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2019 Midterm2
(assignment) |
LITR 4340
 American Immigrant Literature Model Assignments |
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Eileen Burnett
April 14, 2019
Crossing Boundaries: Immigration
as a Global Issue
Fences are a part of our daily lives. As part of our
property, they mark where one person’s land ends and another begins, offering a
semblance of autonomy in a community of strangers. Cities have boundaries, to
mark progress of hard work by leaders who strive to bring prosperity to their
people, and greater still there are countries, which mark their borders with
walls and military forces, in an attempt to distinguish and preserve culture and
values, as well as to retain the right of taxation. The one common element that
all of these delineations, however, is that they involve the corralling of
people for the sake of separation as well as to further the binary agenda of the
us-against-them that fuels so many of our wars today. This antagonism created
when people believe themselves to be morally superior to another is at the root
of humanity’s problematic issue in regards to immigration and mobility. It was
interesting to read many of my classmates’ essays, therefore, to see what they
thought on the issue.
Much of what I found was lacking, however. Rather than
addressing the problem as a whole, most of my peers decided to tackle much
smaller, more individualized, and mostly personally applicable applications for
the immigrant dilemma. For instance, Grant Gitschlag’s essay,
Running From Terror, speaks of the
plight of the Jewish people during World War II, and the difficulties they faced
as a persecuted immigrant group trying to seek asylum from mass genocide. Though
his report was specific to this one particular group, he did pose an interesting
reasoning for the hesitance to embrace them. He surmised that it was “due to the
dominant culture at the time favoring neutrality and prejudices against
immigrants”.
And here it is: that binary idea again. That
us-against-them mindset that makes people predisposed against accepting others
solely on the basis of the human commonality. If immigration is indeed a
commonplace within our global context, then how do we resolve the issues that
arise when differing cultures meet? Gitschlag offers a simple and thoughtful,
albeit overtly idealist, solution, concluding that “if people focused more on a
little empathy than self-interests, more Jewish lives could have been saved.”
Empathy surely is a part of the problem, but how does a country mandate empathy
on its people? Even more so, how does a country simultaneously exercise empathy
and still maintain its culture?
Kim Loza’s 2016 essay,
Dancing Along the Border, offers
insight into solving this problem. She describes the culture and the people who
live along the borders of countries, specifically the Mexican-Americans living
in “The Valley”, an area of Southern Texas alongside the border of the United
States and Mexico. Speaking from experience, she explains that the border people
live a unique experience, blending the best of both cultures into a homogenous
fusion that can be seen as a model for how many countries can begin to tear down
the harmful mindsets that prevent immigrants from experiencing the fullness of
what it means to relocate to another country. Movement is a basic fact and
common occurrence of the human existence: we have seen this from the fossil
records of prehistoric man, thousands of years ago. So why is there a problem
with it now? These border towns may offer a clue as to a solution, and the key
may be in the acceptance of the culture. Loza speaks from personal experience,
proudly exclaiming that “we are not separate but, we are a mixture as well as
“one””. Seeing themselves as not only American but as Mexicans as well was the
strength of her community, as well as what makes them uniquely adapted to the
immigration issue.
But all of this does nothing to change
the minds and hearts of the individual people, those people that have become so
polarized in their beliefs that they are hesitant to include even the most model
immigrants, out of fear of losing the culture that they have been conditioned to
defend. How do a people begin to
change their ideas that all immigration is bad, especially in light of the
global catastrophes that are going on today? Many of these people’s lives are in
danger, making it all the more vital for those who suffer at the hands of cruel,
unjust, and dictatorial governments to be able to get to a place of freedom.
Such an impetus is behind the waves of Syrian refugees flooding Southern Europe
as well as the Central and South American refugees cascading over our southern
borders. They flee oppression, hunger, and war, something that most Americans do
not have experience with. As a first-world nation of privilege, we have a
responsibility to lead the world in an attitude of comradery and compassion.
Ruth Brown’s
International Students: Human Bridges
across Countries was the closest to coming up with a viable solution
to the problem: to educate people to the awareness of a global identity through
youth exchange programs, such as The Rotary Youth Exchange program, of which I
am personally an avid supporter and participant. Citing Moroccan exchange
student Imane Karroumi’s reflections, Brown noted that the experience teaches
young adults “to be more tolerant and… [help] people understand more about…
heritage”. This acquired tolerance helps young people see the world differently,
which serves to whittle away at the polarized and divisive attitudes that many
who have not traveled adhere to. The reason for this shedding of ignorance is
that “international students” Brown says, “act as a bridge to bring language,
culture, and ideas to and from different countries. More than watching the news
or reading words on a page, international students constantly live out real
experiences with real people and that helps them and others evolve”. Through the
simple act of gaining an education in another country, unhealthy walls and
boundaries are torn down.
Education, therefore, must be the key. Through the
healthy understanding of boundaries and their reasons for existence, as well as
a willingness to explore the world without fear or trepidation, our country is
poised to become a place where intolerance and fear gives way to understanding
and acceptance. If more of our youth were to be internationally educated, then
come back home to share their experiences with their communities, attitudes
would slowly change to be more tolerant, less hesitant towards people that are
different than themselves. If people were to be informed of the reasons for such
a mass exodus into our countries, then perhaps their hearts would soften the
next time they encounter a new immigrant who is walking or riding a bike on the
side of the road because they have no car, or see someone struggling to
communicate at the grocery store. Perhaps then, through our next generation, can
we retain the dignity of a culture that, like good neighbors, shake hands at
their fences.
