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Immigrant and Ethnic History in the United States Survey

Diane C. Vecchio
Furman University

THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, prompted Americans to scrutinize the nation's immigrants and immigration policies with new rigor. Even before the hijacked planes hit the Twin Towers, however, many Americans believed the United States was taking in too many immigrants and that those immigrants were taking too long to assimilate. Fear and loathing have been voiced about every group of immigrants that has come to America. During the colonial period, Benjamin Franklin cursed the great wave of German immigrants as "generally the most stupid of their own nation." The famine Irish were reviled in Massachusetts, where they were caricatured with ape-like features. As Eastern and Southern Europeans poured through Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century, President Coolidge declared that "America must be kept American."1 We are once again living at a time marked by fear and distrust of foreigners. Since 9/11 "everyone with dark skin, an accent, a turban, or a foreign birthplace looks to many Americans as a potential enemy of the state."2 1
      During the last twenty-five years, there has been a serious effort by scholars and teachers to introduce race, gender and ethnicity into the United States survey. But while courses and curriculum have been transformed by the integration of race and gender, how much progress has been made integrating immigration and ethnicity? Considering the current atmosphere of hostility toward immigrants, one might conclude that we have failed when it comes to educating the public about immigration to the United States. Integrating issues of immigration and ethnicity into the United States survey presents similar challenges and considerations as do race and gender. While these topics are generally discussed in the survey course, they are often treated in limited, marginal ways. Now, more than ever, significant changes must be made in the way we teach immigration and ethnicity in the United States survey. I will address three topics which must be considered in order to transform the survey to better include immigrants, immigration and ethnicity: 1) current research in immigration history; 2) how topics of immigration and ethnicity are now commonly taught in the United States survey, and, (3) recommendations for integrating immigration and ethnicity into the United States survey course. 2
      In 1999, current research in immigration history was the subject of a forum sponsored by the Journal of American Ethnic History titled "Immigration History: Assessing the Field." Contributions by several scholars of immigration and ethnicity shaped the discussion, pointing to new directions in the field, but also reinforcing traditional approaches to immigration history. For the purpose of this paper, I will discuss several of the issues raised by four of the Forum participants. In "Race, Nation, and Culture in Recent Immigration Studies," Professor George Sanchez of the University of Southern California, urged historians to examine two major transformations that have created a shift in thinking about the role of immigrants in American society. The first major transformation was the shift of most immigrants to the United States away from Europe and towards Latin America and Asia, a result of global transformations as well as the 1965 Immigration Act. A second major transformation was the emergence of scholarship focusing on African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans, making the treatment of race and ethnicity of central importance in understanding justice and equality in American history.3 The growing awareness of race and ethnicity in immigration studies, according to Sanchez, was due to the field of "whiteness" studies introduced by David Roediger in the 1990s.4 The challenge posed by Sanchez was how to reconcile historical approaches developed for the study of white European immigrants with the experiences of "racialized" immigrant groups, especially those entering the United States since World War II.5 3
      University of Minnesota professor, Erika Lee, on the other hand, urged historians to examine an aspect of immigration history that she claimed was often overlooked—immigrants and immigration law. Lee maintained that the laws restricting immigrants from coming to the United States as well as those encouraging them to immigrate have been created according to the nation's needs and desires as well as its domestic and foreign policy agendas.6 "Thus, Lee contended that immigration and naturalization laws must be accorded more attention and their impact on immigrants and their children more fully explored."7 4
      While Professors Sanchez and Lee pointed to new directions for writing and teaching about immigrants and immigration, Professors Gjerde and Barkan reaffirmed the importance of the more "traditional" approach to the history of immigrants and immigration. Jon Gjerde of the University of California, Berkeley, reminded the conference of the importance of the social history of immigration, ethnicity, and citizenship as a central component in understanding the development of an "American identity."8 5
      Comments offered by Professor Elliott Barkan, of Cal State, San Bernardino, addressed America's contemporary views of immigrants, and explained that the ethnic-oriented behavior of immigrants, usually taken as evidence of non-assimilation, was due to the fact that these immigrants had been here too short a time to have gone much beyond the early stages of adaptation and adjustment.9 One aspect of contemporary immigration that was often overlooked, according to Barkan, was that many immigrants had arrived very recently. Thus, many Americans saw the large number of concentrated, urban ethnic communities of visibly, linguistically, and culturally distinctive peoples as unprecedented in American history. This just showed that Americans had a short memory.10 6
      These observations, made a few years ago, provide an agenda for incorporating new directions in the field as well as reinforcing traditional approaches to immigration history. This agenda might include the following: 1) analysis of recent immigration (post WWII); 2) discussion of race (not just ethnicity) when studying immigrants of color, (I.e., Asians, Latinos, and Afro-Caribbean's); 3) the way in which immigration laws have been defined by the nation's domestic and foreign policies; 4) the development of an "American identity" through the study of immigrants, ethnicity, citizenship, and the impact of immigration on American society; and 5) ethnicity and the process of immigrant adaptation and assimilation. 7
      With these thoughts in mind let us now examine how immigration and ethnicity are currently being taught in the United States survey course. As Chief Reader of the AP United States History Exam, one of my responsibilities is to select faculty consultants for the annual reading. The applications submitted by high school teachers and college professors have given me an opportunity to review hundreds of United States history syllabi. This information, along with information solicited from AP high school and college teachers reveals similar approaches in the teaching of immigration and ethnic history in the United States survey course. 8
      First, immigration is often taught as a distinct period or periods in American history. Traditionally, the United States survey integrates or "places" immigrants in the colonial period, in the early 19th century, and at the turn of the 20th century. Second, "alien" status is often ascribed to Mexican Americans, rather than indigenous peoples of the Southwest. Third, immigration is usually taught as a "unit" during the late 19th and early 20th centuries because of its interrelationship with industrialization, urbanization and the progressive movement. Fourth, the focus of immigration tends to be predominately northeast, urban and European. Fifth, immigrants are often associated with problems: poverty, overcrowding, and urban slums. Sixth, immigration is generally not addressed after WWII. Seventh, individual immigrants and their contributions to American society are unknown. And finally, women and gender are rarely examined when discussing immigration. 9
