In this week’s readings of Nancy Foner’s From Ellis Island to JFK, the focus is on the development of education and transnationalism, whose changes mirror the changed nature of American society.
Both the system of education and it’s value have changed significantly. In the early 1900’s, most immigrant children received at eighth grade (at most). This was a result of a few factors. For one, education was not necessarily as important as it is nowadays. Today you need at least an undergraduate degree to get a high paying job, while a few decades ago you could more easily succeed with much less than that. In fact, Foner claims it’s a myth that early immigrants used education to rise to the middle class. Secondly, most immigrants could not afford to spend so much time learning; they had to work to help support their families and themselves. While the focus of educating immigrants tended to be aimed at assimilation, the focus is now on embracing multiculturalism and ethnic pride, with programs like “English as a Second Language.” It’s obvious our attitude towards education has changed, as well as our attitude towards immigration in general.
Transnational is the processes by which immigrants maintain links to both their societies of origin and settlement. These types of relations have, like education, significantly changed with time. Whereas it used to be much more difficult to communicate, travel, and conduct business with other nations overseas, technological advancements have progressed and intensified these processes. Dual citizenship opportunities have also allowed immigrants to retain stronger connections with their countries of origin. As America progressed, we become more tolerant, and embrace the idea of multiculturalism. Because diversity is now viewed in a more positive light, transnationalism is as well; it is accepted, and even encouraged, to retain multiple identities.
Personally, I understand the concept that new immigrants (nowadays) come to America with a higher level of education, technical, and language skills, as my family immigrated here about eight years ago. We do also retain transnational ties with both South Africa and Israel, made easy by phones and planes. I’m sure had we immigrated 70 years ago, our situation would have been significantly different.
