Since I grew up with a Russian last name, I got pretty tired of hearing ignorant kids in Texas call me a communist.
My family left Russia in 1912....it took my Grandfather 10 years to be granted citizenship - his original paperwork notes 1918 and he became a citizen in 1928.
Since I grew up with a Russian last name, I got pretty tired of hearing ignorant kids in Texas call me a communist.
Two of my grandparents were Russian immigrants (all 4 were immigrants) around that same time. All 4 grandparents and those who traveled with them all became naturalized. I grew up with an 'Americanized' last name, but once people found out I 'claimed' to be of Russian descent, the insults flew. I was called a commie or a po11ack. Because some of the locals were not smart enough to see the difference between a Pole, a Russian or a Communist. Even my 5th grade teacher joined in during a project about world cultures and our backgrounds. I 'fondly' remember arguing with her in front of the class about why I was neither a commie or Polish. I say 'claimed' because in the small, mostly German town (everyone related) founded by German immigrants I grew up in (no offense, freepers of German origin), many didn't even believe me, even among the adults who remember when my family moved to town. Ahh, the wonders of bigotry!