      What are the consequences of this "traditional" approach to immigration history?
  • Students think of immigration as something that happened in the past. They have little, if any, knowledge about the continuing trends of immigration to the United States, especially regarding persons from the middle east, southeast Asia and Africa.
  • Immigration is regionalized.
  • Eminent immigrants remain anonymous.
 10
      In order to broaden the incorporation of immigration and ethnicity in the United States survey, I would like to suggest that teachers consider the following:
  • break away from "the tyranny of chronology"11 and discuss immigration as a continuous process in American history;
  • examine the development of American identity through the prism of immigrants and immigration;
  • discuss how America has accommodated and/or resisted ethnic diversity;
  • analyze how race has played a part in American history/immigration history beginning with the first naturalization law of 1790 that limited citizenship to white persons;
  • ask students to think about native Americans and forced migration vis a vis the immigrant experience;
  • familiarize students with "eminent" immigrants, those who have contributed to the making of America; (For example, Italian immigrants William Paca, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and governor of Maryland and Philip Mazzei, advisor to Jefferson and other Virginians in their ideas of rebellion based on natural rights.)
  • broaden the breadth and depth of immigration to include immigrants who settled in all regions of the United States; (For example, Jewish immigrants are almost always associated with late 19th and early 20th centuries in the urban northeast. Discuss the thriving colonial Jewish settlements in New Amsterdam, Charleston, and Savannah, dating to the seventeenth century and the Jews who established themselves as merchants in the rural south.)12
  • in addition to Ellis Island, refer to other points of entry for immigrants such as Galveston and New Orleans and Angel Island in California, a place which served as the point of entry for Asians;
  • move beyond the association of immigrants with industry and discuss immigrant Swedes and Danes who farmed in America's heartland; Italian vintners in California; Jewish ranchers in Texas, and Mexican garment workers in San Antonio;
  • discuss recent migration from Central and South America; (The overwhelming majority of south Americans entered the United States after 1960 and a large part of the population, about forty-five percent, arrived since 1990.13 These include the Hmong settling in northern Wisconsin, Cubans in New Jersey, Ethiopians in Minnesota, West Indians in New York City, Guatemalans and Salvadorans in Los Angeles.)
  • discuss the transformation of the new south from a society characterized by race to a society now diversified by race and ethnicity; (Examples include South Carolina, a major destination for Mexicans, Colombians and Vietnamese.)
  • extend the treatment of immigrants beyond the Progressive era and discuss immigration laws and policies since 1965;
  • move into discussions of "whiteness" and issues of race affecting Asian, Latino and Afro-Caribbean immigrants; (The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII; the conflicts between African Americans, Haitians and Afro-Cubans in Miami.)
  • along with traditional methods for teaching the Progressive era, discuss how ethnic Americans helped themselves and their communities and how individual ethnic Americans emerged as urban reformers; (Fiorello LaGuardia)
  • examine the connection between America's domestic and foreign policy and immigration, using, for example, the influx of Vietnamese refugees following the Vietnam War; the Cold War, and America's policy toward Cuban "refugees;"
  • explore how domestic policies have affected ethnic groups such as the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and its impact on the lives of Mexicans living in territories that were taken over by the United States;
  • incorporate a gender analysis into immigration history by discussing the "women left behind" when men emigrated; the roles played by immigrant women in the economy, in the family, and in adapting to American society;
  • revisit an established American paradigm, that of America as the land of opportunity, a haven and refuge for others. (Does that paradigm still hold?)
 11
      Teachers of the United States survey now have a wide-range of texts dealing extensively with immigration and ethnicity. For example, First-hand America, by Burner, Bernhard and Kutler, (Brandywine Press), is one of the few texts to include an incisive (albeit, short) examination of immigrant women. This text is also strong in its treatment of "Minorities of Old American Heritage," analyzing the Chicano Movement and Native American activism. Liberty, Equality, Power, A History of The American People, by Murrin, Johnson, McPherson, Gerstle, Rosenberg and Rosenberg (Harcourt) provides excellent coverage of recent immigration. Here, the authors deal with race, ethnicity, immigration law and social activism; and discuss the "new immigration" of the 1970s and 1980s from Asia and Latin America. This text probes recent immigration laws, including the Immigration Act of 1965 and the Refugee Act of 1980,14 thus providing students with an explanation for why Cubans and Soviet Jews were being admitted, for example, while Haitians were often denied immigrant status. The authors also discuss illegal immigration and The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1987.15 In addition, they present the debate over multicultural education. 12
      More recently, the publication of Created Equal, A Social and Political History of the United States by Jones, Wood, Borstelmann, May and Ruiz , (Longman, 2003) emphasizes social history and provides the most thorough integration of immigration, ethnicity, and race of any text to date. Highlighting the formation of social identity as a central element in United States history, the authors examine how individual Americans have understood and identified themselves by gender, religion, region, race, and ethnicity. The Spanish Southwest, Spanish colonization of the California coast, and native American culture are topics that are examined at length. Insightful essays titled "Connecting History," compare current problems with issues in the past, demonstrating the ways we experience and the ways we remember history. One essay, for example, titled "Homeland Security and Deep Fears of the Enemy Within," examines the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Sept. 2001. The authors discuss racial profiling with past experiences in American history, making a connection with 9–11, and the forced relocation of Japanese Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Created Equal reflects the state of the field by incorporating immigration law, "whiteness" studies, and the "language" of interdisciplinary immigration studies. Terms such as "transnationalism" and "diasporas" are defined and illustrated. 13
      The need to integrate issues of immigration and ethnicity in the United States survey is more important than ever. A better knowledge of our nation's immigrant past equips us with the ability to understand the impact of immigration in contemporary America. Furthermore, successful integration of social history—when effectively introduced in AP courses at the high school level—may stimulate students to desire to pursue further history courses in college. This is especially true for women and minorities who score best on questions related to social history on the AP exam. As the Advanced Placement exam takes measures to ensure racial and gender equity and fairness on the United States history examination by including more social history, let us be reminded that part of that process includes a more thorough integration of the groups that have peopled America. 14


