The Final Post
In Monday’s post and the Guide to Action, I proposed some practical ways that people who want to work towards improved immigrant-citizen relations can do their part. Please, take a look at the Guide to Action. I think you’ll find that you’ve already started taking action! Personally, I’m already learning two languages–Spanish and French–that are widely spoken by immigrants in Indiana. My career goal is to use those languages as an E.R. doctor in a hospital that serves a large population of immigrants. In the E.R. setting, I want to use my language skills to assist, serve, and comfort immigrants, who are often afraid of the American healthcare system and going to the hospital. Recently, I’ve been volunteering at the International Center here on campus, helping international students improve their English conversation skills. Upon learning that I am volunteering to help, rather than being paid, these students are very surprised and very grateful; I can tell that I’m making them feel welcome and wanted, even special, here at I.U. and in America in general. Something that I’m considering doing more of as a result of this project is advocating for fair and effective immigration reform. Year after year, the U.S. Congress pushes the issue aside. Political discussions in general seldom touch the issue of immigration reform. I’m going to pursue opportunities to petition for immigration reform and encourage political figures and organizations to pursue it. This is how I’m encouraging better immigrant-citizen relations in my sphere of influence.
From this blog project, I’ve learned or been reminded of many things. What stands out the most is the importance of children to improving immigrant-citizen relations in the future. If they can be taught to be ethnicity-blind at a young age through things like bilingual education programs, slowly but surely, the general tone in this and other countries will change. Through aspects of this project like the article, “Muslims in Spain,” my encounter with a Colombian friend, and the news article about anti-Mexican hate crimes in New York, I was reminded of the prevalence of stereotyping of and distrust towards immigrants and the importance of confronting these problems. I was surprised and encouraged by the positive attitude expressed by Peru’s president towards Chinese immigrants and learned that Peruvian culture seems to value the contributions of these immigrants. I also learned that while current relations between Muslims and Western Europeans are not good, there are glimmers of hope. In Spain, for instance, Muslim children born in Spain represent hope for improved integration of Muslims into Spanish culture. “Sans-papiers” in France (who are often Muslim) are generally supported by French labor unions, who empathize with their plight as workers despite their ethnicities or competition for labor. See earlier blog posts for more in-depth reflection on these ideas.
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The Little Things
A few days ago, I asked what ordinary people like me can do to encourage positive interactions and understanding between immigrants and citizens (American or otherwise). I also asked what can be done to challenge the anti-immigrant views held by some people. One very practical thing that each of us can do to promote peace and understanding is make a conscious effort to help out and get to know immigrants. We can show interest in their native country and culture, ask them how they feel about the United States, and offer to answer any questions that they have about the English language or American life. If we speak an immigrant’s native language, we can use these relationships to practice speaking that language while helping an immigrant express him/herself to an American in more detail than he/she is perhaps able to muster in English. These types of small actions will not only help immigrants feel more comfortable and welcome in the United States; they will also expand our understanding of what is beyond the borders of the United States.
Acting as described above will certainly help in the fight against anti-immigrant rhetoric and attitudes. Additionally, having the fortitude to challenge those who express these types of beliefs can potentially have a great effect. Advocating expanded and controlled legal immigration and celebrating the positive achievements of immigrants and the importance of immigrants to American history are some basic ways that immigrants can be supported in the face of criticism and even animosity.
Look for more thoughts on action, perhaps even some organizations to become a part of, as the Guide to Action and final blog post are put together this week.
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Reflections
At this point, I’m pretty pleased with the information and ideas that I’ve found. My Breaking News articles have an international flavor, reaching places like Britain, France, and Peru, and within the U.S., Hispanic and Muslim immigrants are discussed. I’ve found several general solutions to the problems brought up in my introductory post and Background and Analysis page and been exposed to facets of the issue of immigrant integration that I had never thought of before. As the project winds down, I would like to begin thinking about action–what are some practical things that people like me can do to encourage positive immigrant-citizen interaction and promote understanding between these two groups? Also, how can the minds of people who adhere to stereotypes of immigrants be opened? Look for some more thoughts on this in the coming days.
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A Few Comments…
Check out the other Q-class blogs that I’ve commented on in the past few days!
Our class:
Another class:
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Muslims in Spain
I just added a news article to the blogroll from the Spanish newspaper, El Pais, that is from a few years ago but still very relevant to my topic. It is fascinating and detailed enough to merit its own blog post. It talks about the challenges in integrating Muslims–both immigrants and Spaniards–into Spanish culture, and points out that there are about 200,000 Spanish-born Muslim children and teenagers living in Spain. These young people represent a crucial point in Spanish history. Will they become fully integrated into Spanish society, or will they live just as many of there parents have, segregated from the rest of Spanish society? The article quotes the leader of a Muslim organization who discusses the need for Muslim imans to be educated about democratic values. If understanding between Western and Middle Eastern values can be created through this avenue, and imans are willing to open their minds to this education, perhaps they can become the channel by which Muslims become more familiar with and friendly towards the democratic nations that they sometimes immigrate to. The article also points out that many Spaniards have strong feelings against Islam because they recognize and dislike the Catholic-like rigidity of its laws and practices. This long-held disdain for overly imposing religions is a challenge to immigrant integration in Europe that had never even occurred to me.
