Immigrant.

It seems impossible to go anywhere or do anything today without seeing or hearing about immigration. Most people I've spoken to about it say they are "sick of having to talk about it."

Ok. You're allowed to feel mentally exhausted by the constant barrage of information coming at you.

But...

We need to keep talking about it. Not arguing, but talking. Like adults.

Whether you agree or disagree is your opinion, and you're entitled to it. So am I.

I can understand why some are not in favor of open borders - with all the hate and violence being spread around the world, we as a nation want to be safe. I get that. I want to be safe, too.

Think about this, however... it is human nature to migrate.

People have moved from place to place forever. Some make it an annual habit; traveling at regular intervals with the seasons to survive. Others find a nice spot and stay a while.

Some travel great distances, across continents and oceans. Some just move their families to a bigger house across town. Some travel back and forth for work. Some just want to experience everything the world has to offer by visiting as many places as possible. Some were brought to new places against their will.

Some are running away. Some fear for their lives and the lives of their children.

If your house was on fire, wouldn't you want to get out? Imagine if you were in immediate danger and leaving was the only viable option. Where would you go?

I have always been fascinated with different cultures. I'm always interested to hear someone's story; Where is your family from? What kind of holidays do you celebrate? I will ask you a million questions because I'm curious. I love variety. I want to know all about what makes you who you are because you're awesome.

I wanted to know more about me too, so I did one of those DNA tests a few months ago, along with doing family research. I was able to reach pretty far... all the way to the Viking age. My results came back as Scandinavian, British, French, German and some other European countries in small doses.

So how the heck did I end up in Virginia?

Immigration.

The Vikings were known for exploring (and pillaging and plundering)... they were not always nice about traveling to new places. They sailed from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark to the British Isles and Iceland where they stayed a while. From there, I found a lot of interesting titles, such as "Lady Egidia, Fair Maiden of Nithsdale, Princess of Orkney" and "Halfdan the Black".

It was in 1760 when my ancestor, John Patrick McMullan got on a ship from Ireland to the colonies. He wasn't running from anything. He just wanted a different life. (Though, about a hundred years later, a relative on my mother's side of the family would travel here to escape the Irish potato famine.)

John Patrick would later join the Revolution to fight for our independence from Great Britain. When all that was said and done, he moved to Georgia with his second wife (I am a descendant of his first marriage) to a plantation. And, yes, he had slaves.

Cato, Sarah, Milly, Edmond, and Dicy are the five people listed in John's will, but I imagine there were others. They had no choice in the matter. It was legal for them to be bought and sold like cattle, but that doesn't make it right. I cannot change the past, though it bothers me to my core that someone in my family would own people. I will never forget these five names, and I would be very interested to know whatever became of them.

That brings me to my next bit... When I purchased my DNA kit, I bought two. One for me, and one for a dear friend of mine who was curious about where her family was from. Because of my lineage, I have the luxury of well-kept records through churches and censuses. She does not. Her ancestors were brought to this country on ships, packed in like sardines, chained together with nothing more than a name they weren't born with and a bill of sale.

She joked that she would open those results to find "WAKANDA FOREVER" written there because she has a brilliant sense of humor and that's why I love her so much. As soon as she got them, she took a screenshot with her phone and texted me, and the largest percentage was Nigeria, followed by Ghana and a handful of other nations throughout the African continent. Also, there was a small percentage of Great Britain.

Imagine that. She and I have something more in common than we thought.

Back to the matter at hand...

I wonder why so many are scared of immigrants. Sure, a tiny, itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, minuscule, minute, microscopic percent are bad people. But, does that mean we have to damn a million people because one or two are a problem? It has been proven over and over again that immigrants are a GOOD THING. They help drive our economy. They are people just like you and me who only want a better life. John Patrick McMullan was only looking for a better life.

The difference between an immigrant and a resident is some arbitrary line drawn in the sand by people who have been deceased for a long time. The difference between them and you is a slight variance in your DNA markers that determine the region your ancestors were from, and the wrapper you were born in. The difference between you and the woman seeking asylum is your privilege and her misfortune. Please stop using those differences to act and feel superior to someone who had no control of their country of origin.

We are ALL human.