I think one of the things that most drew me to this chapter was its applicability to me and many people I know. I, myself, have dual citizenship and really do feel a connection to both so-called “homes.” Additionally, there are many people in my community and friends of ours from other locations who engage in this concept of transnationalism. They travel back and forth from Israel to the United States and vice versa, maintaining a family in one and a job in the other. Like Foner explains, both them and I have or currently live in both locations, but where we were born in the United States and later migrated to the other location, the immigrants she describes have come from other countries to America.
Foner’s chapter about transnationalism describes something of which I was very much aware existed today but not so conscious of in relation to the earlier waves of immigration. In today’s society it isn’t even surprising that immigrants would keep contact with their countries of origin as it is so easy due to the growth in technology. Thinking of such a concept in earlier centuries, in times before the accessibility or even invention of the telephone, airplane, and computer is nearly impossible. Nonetheless, Foner describes such events occurring as far back as the late nineteenth century, with people holding jobs and families in two separate countries, consequently making the long trip back and forth in order to maintain both. The strong connection sustained with one’s country of origin gave the immigrants some support when they faced non-ideal conditions in the United States, typical of immigrant communities. It is no wonder then that this concept and the acceptance of dual citizenship, with a variety of implications, not only continues to this day but is also expanding. Where the idea of transnationalism used to be looked at skeptically for its implication of the transnational immigrants not wanting to assimilate in the United States, today many embrace the fact that there is no clear cut definition of “American.” As the works we read at the beginning of the semester explained, the true “American” is the hyphenated one. With both concepts in play, the question lies which preceded and allowed for the other: the acceptance of transnationalism or the hyphenated American?
