"Go back to Cuba, you Spick!"... Second grade all the way through high school.
"Go back to where you came from, damn foreigner!!"...Patient I was trying to help on an ambulance call.
"We don't need to give our jobs to foreigners!"...Man complaining to county manager when the sheriff gave up the ambulance service and I was appointed director. Later, he changed his tune when we saved his wife.
Refused service in the 70's at a restaurant in Taylor County when my Cuban friends came to visit. Took our money elsewhere.
I did not let these events invade my life or change who I am. My heart is full of gratitude for this country and the American people, of which I'm proud to be one. See, those that said those things were a tiny fraction of the people I have had interactions with in my 60 years of living free in this country.
I see prejudice and hatred as something that is taught. Those young kids that bullied me learned it at home. Whether from fear of those that are deemed different from us, passed down unsubstantiated hatred, misunderstandings, a bad experience, disagreement over things, or just plain meanness, hatred will be an obstacle to your happiness and union with our Lord. We are all HIS creation...HE does not make junk...we have the power to choose...we can be junk, or we can be treasure. Skin color has nothing to do with it. I don't know about anyone else, but I chose to be treasure and to raise my family to be treasure to everyone they meet.
That morning almost 60 years ago, I was cursed at, spit at, and called terrible names my grandmother and I walked down the airport on our way to a new life...it was scary to this seven-year-old, leaving my parents and sister behind to suffer some more. Our family, on my dad's side, calling for our execution was the most painful expression of hatred that I have had to endure. We went from fun visits and family gatherings to isolation, house surveillance and virtual arrest; just because the people supported a leader that promised them the world, but instead delivered oppression, Godlessness, hunger, misery, and hopelessness. He portrayed himself as a socialist, later revealing that he was a Marxist and a communist, living a lavish lifestyle and dying a very wealthy man at the expense of the populace he came to save. The house and farm that my family worked hard to attain were taken away, as was all private property, corporations, and industries, foreign and domestic. The government took over everything and decided everyone's future. With no incentives, or motivation, the economy collapsed, and shortages of everything we take for granted is still the norm.
We worried about toilet paper when a virus hit. I'm here to tell you, if the virus of communism, that many are calling for, hits us, toilet paper will be the least of your worries.
I choose to remember the bad experiences and memories...it keeps me humble and appreciative of the good things in my life, such as my friends and family; and reminds me of how lucky I am to be an American and have God's many blessings in my life. I feel bad for my relatives that chose to remain and I pray for those that chose to be junk.
Be a treasure to others, and don't hate because of political and other issues. Unlike Cuba, we are allowed to have an opinion. Like Cuba, the press in America is on the side of evil. Don't let it decide for you what is good for you. Cuba did...and don't lose your family and friends, for they are your greatest treasure.
Juan Botino