Tomi Lahren has more in common with the immigrants she criticizes than she’d like to admit, according to ancestral files uncovered by German journalist and genealogist Jennifer Mendelsohn.
On Saturday, Lahren echoed anti-immigrant sentiments said by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and took it a step further by saying folks who don’t speak English or come from a poor economic background should be denied entry.
“You don’t just come into this country with low skills, low education, not understanding the language and come into our country because someone says it makes them feel nice. That’s not what this country is based on,” she said on Fox News on Saturday. “These people need to understand that it’s a privilege to be an American and it’s a privilege that you work toward—it’s not a right.”
.@TomiLahren: "You don't just come into this country with low skills, low education, not understanding the language and come into our country because someone says it makes them feel nice. That's not what this country is based on." @WattersWorld pic.twitter.com/Dux0cABHar
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 13, 2018
After those comments, Mendelsohn—who created #resistancegenealogy—shared some interesting information about Lahren’s ancestors. Her great-great-great-grandmother lived in the U.S. for 41 years and she still spoke German. Her great-great-grandmother didn’t speak English after living in the U.S. for a decade. Her great grandfather’s 1884 baptism was recorded in Norwegian, as well.
Her ancestors were also farmers.
Except the 1930 census says Tomi's 3x great-grandmother had been here for 41 years and still spoke German.
— Black Lives Matter Jennifer Mendelsohn (@CleverTitleTK) May 13, 2018
Her 2nd great-grandmother had been here for 10 yrs. Spoke no English.
Her great-grandfather's 1895 baptism from MN? Recorded in Norwegian.#resistancegenealogy #receipts pic.twitter.com/rIySFu6fvL
All of these non-English speaking immigrants paved the way for Lahren, whose net worth is now $3 million, to find success in the U.S. by going on national TV to tell current day immigrants that they deserve less opportunity because of the language they speak or their economic background.
Those facts are what inspired Mendelsohn to look into Lahren’s ancestry and show how immigrants back in the early days of the U.S. weren’t all that different from those trying to enter the country today.
“This is not about playing gotcha,” Mendelsohn wrote. “But as long as people like Lahren continue to push a specious agenda that suggests today’s immigrants are somehow wholly different from previous ones, I’ll keep showing just how alike they really are.”
One last thing before I shut off my phone:
— Black Lives Matter Jennifer Mendelsohn (@CleverTitleTK) May 13, 2018
This is not about playing gotcha.
But as long as people like Lahren continue to push a specious agenda that suggests today's immigrants are somehow wholly different from previous ones, I'll keep showing just how alike they really are.
I'll forever be mystified by Joe Schmo twitter user who bemoans how the country is no longer "close nit" and somehow can intuit that ALL the motivations of all current immigrants are bad ("handouts!") while all the prior immigrants' motivations were good.
— Black Lives Matter Jennifer Mendelsohn (@CleverTitleTK) May 13, 2018
Uh, no.
People are people, and always have been.
— Black Lives Matter Jennifer Mendelsohn (@CleverTitleTK) May 13, 2018
Some of our ancestors broke laws, some were model citizens. Some never assimilated or spoke English. Some did.
Blind lionization of the people who came before us may be just as dumb as the wholesale demonization of current immigrants.
What I'm trying to show here is that these nativists can't keep trying to back up their argument by saying "the country doesn't work this way" when clearly it does, and has: for their families.
— Black Lives Matter Jennifer Mendelsohn (@CleverTitleTK) May 13, 2018
So why do they *really* not want these people here? That's what we need to dig out.
Oh, and it's also worth examining why you might laud your own ancestors’ behavior as pluck or ingenuity – “So he bribed the official to sign the papers and they were able to get on the boat!” – but castigate contemporary immigrants who behave in much the same way.#FoodForThought
— Black Lives Matter Jennifer Mendelsohn (@CleverTitleTK) May 13, 2018
Those who’ve followed me for a long time know I’ve shared tons of stuff about my own family. Some of my ancestors never learned English, either. Some never became citizens. There’s nothing shameful in that.
— Black Lives Matter Jennifer Mendelsohn (@CleverTitleTK) May 13, 2018
Look, Tomi! We have something in common.
Mendelsohn made it clear that Lahren shouldn’t feel ashamed about her ancestor’s occupations or lack of English speaking skills—but she should maybe rethink criticizing others before she learns a bit more about her own family’s ancestral history.
Lahren has not yet responded to Medelsohn.