I should start by saying that I come from the most American of cities: Detroit. It is here that the American Dream was birthed with Henry Ford’s assembly line and fair wages. With labor from immigrants and emigrants worldwide, Detroit became a symbol for American ingenuity and prosperity.
However, it was also in Detroit that some say the American Dream has died with mismanagement of wealth and the failure of organized labor in securing gains for it’s workers. It is certainly true that gatekeepers in Detroit have plotted to keep certain groups from gaining access to the American Dream, most notably African Americans and certain ethnic groups have been vigorously denied entry.
With my background in mind, I should also be forthcoming about the fact that my agenda with this article is to stereotype an immigrant group with which I have had relatively limited contact. I no longer live in Detroit, but in Estes Park, Colorado. Estes Park, a beautiful tourist town in the Rocky Mountains, is staffed in it’s busy season with immigrants from around the world. Eastern Europeans, Russians, Mexicans, Nepalis, and others come each summer to keep our kitchens, restaurants, bars, and souvenir shops running. I have known, worked, and been friends with Lucian Oprea; manager, bartender, and Romanian, at the Estes Park Brewery for about eight years. It is no coincidence that Oprea, whom I shall refer to by his Americanized nickname, Lucky, for the remainder of this article, is also the editor of this paper.
So without any further delays, I’ll move on to my first stereotype. Romanians are detail-oriented, hard workers. Perhaps basing this assumption off of my relationship with one Romanian who happens to be the editor of a paper, and by default should be detail oriented, is not fair. It is fair. We live in a market that up until recently was dominated by two major newspapers based out of Denver. One of them recently failed. This small, independent paper that you are reading now is thriving. This is due to hard work and innovation on the part of Lucky and his ability to recognize and capitalize on a demand for a Romanian language paper.
Furthermore, isn’t that the very essence of American innovation? Starting something from scratch and building it into a success is what we claim collectively as being one of our greatest strengths. However, when I look around at most of my contemporaries, made up of mostly fourth or fifth generation Americans, what I see is a group of people demanding to be rewarded and privileged for simply showing up. The attitude is, “I was born, now I demand my place in the middle class.” So when I stereotype Romanians as detail-oriented and hard working, I should also add that they are utilizing the American dream in ways that most of us have forgotten how to do.
Before the next stereotype, I’ll add that I have met other Romanians in the course of working with Lucky, I just do not know them as well. In fact, I recently met Ela, Lucky’s wife and a new addition to the Estes Park Brewery. She confirms my suspicion and third or fourth stereotype, I have lost track of how many I have made here, that all Romanian women are beautiful. It may be pandering, but I will extend that stereotype to all Eastern Europeans and Russians as well. That is a side note and not substantive or relevant to this article, but hey, this entire article is based on stereotypes.
I’ll finish by saying that when I look at Romanians (we might as well throw in all of Eastern Europe and Russia too), I feel like I am looking at contemporary versions of the immigrants that built this country into the most influential in the world. The immigrants that I call “grandmother” and “grandfather” created a culture that is exported around globe and loved by some, despised by others. When I look at Romanians, it is not an understatement to say that I see the future of this country. I see future innovators, inventors, thinkers that will change the world. I see a group of people that are sometimes mistreated, sometimes the victims of xenophobic Americans, but will one day be revered as embodying the spirit of everything that is America. So what if this entire assumption is based on a collection of stereotypes. That is wholly American too.
