Roots Television | Megan's Roots World

Oh, I know. I should just let it go. But one of my pet peeves is that tired, old myth about names being changed at Ellis Island, so I just had to share this piece called Holding History Hostage.

First, she sets it up by explaining that she would "like to dispute some of the hysterical historical inaccuracies I have read, all of which came from P-News letters to the editor (God love the partially educated masses!)."

And then she goes on to explain that:
They changed their names because some guy at Ellis island, who was barely educated himself, decided to change their names. This would be like if we had someone at the border crossing in El Paso who evaluated everyone who crossed. Too sick, send them back. Young, healthy and ready to work in a field or slaughter house (In 1900 it was a factory or coal mine)? Welcome to the US. By the way, to make you sound more American your name is now Sanders instead of Sanchez.

That would be news to the branch of my Smolenyak family who changed their name to Simmons a generation after arriving in America.

I don't want to get bogged down in the immigration debate, and in general, I agree with much of her piece. But here's the thing: if you're going to hold yourself up as the one who's bright enough to correct the "partially educated masses," it would be a good idea to educate yourself first.