Common Ground

As this issue was coming together, it spoke to me of the diverse communities we have here in Cumberland County—and how we celebrate so many of them at this time of year.

The Puerto Rican Festival is being celebrated in Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton this week with flag-raisings, a church service, a parade, and more. The festival schedule is outlined on page 12.

Both cover stories highlight the region’s Japanese American community, which originated at Seabrook some 80 years ago when Charles Seabrook brought them and other groups to the area to work on his farms and in his frozen food industry. Relocated Japanese Americans and Japanese Peruvians from the U.S. incarceration camps; wartime refugees from Europe; migrant laborers from Appalachia, the Deep South, and the Caribbean—these were some of the groups that worked in Seabrook, all of them in close proximity and respectful of each others’ lifestyles and cultures.

At other times in the county’s history, it was the Italians, Greeks, Jewish, Scandinavians, Russians, Germans, and many other people and communities that were drawn here for various reasons. In Cumberland County, they found a way to make a living, to practice their religions, and to celebrate their cultures—all while respecting the very same in their neighbors.

In these divisive times, I hope that we can still claim Cumberland County as a melting pot of immigrant populations and communities that live and work in harmony with each other. I encourage you to attend one or more of the events celebrating a cultural group other than your own. Educating and immersing ourselves in another’s culture will help us to continue our ancestors’ legacy of respect, equality, and freedom for all.