Notes

1.Ê Louisa Forni, "Fear and Hate of the American Immigrant," <http://www.scrippscol.edu>.

2.Ê Reuben Navarrette, Jr., "Fear of Immigrants Unjustified," The Washington Post Writers Group. < http:www.postwritersgroup.com >.

3.Ê George Sanchez, "Race, Nation, and Culture in Recent Immigration Studies," Journal of American Ethnic History, summer 1999, vol. 18, #4, 66–84.

4.Ê See David Roediger, The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class, London: 1991.

5.Ê Elliott Barkan, "Comment: Searching for Perspectives: Race, Law, and the Immigrant Experience, Journal of American Ethnic History, summer 1999, vol. 18, #4, 136–150.

6.Ê Erika Lee, "Immigrants and Immigration Law: A State of the Field Assessment," Journal of American Ethnic History, summer 1999, vol. 18, #4, 85–114.

7.Ê Barkan, "Comment," JAEH, 144.

8.Ê Jon Gjerde, "New Growth on Old Vines-The State of the Field: The Social History of Immigration to and Ethnicity in the United States," Journal of American Ethnic History, summer 1999, vol. 18, #4, 40–65.

9.Ê Barkan, "Comment," JAEH, 143.

10.Ê Ibid., 144.

11.Ê Mary Frederickson, "Women's History, Men's History, Everyone's History: Gender and the American Past," unpublished paper presented at the OAH, 2002.

12.Ê See for example, Stella Suberman, The Jew Store, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books, 2001.

13.Ê Carlos Cardova and Raquel Pinderhughes, "Central and South Americans," 96–118. A Nation of Peoples. A Sourcebook on America's Multicultural Heritage, Elliott Barkan, ed. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1999.

14.Ê The Refugee Act of 1980 specified that political refugees would be admitted but that refugees who were seeking simply to improve their economic lot would be denied entry.

15.Ê The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1987 penalized businesses employing illegal aliens, granting residency to workers who could prove that they had been living in the US since 1982.

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