On immigration, multiculturalism and the threat to western civilization

As someone who devotes a lot of time and effort to the issue of immigration and its ancillary components, be they social justice, free trade, racism or economics, I like to think that over time I've acquired a working understanding of the various positions on the issue. Although I might not agree with some of these positions for various reasons, I can, for the most part, understand how or why one might hold them. For example, an unemployed tech worker who argues there should be more restrictions on the admission of foreign workers makes sense to me, even if I don't see eye to eye with his solution. This is true of many of the positions of those who advocate for a more restrictive and sometimes punitive solution to the "immigration problem."

Yet for the life of me I can't seem to wrap my mind around the "Death of the West", "immigrants are destroying American culture" "why don't they speak English" mentality that sometimes permeates the debate.

But maybe that's because I'm from New York and we've had more experience than any other group in the world when it comes to dealing with "invading hordes of immigrants."

Yeah, Yeah, I know… it's not about immigration …it's about "illegal immigration"

I hear that all the time. And in the same breath I hear "and I don't want to have to dial 1 for English."

If it were really about "illegal" immigration we wouldn't see English-only bills floating around state legislatures and Pat Buchanan wouldn't have a second best selling book about Mexicans taking over "White America."

We wouldn't see the processing fees for legal immigration skyrocketing with the cost for naturalization rising 80 percent for applicants. The fee for lawful permanent residence wouldn't be rising 178 percent from $325 to $905, and the fee for fingerprinting wouldn't be going up 14 percent effective June 2007. There wouldn't be a movement to eliminate the allocation of thousands of green cards and temporary work visas from the current program.

I could argue statistics and figures all day. There's the fact that the majority of congressional immigration hawks come from districts with the lowest percentage of foreign born in the country, or that only 5000 green cards are issued annually to unskilled workers out of over 140,000. Or that in 2004 only two employment-based green cards were issued to Mexican unskilled workers, or that it takes over six years for the spouse of a Legal Permanent Resident to receive an immigrant visa. The list goes on, but the fact remains that despite all the protestations and denials, one of the driving forces behind this whole issue is a fear that immigrants somehow make America ... "less American"

But, But, But … I can hear it now. "What about the costs, what about the jobs they take, what about the taxes, then there's crime and healthcare and education … immigrants, and particularly the "illegal" ones have an adverse effect on our lives."

Really … How do you know that?

Currently there are a boatload of studies available that conclude that most of these "known facts" are either false or at the very least reside an area gray enough to leave a lot for room for interpretation. The same can be said of the studies that show the tremendous burden immigrant's place on society. Those who are honest on both sides of the debate admit that the documentation on the benefits and costs of immigration is a work in progress and no one can definitively state a case either way. The best we can do is look at the most current data, from the most reputable sources, and go from there.

Yet, that doesn't stop those who "know" how immigrants cause rising crime rates, force hospitals to shutter their doors because they can no longer afford to give immigrants "free health care," or collect welfare benefits and didn't pay taxes, from spouting off their "facts."

But I digress.

You see, one of the most common defenses of the "immigrants are wrecking this country" crowd is to tell people that unless they live on the border or an area "overrun" with immigrants, they have absolutely no idea what's going on, and by extension have no right to have an opinion. You hear it all the time in debates over the issue. "You don't know what it's like to walk into an emergency room, and wait for hours because it's filled with "illegals," or " I went into a store and the workers didn't speak English, what's happening to this country."

Here is where the New Yorker in me comes out.

Every year New York is in the top three states for the number of foreign born residents both legal and illegal. As anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the state can figure out, the bulk of those immigrants live in and around the NYC area. In fact in some areas the foreign born far out number native residents. My particular area has one of the largest and fastest growing immigrant populations in the nation. But the chief difference between here and the rest of the country is, this is not a new situation for us. It's been going on for the last 383 years.

I dare say that except for those kidnapped and forcibly brought to this country in the belly of a slave ship to be sold in a port such as Charleston, or who whose roots go back to a time before Columbus, vast numbers of Americans could trace their steps back to a point where family tread the same streets New Yorkers walk today.

We have a long history with "invading hordes of immigrants."

While it has certainly not always been some sort of multicultural heaven, a great rainbow of humanity all hand in hand singing kumbaya, over the years we've learned to deal …adapt … and accept.

When I hear talk about English-only and complaints about foreign languages being spoken I just can't fathom why this is even an issue. Walk the streets of Manhattan or Brooklyn, what do you hear? To those from the heartland what sounds like a cacophony of languages is actually a symphony. It's the sound of the future… and the past.

