As I read this chapter entitled “Transnational Ties,” I couldn’t help but picture a giant, playful game of tug of war. Each immigrant that emigrates to the United States is constantly pulled by ways of his or her old country and simultaneously pushed into ways of the new.
I now understand that I experienced the idea of there being many degrees of transnationalism as young as elementary school, when I would talk about ethnicity with my best friend. She was Greek, spoke the language fluently and would go back to Greece every summer to visit the majority of her family, who lived there. I remember wondering why I didn’t speak Italian or go back to visit as often as she did. I had family there but had never communicated with them at lengths. After talking to my parents, I settled on the idea that it was because my grandparents were born in the United States, making me more “Americanized.”
This difference in our families is just the very beginning to understanding that immigrants have maintained ties to their home country in a multitude of ways, which have become more acceptable and feasible in modern times. One key point in the chapter is that the combination of technological advances and a more global economy have changed the way immigrants relate to their mother lands. Air fare and telephone charges are quite cheap to enable quick travel and communication between countries. One woman from the Philippines raised her children from the U.S., with “advice and orders” over the phone and frequent visits. In addition, the usage of the fax and video recorder have made it possible to have further communication between families. Although not mentioned in the chapter, Skype is another way that makes it easier to see and talk to family overseas without even leaving the house!
The other face of the changing transnationalism that intrigued me was the nature of international relations and how profitable it can be to have a business that defies borders. One example of this kind of success is showcased by a Dominican man named Patricia Pessar, who bought a garment factory in NY and purchased a garment factory in the DR’s export processing zone to expand. Similarly, various Indian immigrants will “invest in profit-making ventures in India” and can easily manage business from the U.S. with help from relatives.
Ethnic ties to the old country are no longer frowned upon, as they were during the first wave of immigration when immigrants were encouraged to become “accent-free ‘American-looking’ Americans.” Now, I think it is a gift to be able to maintain a strong connection to one’s home land, one that is accepted and celebrated.
