Opponents of the Dream Act should reread the lines on the Statue of Liberty.
Tag Archives: Immigration
Putting a Human Face on Immigrants
“A Better Life” puts a human face on illegal immigrants, something the United States sorely needs.
Grapes of Wrath Fermenting in Alabama
Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” allows us to see some of the dynamics that the tough new anti-immigration law in Alabama has set into play.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alabama immigration law, Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, undocumented workers Comments closed
Refugees Dropped in a Fantastic Terrain
As I watch the brutal repression currently underway in Syria, I am reminded of Syrian-American poet Mohja Kahf’s poem about her family fleeing to America from Assad’s father in 1971.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Roc", Arab Spring, Mohja Kahf, politics, refugees, Syria Comments closed
Whitman & Hughes Hear America Singing
Today, for July 4, I offer up two ultra-American poems. Walt Whitman embraces multitudes” in “I Hear America Singing,” and Langston Hughes, in an addendum, mentions some of those Americans that, in the past, have been forgotten. May we all remember that America is astounding in its willingness to open itself to all people.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "I Hear America Singing", "I Too Sing America", July 4, Langston Hughes, Patriotism, Walt Whitman Comments closed
An Inhumane Immigration System
A Hollywood ending to “The Visitor” would shield the viewer from a tragedy that is re-enacted hundreds of times daily in detention centers around this country. Instead, we are given the stark reality.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Film, illegal immigrants, Thomas McCarthy, Visitor Comments closed
America Encourages the Vagabond Self
Looking at the United States from the vantage point of Iran, Nafisi writes that it was America’s vagrant nature that she connected to. She writes that America “somehow encourages this vagabond self.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Azar Nafisi, Great Gatsby, Huckleberry Finn, Invisible Man, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Wizard of Oz Comments closed
The Immigrant’s Choice
Adrienne Rich has a well-known poem that is powerful in large part because it captures, simply and directly, the immigrant’s plight. Rich depicts immigration as a stark choice—either one goes through the door or one doesn’t. The decision has immense ramifications, both positive and negative.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Adrienne Rich, Anzia Yezierska, politics, Rachel Kranz Comments closed
Bread, Chocolate, & Immigrant Self-Hatred
While watching Franco Brusati’s 1976 film Bread and Chocolate about Italian immigrant workers, I thought about how our own Latino and Latina immigrants must see both the United States and themselves. Do they reject their own cultures and idealize those of America? How does the anti-immigrant feeling evinced by parts of America enter into how the newcomers see themselves? Is there this same mixture of envy and self-loathing?