The most shocking piece of information that I took from this article is that 80% of surveyed Spaniards consider any Muslim to be of an authoritarian political mindset, and 57% consider any Muslim to be violent. Despite these statistics, the article concludes by saying that according to the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia, Spanish Muslims feel less rejected than Muslims in other European countries! Despite America’s problems with anti-immigrant sentiments, I think its safe to say that we are way ahead of Europe on this issue.
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The Government’s Role
The latest round of news articles and Blogroll links have focused a lot on the role of the government in controlling immigration and encouraging immigrant integration. From the stories about the sans-papiers (undocumented workers) in France and the debate over immigrants’ rights in San Francisco, it is clear to me that European and American immigration policy must be expanded to allow for more legal immigration. In both of these articles, it seems clear that governments are not really interested in deportation of illegal immigrants, and immigrants–legal or illegal– are not necessarily considered a huge societal problem. They simply need to be documented to avoid confusion over what rights they have, how much taxes they have paid, where they are working, etc. This can be accomplished through expansion of immigration processes. The story about the attacks against Mexican immigrants in New York highlights the importance of public awareness to this debate. If more Americans and Europeans are aware of the hatred that exists against immigrants and the social obstacles that they must often overcome, immigrants will gain a lot of positive public support. This can also happen if stories like the one about 4 of 7 American Nobel Prize winners being immigrants are better publicized.
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Multilingualism
So far, two of my three articles on the Breaking News page have been about non-English language schools and how they help integrate immigrant children with more established Americans. I definitely wasn’t expecting this. Could this be the single most-powerful way to overcome friction between immigrants and Americans? I’m starting to think that the answer is yes. Effecting change is certainly easiest through young people. If bilingual education can be used to bring small but diverse groups of students together, the students in these groups will hopefully become advocates throughout their communities for positive American-immigrant relations.
I would like to see this blog touch on immigration issues in Europe a bit more. I found one web page (see the blogroll) discussing integration of Chinese immigrants into Spanish society, but I would like to find some news items about European relations with Muslim immigrants, both the struggles and the successes. I would also like to find some items discussing Latin American immigration to Europe. I have come across plenty of stereotyping of these immigrants in my travels to Spain. I would like to know if any progress has been made in combating these stereotypes.
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Stereotyping
I’ve had a busy week and have not had much time to update my blog, but something happened today that I had to post. I went to my first play rehearsal for the local Spanish-language theater group, VIDA, where I met an international student from Colombia. Afterwards, I asked her if she wanted to go eat dinner with me at Wright. She seemed absolutely shocked by my friendliness and told me that many Americans (especially outside of Bloomington) are not friendly to her because she is Colombian. Apparently, she has been asked on more than one occasion if she has any cocaine–just because she is Colombian! When I heard that remark, I was disgusted. How could anyone be so close-minded and downright rude? How can Americans, who are all descendants of immigrants, be so judgmental of immigrants? And how can this type of attitude be dealt with? The first question is rhetorical. The answer to the second question is stereotyping, an error that we all commit, just usually not so blatantly. As for how to combat this, I’m not really sure. I just hope that this particular woman feels a little bit better about Americans after meeting me…
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Getting Started
I’ve published the Background and Analysis page. That will help everyone understand, in a bit more detail, why I think addressing the issue of immigration and cultural clashes is so important to the future of our world. I’ve also published the first Breaking News item, which is a very interesting article from the Los Angeles Times. It talks about a positive way that families of Spanish-speaking heritage are helping their children strengthen their Spanish language skills while feeling proud about their heritage in spite of the stereotypes that often surround it. Finally, I’ve posted two web pages to the Blogroll. They are the home pages for two of the more conservative players in the America’s immigration debate–an organization dedicated to the promotion of English as America’s dominant and unifying language and the Minuteman Project, which I’m still hoping to find out more about.
I’m fairly impressed with the pro-English website. The group makes a clear attempt to emphasize its support of English as America’s dominant language for practical reasons, not racist ones. The group’s attempts to rally Americans around English as the country’s ‘historical language’ are somewhat ignorant in my opinion, as this ignores the historical importance of Spanish in the west and southwest, French on the Gulf Coast and in New England, and Native American languages. The Minuteman Project is a bit more concerning. While it may not claim to be racist or culturally insensitive, a banner ad on the side of the home page shows a picture of a man raising a Mexican flag above an American flag with the title “They say they only come here to work?” This looks like an attempt to incite fear over one extreme person’s actions.
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A huge part of 21st century globalization has been the worldwide increase in cross-cultural immigration. In America, immigration–both legal and illegal–from Latin America, the Middle East, East Asia, and even Africa has created opportunities for increased cultural understanding, and in some cases cultural clashes. The same has occurred in Western Europe, where Middle Eastern, African, Eastern European, and East Asian immigrants are becoming large segments of the population. As someone who has seen, firsthand, both positive and negative reactions to immigration in Western Europe and the United States, I want to expand my knowledge of these reactions. How are bridges being formed between immigrants and already-established Americans and Europeans? What may be causing divisions between these groups, and how can these divisions be reconciled? My goal in creating this blog is to answer that last question: How can we break down the walls of animosity and misunderstanding that exist between millions of Europeans and Americans and immigrant populations? I’d also like to help others realize the importance of this issue to the future of our world. After all, if we cannot get along with those who have come to live alongside us, how can we ever expect to get along with those who would like to destroy us?
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