Nancy Foner examines the reality of transnationalism in the social patterns of contemporary and past immigration to the United States. She argues that although these tendencies have been popularly espoused as modern phenomena, immigrants from the first great wave maintained transnational ties as well. She does emphasize, however, that new technology, political ties, shifts in perspective, and business relations have played an important role in the nature of transnational ties today—one that can be characterized by greater accessibility and rapidity.
A very important factor, of course, is the evolution of transport. As Foner wrote, one-way trips between the U.S. and Italy during the early 1900s would take about two weeks. Moreover, a letter sent from one end would take this same amount of time to reach the other end. Today, obviously, things are different. Foner also writes about the change in perspective of the American culture. In the past, immigrants of the first great wave were encouraged to leave behind their ethnic traditions and ideals and assimilate into “good Americans.” Nowadays, immigrants are generally encouraged to embrace their ethnic origins and maintain international connections. I say, however, that contemporary immigrants have no other choice. I find it interesting that now that this new wave of immigration is predominantly one of color, the people are being told to embrace their cultural origins. The new wave of immigrants is arriving in a country that tacitly refuses to accept them as “true” members of its society. Thus, to meet a greater level of social satisfaction, contemporary immigrants must either maintain transnational ties or conform to the subordinate subculture of hyphenated Americans.
Reading this chapter got me thinking about my own family. Despite the fact that my parents come from Central America, we do not maintain strong transnational ties. I think we are less connected to the “home country” than most people of this background. I think the reasons are more unique though (more to do with family strife than anything else). However, we do speak Spanish at home and my parents have a great deal of respect and admiration for Latin American culture and history—as do I.
