Anti-Francophone Discrimination

My dad told me a pretty depressing story the other day: apparently my grandfather used to get beat up in school (by both faculty and students) for speaking French. My dad's side of the family is descended from Quebecers who came down to work in the mills in the late 1800s. Apparently, in ME and NH, there was a ton of anti-Francophone discrimination.

My grandfather was even threatened by the KKK on several occasions for being Catholic. He sat on his front porch with a Garand and a thermos full of coffee for two days straight (he had 6 kids and a wife to protect).

I knew about discrimination against Irish and Italians, but I was completely unaware that the French were abused as well.

It's given me a new perspective on how the new wave of Francophone African immigrants is being treated. Especially since almost all of them that I've encountered so far have been so nice to me.