Neighborhoods that once were the home of Yiddish theaters and pushcart merchants now bounce to the beat of West Indian rhythms, while Koreans arrange meticulously manicured fruits on sidewalk stands. To this day, signs on the stores and newspapers in the stands come in almost every language in the world. This is nothing new … it's the way it's always been.

When some speak of the destruction of "American Culture" one must ask what exactly is "American" culture. Is it the music we listen to that’s and amalgam of African rhythms and traditional Irish and Scotch folk music? Is it the foods we eat like hot dogs or pizza that come from our immigrant past? Is it the movies we watch, or the books we read whose influences cross the boundaries of cultures and time? Is it our form of government and our institutions that are uniquely "American?" For they too did not arise in a vacuum, but sprung from ions of human societal development.

Maybe because I come from a place that has always been diverse, I see American culture as a more fluid proposition.

To me American culture is when you go to the Thanksgiving Day Parade or the fireworks at the river on the Fourth of July and stand shoulder to shoulder with those who speak languages from around the world, some dressed in their native garb, some looking American as apple pie. Yet we are all gathered to celebrate the same thing … we celebrate America. For me it's just the way it's always been since I was a kid.

For most Americans September 11th is a somber day, a day to remember. But for those of us here it means a little more. Each year the local TV stations still cover the memorial services from beginning to end. Every year they read the names of the fallen again in order that we never forget. And we never will. But one thing that is always striking as the bells toll and the bereaved struggle as they try to read the list. So many of the names are not "American." For every Jones or Smith whose name is read there is an equal if not greater number of Garcias, Kims, Nguyens or Lopez's. Names whose origins are Arabic and African, Chinese and Chilean, Romanian and Russian. That day drew no line between the "real Americans" and those who recently arrived to toil in the parking garage or the kitchen at Windows on the World. That day, for those fateful moments, they were all simply Americans.

I know that away from the bubble that is my East Coast, Blue State, Liberal world, many view us with disdain. We're loud and pushy, sometimes rude and smart-aleky, Often accused of being "out of touch" with the great expanse that is this nation. But when it comes to immigration and living in Americas version of a multicultural word we have some considerable experience. …. And ya know wat…it ain't so bad.

tags: immigration, multiculturalism , NYC

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The Immigrant Path to Acceptance

A group of immigrants has entered the United States en masse, bringing with them many things that Americans found objectionable. Poor, Catholic, uneducated, and different, these immigrants became the biggest scapegoat of the American public. They worked difficult, menial jobs that no American citizens wanted to do, often in unsanitary and dangerous conditions with low pay. The men would get odd jobs when they could as handymen, janitors, and carpenters. The women would get jobs as waitresses, nannies, and housekeepers. There were many conflicts with people already established in this country over jobs, and one of the biggest groups they had problems with was African-Americans. They lived many families to a single room, sometimes with no daylight or even running water, where the American public would complain that they were turning their neighborhoods into ghettos. There was public outcry over the rise in crime that accompanied these immigrants, and the American public wanted them gone.

The people referred to were the Irish, and in the late 1800's early 1900's they went through very similar things as latino immigrants are going through now and have been going through for years. Today, when someone mentions the hardships that the Irish immigrants went through, people often roll their eyes because they can't believe things were that bad for them. They're white people that speak English, after all, and now nobody can tell who is descended from Irish immigrants or people who descended from Anglo Saxons. This is a testament to how well integrated with American society the Irish had become, and it provides a blueprint into how other immigrant groups can become accepted by American society as well.



Like most immigrant communities, the Irish immigrants would live amongst people like themselves, and kept their own customs and traditions. As a result, there was some difficulty for them to integrate into the rest of society. However, the positive aspect is that it kept them more unified as a group and helped keep their traditions alive. If the Irish immigrants had worked hard to immediately assimilate, we would have lost many of the cultural icons that we take for granted today as a nation, the most famous of which is Saint Patrick's Day. The political ramifications of their unity also gives us a reminder of what is going on today within the latino communities. We see many paralells today in this regard, which is arguably a huge source of the organization we are seeing as protests form around the country.

(more below the fold)

tags: immigration, Irish


The key that the Irish immigrants of the past can teach the immigrants of today is that assimilation should be on your terms, not the terms of everyone else. Had the Irish simply tried to fit in completely with the Anglo Saxon Americans, they would have lost not only a chance of political power, but their identities as well. We must remember this when people argue for immigrants to start speaking English, stop being proud of the countries they came from, and act like white people. Integration will come when both sides learn from each other and try to take the best of everyone else's ideas and customs.

