the city of Budapest.

My family came to America in 1957 after escaping Communist Hungary during the 1956 revolution. My father was 7 years old. In all the years since, he has never lived outside of Birmingham, and to a certain extent, I’ve always felt as if our lives are a time capsule, a testament to the place he left behind.

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There are tapestries of Hungarian embroidery hanging on the wall in all of my relatives’ houses. Many weekends you can still find many of us at the Hungarian Club of Toledo for monthly meetings or meetings of the Birmingham Ethnic Festival, which takes place the third weekend in August every year since 1974.

Until I started high school, I danced in a Hungarian folk dance troupe. I still have trouble pronouncing some words in English, as I learned and have always heard them from my father, aunts, or grandmother in Hungarian (this especially happens in the kitchen, when cooking).

For me, more than anything else, I have been grateful for my immigrant heritage because I know who I am. I know where I come from. I know what it means and the steps it took for my family to get here. Our cultural history is long, and we make a point of embracing it. 

For as long as this country has existed, people have taken risks in order to come here and make a better life for themselves and their families. The reaction of the people already here, as well as the administration regulating immigration, has not always been welcoming.

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Immigrants are and always have been a part of our vibrant community. There is no reason to fear them, reject them, or discriminate against them because they may not look, speak, or act like you. They are an essential part of the fabric of the American mosaic, and this country would not be what it is without the contributions of past immigrants and those who will make this country their home in the future.

Currently, our local immigrant communities are valuable contributors to our community as well as our economy. They are twice as likely to start a small business, as my grandfather did soon after my family came to this country — a fact that I still marvel at. Not only are immigrants in Toledo highly entrepreneurial, they also hold $242 million in spending power and contribute $31 million in state and local taxes, according to a 2015 Partnership for a New American Economy report.

When my father came to America, he was with his parents, two older brothers, and one younger sister. Another daughter was born to the family after they arrived. At last count, the Ujvagi csalad (family) now stands at more than 60 people.

At one point in our history, one-fifth of Toledo’s residents were immigrants. While the current immigrant population is small (less than 4 percent), it is growing and is partially off-setting our region’s population loss, according to Census reports.

Welcome Toledo-Lucas County is a collaboration of community partners working to build a more welcoming and inclusive community for immigrants and people of diverse cultures. I support their efforts and have attended and participated in their events to celebrate our community’s cultural diversity: including ‘‘Spoken Toledo,” a storytelling event where I was awarded an award simply for speaking to the experience my family has had.

When I told my story at the event, I talked about how I was raised by refugees. How my second cousin, newly born, would also be raised by refugees. By the time this story is published, there will be another new cousin to add to the csalad, who will be raised in the same tradition, and will become another part of the story of our shared heritage.

My family started somewhere else. And after we came and set roots here, many branches of that family tree have stretched out, all over this country and the world. The Ujvagi family came to Toledo because my grandfather walked into the immigration office and said, “I’ll go anywhere there is a job!” And he worked hard every day of his life to give the American dream to his family. We stay in Toledo because this is home, because this city is as much a part of our story as anywhere else.

Immigrant Heritage Month is a national month-long celebration in June of the individuals, families, and communities who have built our country’s economy and created the unique social fabric of our nation. Welcome TLC is celebrating by asking the community to tell their immigrant heritage stories on social media, using the hashtags #IHMToledo and #WelcomeTLC.

My story is not unique. I know that many people have similar stories, better stories. These are all stories that should be heard — in fact, I believe that they must be heard. I hope you will join the conversation.

Betsy Rose Ujvagi is a lifelong Toledo resident with varied interests and responsibilities within the ethnic neighborhood of Birmingham in East Toledo as well as the East Toledo Family Center.

First Published June 18, 2016, 4:00 a.m.

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