OPINION: It's time we change the local conversation about immigration

One of my favorite television characters is Don Draper, the embattled antihero protagonist of the award-winning series Mad Men. Draper was an excellent adman but a terrible human being. He was vindictive, verbally abusive, and incredibly flawed in many other areas of his personal life. He was also an advertising genius, and, now and then, he would say something so brilliant that the viewer could momentarily forget the Mr. Hyde side of his persona.

One of his most famous quotes in the series—one that’s famously repeated several times throughout the series—goes like this: “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”

Conversations happen all around us now - in person, on our phones, on a screen, and anywhere else there’s cellular service or working wifi. Even when we’re not directly involved in these conversations, they have a way of worming their way into our subconscious by virtual osmosis. Even if the information isn’t valid, the macabre of the messaging could be so powerful that people lose interest in finding out whether that information is accurate. In some cases, presidential candidates even recklessly and ignorantly mention it in a live debate on national television.

With increasing frequency, these same narratives are finding their way to our local community. One, in particular, was loud enough that the mayor and the sheriff both had to address it publicly because of an irresponsible local talk radio host.

We should expect more from someone running for the highest office of our country. We should expect more from conservative talk radio in our city, but maybe we just need to change the conversation. I’ll start.

I stopped by the Jackson International Food and Arts Festival at the Fairgrounds this past weekend. While I had attended multiple years when the festival was downtown, this was my first year seeing it in all its glory at the Fairgrounds. I wasn’t just blown away; I was also pleasantly surprised to see how diverse the vendors were, but in a way I didn’t expect.

The rich cultures of global countries were represented in food, music, art, and vendors selling their cultural creations. There was a tent selling Guatemalan food, one selling Mediterinanan food, one playing soulful Hispanic music, and many other tents celebrating their rich, diverse heritages. All of that was beautiful and expected.

What surprised me the most, however, were the other tents I didn’t expect to see, even though the event was all-inclusive. 

The first tent I passed was manned by a Caucasian couple selling home decor with a religious bend. I stopped to look around for a possible Christmas gift for my mom. A few tents over was the legendary Cliff Martin and his JKSN-branded fashion. I was wearing my JKSN shirt and paused my walk to show Cliff. A little further down, I ran into an old friend who had created some of the most interesting pieces of jewelry from discarded metals. But like the previous vendors mentioned in this paragraph, there was nothing international about her.

As I continued my orbit around the Fairgrounds, I began to notice something about some of the people attending, as well: they didn’t seem like people who would celebrate something as welcoming and open as JIFAF. A few seconds later, I had to mentally chastise myself for assuming something about people simply based on their personal presentation or the MAGA hat they wore as they enjoyed the exact same myriad cultural offerings that I was enjoying.

I realized that I was witnessing exactly what diversity is—a variety of people and all of their strengths, weaknesses, and personal beliefs in the same space celebrating the exceptional qualities of different cultures. Is that not what America is at its core -  a melting pot of humanity blending and fusing to make something extraordinary and valuable?

Throughout history, people have migrated and moved for a plethora of reasons. To be so ignorant and callous as to stereotype a group of individuals who are only trying to make better lives for themselves or their children - something every single person reading this article would do - is unconscionable. To wrongly assume, like I did, who should or shouldn’t be celebrating diversity is wrong, too. We all should be better than that - for our country, our community, and ourselves.

Diversity is a beautiful thing—diversity of thought, beliefs, race, and ethnicity. All of it is necessary for a thriving democratic republic.

While Don Draper’s quote about “changing the conversation” gets all of the attention of Mad Men fanboys like myself, what precedes it in one particular scene is more applicable to this subject matter.

“Change is neither good or bad; it simply is. It can be greeted with terror or joy - a tantrum that says ‘I want it the way it was’ or a dance that says, ‘Look. Something new.’”

I say we dance.

Gabe Hart is a local educator whose columns have appeared in multiple news outlets locally and statewide.