Before reading Children of Immigration I had put a
surprisingly small amount of time pondering immigration. In retrospect, this is
unacceptable seeing as I am the son of an immigrant (for those of us that don't
consider New Brunswick to be "Maine pt. 2"), I probably should have
spent some time investigating the issues. Going into reading the book, my views
towards immigrants were by no means negative. But the book gave me some more
perspective on the matter.
I found the 2nd Chapter had the largest effect on my views.
By analyzing immigration through a historical perspective, the book highlighted
many of the similarities and differences between the immigrant’s experiences at
different points in time. It is sad to read that while the immigrant experience
has varied widely in terms of location and motivation, there has been little
variance in terms of the reception they received. The lack of growth in our collective attitude
towards newly arrived immigrants is disheartening. I would hope that we would
have experienced more growth over the generations.
It was also interesting to see the different types of
immigrant experiences there are. People tend lump them in as one entity and
while I didn’t do that prior to reading this book, I admittedly underestimating
the wide array of pathways immigrants take to this country.
While the general attitudes and misconceptions towards
immigrants was a downer, it was uplifting to read that many children enter this
country with an enthusiasm towards education and optimism for what the future
holds. I plan on adding to this blog after class discussion because its such an
interesting topic and I would love to add more when I get other people’s
perspectives.
The reception immigrants receive definitely had an effect on my grandparents when they came here from Italy. My grandmother used to have my mother speak for her in public places because she was embarrassed by her accent. She believed Americans would look down on her if she spoke in public. I grew up hearing stories about my mom's experiences as the daughter of immigrant parents, and know her story so well. I underestimated the wide variety of experiences people have when they start life in a completely different place too.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading the book Children of Immigration. I also gave the topic very little thought before reading but I realize that immigration continues to play a huge role in the demographics of our future classes. Some of the children's stories were sad, like when they talked about violence being the worst part of America because many immigrants settle in neighborhoods plagued by street violence, but I thought it was inspiring that so many children enjoyed their education at first and viewed it as a tremendous opportunity. I just think as teachers we must try to work with immigrant students and keep them engaged and excited so they keep their enthusiasm about school.
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