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Reposted by Robyn Pennacchia

Santiago Mayer @santiagomayer.com · 7h

Anyway here's a picture of Mike Lawler hanging out with one of the Young Republicans who suggested putting their political opponents in gas chambers

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 9h

Well, I've actually read enough to know how things worked, whereas you all are going based on what you assume must have happened based on your gut feelings, which are far more reliable than literally every person who has ever studied the history of immigration.

Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 14h

"Actually knowledgeable."

Go look it up.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 15h

This popped up in my reddit feed and I actually said "NO!," out loud, like there was a chance I would somehow be force fed banana cereal.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO3S...

Kellogg's Banana Bubbles UK TV Advert - 1994

YouTube video by All Star Archive Videos

www.youtube.com

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 17h

It's not an issue of trust, it's an issue of function, of having the mechanisms to do any of that, which just did not exist.

But like I said, I don't care anymore, people can believe what they want.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 17h

Because it just didn't work that way. I don't know what to tell you people.

People got on a ship in their home country. They got off the ship at Ellis Island. Ellis Island workers checked their identity against the shipping manifest & ensured they weren't a "burden."

That was all.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 17h

Fine, I truly, truly do not give a fuck anymore if people want to pretend that the people who worked at Ellis Island changed people's names. There is literally no record of this ever having happened, but go ahead and believe whatever you want. Please leave me the fuck alone.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 18h

www.amazon.com/-/he/Thomas-...

White on Arrival: Italians, Race, Color, and Power in Chicago, 1890-1945

Amazon.com: White on Arrival: Italians, Race, Color, and Power in Chicago, 1890-1945: 9780195155433: Guglielmo, Thomas A.: Books

www.amazon.com

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 18h

www.nypl.org/blog/2013/07...

Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was) | The New York Public Library

There is a myth that persists in the field of genealogy, or more accurately, in family lore, that family names were changed at Ellis Island…

www.nypl.org

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 18h

www.nypl.org/blog/2013/07...

Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was) | The New York Public Library

There is a myth that persists in the field of genealogy, or more accurately, in family lore, that family names were changed at Ellis Island…

www.nypl.org

Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 18h

But they never had to spell their names because what they did was check a shipping manifest. They were not in charge of writing the shipping manifest and did not write anything afterwards.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 18h

But papers were different than 'Ellis Island," where no one got any papers.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

A shipping manifest is not "papers."

People were not given a copy of the shipping manifest.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

No.

I used my own family *as an example* of how things worked, not as the source.

Here is one source, of which there are many.

www.amazon.com/Are-Italians...

Are Italians White?

Are Italians White? [Jennifer Guglielmo, Salvatore Salerno] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Are Italians White?

www.amazon.com

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

BECAUSE MY FUCKING POINT WAS THAT THEY DIDN'T GET CHANGED AT FUCKING ELLIS ISLAND.

The people making the ship manifests were not American. People may have Anglicized their names before or after, but it did not happen in any kind of official manner & they were free to change it after.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

There were no "papers" from Ellis Island.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

That is why I did not SAY Jewish. Did I say Jewish anywhere in there? Nope, I did not.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

THEY DID NOT WRITE THE NAMES THEMSELVES.

I gave examples from my own family to explain certain things that are, in fact, true whether you or anyone likes it or not.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

Is that "someone at Ellis Island changed other people's last names and had the authority to do this?"

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

My qualification is my ability to read the approximately 87,000 sources that say "No one at Ellis Island changed anyone's name."

I'm sorry this is not good enough for you.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

The national archives does not say that names were officially changed at Ellis Island.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

THANK YOU!

Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

Yes. Names were changed. But not at Ellis Island.

There also would not have been processing papers from Ellis Island, because they did not do that there.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

Pretty much that, except I'm also saying that name changes occurred either prior to entry (on the shipping manifest, by someone from their own country who spoke their language) OR afterwards, & they likely never even saw the shipping manifest or were given something with their "new name" from there.

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Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, I was speaking specifically of, say, Italian or Irish immigrants. There was absolutely systemic discrimination against Jewish people in the US.

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