Immigration and Migration and the Making of a Modern American City

Introduction

    You simply melt right in,
    It doesn't matter what your skin,
    It doesn't matter where you're from,
    Or your religion, you jump right in
    To the great American melting pot
    The great American melting pot.
    Ooh, what a stew, red, white, and blue. 1
    —"Great American Melting Pot"
  

In the classic Schoolhouse Rocks video, The Great American Melting Pot, the lyrics mirror Emma Lazarus's infamous words visible at the base of the Statue of Liberty:

    "Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
    Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door." 2
  

Both of these sets of words represent the collective memory of our country, one built on the philosophy of welcoming all immigrants no matter who they are, what they look like, or where they come from. Historically, the United States continues to be the leading country of immigrant arrival numbers at about 20 per cent currently of world immigrants. Over the years, they have come from around the world to escape poverty, war, natural disasters, political and religious oppression. They've come to the United States for economic opportunities, social mobility, freedom, and sanctuary. The melting pot philosophy in which everyone arrives, jumps in, mixes together with those from other areas and countries of the world, and pops back out identical to each other is one that I had heard time and again in my own schooling. Many of my generation must remember watching the Schoolhouse Rocks series during the Saturday morning cartoon shows. However, this image, as I have come to find out and truly understand is far from our country's truth.

Over the course of our seminar, I have reached a better understanding of the process of immigration – one that is not based solely on the push/pull factors and a linear approach of "the beginning of a journey" according to Seminar Leader, Mary Lui, in which immigrants are "not looking back, but looking toward the future of new lives and new economic opportunities." ³ She purports that much is left out by viewing the narrative of immigration linearly – that it is much more complex in that immigration often involve transnational migration, borders are hardened and/or softened over time, and that our country, amongst others, sometimes create the reasons behind why people may want to immigrate/migrate.

For the purpose of this unit, I focus on the processes of inclusion and exclusion that were established from the founding of the United States that challenge easy assumptions about the melting pot. This unit is divided into three parts. The human component of people's personal narratives will play a major part in this first section. Through historical content and a recently published novel, The Book of Unknown Americans, students will come to understand the reasons why people immigrate as well as how to view immigration from complex vantage point instead of just one perspective. The second section delves into historically racially motivated immigration policies and laws that will also include an explanation of racial construction within the context of those laws. I want students to comprehend the vocabulary necessary to discuss immigration in an educational setting as well as what the laws/policies mean to individuals. The third section is a transition from the unit taught right before in which the idea of a border is viewed from the sociological perspectives using a variety of sources. In this part, students will combine what they have learned with a more in-depth knowledge of Mexico-United States relations from the nineteenth century to the present. It will feature the case study of Mexico highlighting the laws/policies specific to that country and its' migrants/immigrants. Throughout these three sections primary sources such as maps, letters, legislation, and photographs will be used for students to obtain a clearer picture of who is included and excluded and how these practices are racially motivated contradicting the beloved melting pot lyrics.