An immigrant like me

I've been reading a lot this summer which, like everything else, has a positive and negative bent. The positive is that I've learned quite a bit--particularly about the history of immigration in America. The negative means that time devoted to artwork has diminished in favor of spending a majority of my time reading.

This reading–frenzy is the result of a challenge posed to me by one of my professors late spring semester. I was lamenting over the fact that I could not find sufficient information explaining why my husband's immigration situation has been so difficult.

My professor suggested that instead of asking "why" this has happened, I should try asking "how." What a difference one little word can make! "Why" is a question not always answerable because asking the question "why" denotes determining internal causes: and that can be nearly impossible. “Why” demands illuminating psychological and emotional responses of individuals and groups--no easy task. But restructuring the question and asking "how” changes the focus and inspires an investigation of root causes, history and significant events that have influenced the situation”. As a result, I've been reading a lot about American culture, immigration history, racism, and white nationalism.

There is one book; in particular, that has made a lasting impression on me this summer. The book is entitled: Black like Me by John Howard Griffin. Briefly, the book is about a white Southern man who found rampant discrimination of blacks in the Jim Crow era of the 1950's morally repugnant. He decided that to completely understand the trials blacks contend with on a daily basis he would need to become black himself. The book outlines the disparity, discrimination, naked hatred and humiliation he suffers as he travels across The South as a black man.

Despite this book being published in the 1960’s, the essence of the book continues to be relevant in today’s world. Not only to blacks who still face rampant institutionalized racism but also to Hispanics and other immigrants being demonized in the current incarnation of xenophobia. In an eerie prediction of future racial strife and increasing xenophobia—not only in The South but throughout contemporary American society, John Howard Griffin states:

“The Negro. The South. These are details. The real story is the universal one of men who destroy the souls and bodies of other men (and in the process destroy themselves) for reasons neither really understands. It is the story of the persecuted, the defrauded, the feared and detested. I could have been a Jew in Germany, a Mexican in a number of states, or a member of any “inferior” group. Only the details would have differed. The story would be the same.” – John Howard Griffin

I am particularly struck by the phrase “a Mexican in a number of states”. How poignant such a phrase is, for an era—a state; Arizona-- that is trying to sanction passing a law that clearly discriminates against a specific part of a marginalized population. Just like the Jim Crow laws did in the period of 1920’s-1960’s, the SB 1070 law mandates a different set of rules and expectations for certain groups and sets up the sanctioning of increased forms of dehumanization, exploitation and vulnerability.

It occurs to me, that it would be interesting if someone would follow John Howard Griffin’s moral example and attempt to walk in a Hispanic—or any undocumented immigrants shoes-- and experience the degradation, isolation and dehumanization for just one day. I surmise it would be very illuminating.