2g. Develop a question or topic of your own that refers to course texts and varies objectives. Acknowledge course objective(s) relating to your subject.

Daryl Edwards

American Attitudes Toward Immigration: Some Things Never Change

     America is unique in that it is a nation of immigrants. This idea was at the very foundation of the country’s birth. The Declaration of Independence raised the issue when it said, “…He [King George III of England] has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither…” So, immigration has always been a part of the process where America is concerned. The Founding Fathers promised a place where all were free to experience “…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” (The Declaration of Independence). The conception of these words formed within the nation’s consciousness an idea of an American Dream. This concept refers to the belief in the opportunity to make individual choices without prior restrictions that limit people according to class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity (Wikipedia). This dream has been central to all Americans, both immigrant and native born. And yet even though we are a nation of immigrants the subject has been at times one of great contention. The polarization on the topic is no less pronounced today as it was in centuries past.

     In order to understand the nature of the debate, one must understand the two forces which are central to the process, “assimilation” into the “dominant culture.” Assimilation is the process by which immigrants become more like Americans. It involves learning the language, intermarriage, shared institutions and beliefs in concepts of opportunity or self development. As the immigrant is assimilated he loses more of the ethnic or cultural differences that separate him from the dominant culture. By the dominant culture we generally mean mainstream white America. While terms such as dominant culture are hard to quantify one could easily substitute the term Anglo-conformity. In her poem “Blonde White Women”, Patricia Smith offers an example of how a process like assimilation can inspire a form of self-contempt. She tells of how many black women seek to alter their natural appearance in hopes of becoming more like the media images of dominant culture females, of which blonde white women are considered the leading ladies. To emphasize the point, the young man in Junot Diaz’s “How to Date a Browngirl” tells of how white girls are considered a prize sexual conquest and how he loves her skin more than his own.

     These issues are pertinent to the discussion because they serve as examples of how out-groups seek entrance into the mainstream dominant culture. The problem arises when the dominant culture is not accepting of immigrant entrance into the mainstream. It has been noted that it is in fact the immigrant groups who are hesitant to enter. In her 2008 essay, Division to Diversity, Tanya Stanley proposed that “The dominant culture is the entity immigrants assimilate to and minorities resist.” I do not subscribe to this position. History is rife with examples of out-groups marching, protesting, pleading, and suing in court to access the benefits and privileges of the dominant culture. Indeed, one of the symbols noted in Dr. White’s terms and symbols of dominant culture is the penchant for living behind fences and in gated communities. This strikes me as emblematic of someone preferring to deny access to the masses rather than welcoming them with open arms.

     The issue of immigration as I said is contentious today. The television and print media are constantly giving us stories on how divisive the nation has grown on the issue. One would assume given the heated rhetoric that this is a new manifestation. In fact, the subject has been an issue of contention periodically throughout our nation’s history. In today’s environment of economic uncertainty many perceive the arrival of fresh immigrants as unviable and perceive it in zero-sum terms, that is to say, anything the immigrant receives must come at the native –born’s expense. Such a perception creates hostility and resentment.

     In times such as these notions of “melting pots” and “golden doors’’’ are shelved in preference of xenophobia and rhetoric. The uncle in Chitra Divakaruni’s, Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs, is accurate when he laments that, “The Americans hate us. They’re always putting us down because we’re dark-skinned foreigners,…Blaming us for the damn economy, for taking away their jobs.” Of course not all Americans take this position, but an alarming number do. I find it beyond ironic that the descendants of immigrants could be so passionately anti-immigrant.

     I believe that this type of rational observation is facilitated through the type of study and research that we have done in this class. Understanding multicultural literature provides us with a look deeper into the issue and permits us to see the history surrounding it. Public outcry over the perceived invasion of dark-skinned (different-looking) immigrants is not a recent manifestation. The same issues were raised a hundred years ago with immigrants from eastern Europe. Dominant culture is slow to accept that which is different to begin with; doing so in a period of financial uncertainty only exacerbates the problem.

     Perhaps it would serve us as Americans to keep in mind that when the Pilgrims disembarked at Plymouth they carried no documents giving them permission to enter the Indians lands. Neither did they encounter steel fences. They were welcomed and helped through a perilous winter. This is the spirit of openness that we as Americans should remember. Thanksgiving Day is basically a celebration of undocumented immigrants and their success. We must not permit our biases or our fears to change who we are as a nation. Neither should we submit to the temptation to deny others the opportunities that our ancestors had when they came to this country seeking opportunity. We should welcome those who, having heard the siren song of liberty, ventured from their land to share in the continuing of a dream that began so long ago.

Works Cited

The Declaration of Independence

Diaz, Junot. How to Date a Browngirl. Imagining America: Stories from the

     Promised Land. Persea Books. New York. 2002.

Divakaruni, Chitra. Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs. Imagining America: Stories

     From the Promised Land. Persea Books. New York. 2002.

Smith, Patricia. Blonde White Women. Imagining America: Stories from the

     Promised Land. Persea Books. New York. 2002.

Wikipedia. America Dream. Web 8, July 2010.