I have decided to blog about immigration. I understand that immigration has many opposing views and can polarize groups very quickly. At least here in the United States, this is an important and increasingly difficult issue.
The thought I would like to begin with is that unless we are of Native American stock, we are all immigrants to this country. We are a relatively young country and most of us can trace our roots to other countries. A question I would like to ask is what is your heritage? Where does your family get its roots? Do you have a story? I think each of us has a story. Sometimes we are very aware of that story or our ethnic background and sometimes we are not. For some it is more important than others. Try to trace your roots if you don't know. Ask a family member about how and why your family came to be "American."
You probably don't care but I will share a little about my family and you are invited to share a little about yours as well. Most of us have some pride about who we are and rightly so. We should, in my opinion, be aware and proud of our heritage and I think we have a responsibility to keep the story alive. My father is Estonian, he was born in Estonia and fled the Soviet invasion (WWII) as a young child (5 years old) with his parents and younger sister. He was raised in Sweden and after he attended college in Sweden he came to the United States. His family left Sweden as he was beginning college. They had waited 12 years for visas to the United States. My mothers' family is from England, I honestly don't know when they came to the United States. I know that we have family that was here during the revolutionary war. I ought to learn more about it. What about your family? What do you know about it?
As far as policy goes, I am no expert. I do know that immigration affects families. Immigration also includes emmigration. The coming to a counrty inlcudes leaving a country. There are parts of families left in homelands. Sometimes families are torn apart and or united by immigration.
New languages, employment, cultural differences, are some of many difficulties immigration includes. There are also difficulties for the culture or society that recieves immigrants; school districts, hospitals, governments, and programs that affect families. At the same time, there are also benefits. Obviously, for the family there are benefits or it seems they would not make the decision to come, but the are also benefits for the country accepting the immigration.
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Great topic! I love that you point out that we are all immigrants. I used to think about that a lot as a young girl listening to my grandfather spew inflamitory comments about various cultural groups and who should or should not be allowed to reside here. Although I loved my grandfather, that was a side of him I really struggled with.
ReplyDeleteOn a different note...the United States is often described as a "melting pot." I'm not sure this is an adequate description, nor is it something I advocate. I much prefer the imagery of a tossed green salad. The diversity of the United States gives our country it's amazing color and flavor. I don't believe the goal should be assimilation to where all traces of former culture is lost. Our strength is in our diversity. I hope as a nation that we never lose sight of this.
A tough topic indeed! Clearly every nation's heritage is founded on some type of immigration and wars continue to rage over ethnicity and land control. Humans seem to be very attached to their land. At what point in a country's lifespan does immigration become an issue? Is is about equal opportunity for all? Or about who got here first? If diversity is our strength, perhaps Americans begin feeling weak when one ethnicity's population appears to overpower all the others. Great topic Boyd!
ReplyDeleteJessica: I love the tossed green salad analogy. I am going to have to remember that one.
ReplyDeleteBoyd: My ancestors have been here for at least 3 generations, some much more than that (distant Mohawk). Immigration is indeed a tough one to tackle. If birth rates fall below replacement, we have to turn to immigration to make up the difference. The social security system also relies on increasing numbers of people paying into it, what happens if we stop having children and limit the number of people who come into the country.
I am all for immigration, I don't feel it is necessary or safe to have illegal immigrants. It is unsafe for them and their families. I know undocumented workers cannot access the housing programs the nonprofit I work for provides. I look forward to seeing your ideas about what policy changes we can/should make.
Something that I am reminded of is that when some of my ancestors came here they did not allow their children to learn the language or of of the culture from which they came. Their parents would insist, no you're an American now and essentially must assimilate. Such an idea today would appear quite puzzling. However, I suppose that there was resentment towards their mother country that caused them to leave it all behind.
ReplyDeleteThough I regret that anyone would go to that extreme, and even mourn the loss of my culutre there is still seems to be some sense in embracing this place since for most of us (with a very notable exception) chose to come to. Rather than come and rigidly hold onto the past, including not learning the English language (is that last sentence a can of worms or what?!?).
As to your inquiry on my background, too many to list here but I'll give it a try. The last name Mock is German (though technically they were initally not even from there), then there's Swiss, French, Italian, more German, English, Danish and I'm sure more.
Good comments, all, and good topic, Boyd.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad's family was Irish, his mother's German, and my mom's family Italian. The Viviani's changed their last name to Vivian to try to disguise their Italian heritage and escape the Dego, Wap, characterization. While I would like to think we could eliminate illegal immigration, it is very unlikely that we can do so, especially when employers want the illegal immigrants and the government is unable to enforce the laws.