Another similar hurdle that the Irish overcame and today's immigrants are facing is that of poverty. Many things that the anti-immigrant lobby complain about stem from this single issue. When people are poor and desperate, they are more likely to be driven to commit crimes of all sorts, they don't live in nice clean places, and they do things that middle class and rich people may not like. Immigrants are usually hard-working, honest, dedicated people committed to doing what is best for themselves and their families. Americans can benefit from this greatly if we simply give immigrants this chance.

The ones that are poor are already working hard to get themselves out of poverty. They often take many jobs, do not live a lavish lifestyle, and seek new ways to make money. This is expressed in the statistics that show how immigrants are more likely to start their own business than someone born in the U.S. This is one way in which immigrants will add wealth and create jobs in this country.

When it comes to the economic impact of immigrants, most Americans seem to be in agreement that the immigrants are responsible for a loss of personal wealth. This point of view is in error. If there were less interference by greedy people and more regulation of business, we would see standard economic processes fixing any problems resulting from immigration. For example, immigrants earning lower wages would either be corrected by products and services being sold more cheaply (deflation), or by organized labor integrating the immigrants and bringing them up quickly to the same expectations as people born in the U.S. The second option is exactly what the Irish did. They formed unions before unions were known.

The Irish organization known as Tammany Hall was heavily involved with both politics and labor. As a result, they helped the Irish gain a foothold financially as well as politically. Tammany Hall was not perfect, but it was a start. Cesar Chavez is a hero to many immigrants. His United Farm Workers were also not perfect, but helped establish both a political and economic source of power for people who had been traditionally downtrodden. By helping these people, Chavez also helped the rest of the Americans who would work in farming jobs.

Unifying all of the workers provides benefits to everyone by providing a bargaining tool with the employers. This is why most unions today are adopting policies that seek to legalize undocumented immigrants and help them join their unions. It results in a better quality of life for everyone by taking away the ability for employers to go outside of the unions to seek employees.

The political impact of immigrants is only beginning to be felt. While there have been minority politicians for years now, the latino minority in particular is just starting to flex their political muscles. The marches that have been going on are a sign of this; organizations are being built, people are becoming more aware, and there is a strong desire to take action. The Irish immigrants also had such desires to organize and take action. They joined the Democratic party in large numbers and made their influence known by helping more of their people vote.

A critical problem in the latino community today is that not enough people are registered to vote, and even less actually do vote. This can only be changed by a combination of education of human rights and examples of how they can make a beneficial difference to this country. The Irish had proven themselves often. A descendent of Irish immigrants, former NY governor Al Smith brought about political reforms that had inspired much of FDR's "New Deal" that brought our country out of Great Depression. Another influential descendent of these Irish immigrants was president John F. Kennedy. The Irish immigrants did not take over this country and remake our government in the vision of Ireland, they came here, adopted our ideals, kept their own, and worked alongside everyone else to help form a better understanding of the political world and how to make this country a better place.

With all this said, it sounds like the new groups of immigrants could simply solve their problems by copying what the Irish did. It is not that easy, and there are no cookie cutter solutions for xenophobia, bigotry, and powerlessness. There are some differences between the state of our country now and how it was a century ago. There are differences in the people too. For example, poor latino immigrants often come here unable to speak English. Fortunately, statistics show that the majority of them do learn English after they are established here. They also look different sometimes. Latinos can often blend in fairly easily when they have lighter skin. It is unfortunate that people are still judged by how "white" they are in this day and age, but it is a strong indicator of social standing in this country. Additionally, while the Irish faced a lot of opposition when they arrived here, they were at least allowed to arrive here. This element adds a different facet to the immigration debate today, because our broken system refuses to let many people into our country.

There are many points that we have to consider when we look at the Irish immigrants and their actions and try to apply that to the immigrant groups of today. There is no direct solution, but there are clues that we can learn from the past. The Irish showed us how they did it, and now some of their descendents are fighting to help today's immigrants make a better life for themselves. The McCain Kennedy bill was a bipartisan proposal of two descendents of the Irish to work together, despite political differences, in order to repair much of the harm and hatred that immigrants face today. It was not perfect, but it is a start. We are a nation of immigrants, either immigrants ourselves or descendents of immigrants. To reject our immigrants now would be to reject our past, our present, and our future.

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