In Chapter 7 of “From Ellis Island to JFK,” Foner does a great job contrasting the “old ways” of Americanization and the school system with the new. I thought it was interesting to learn how rigid the schools were when it came to cultural differences. Foner emphasizes how important it was that the immigrants be weaned away from their ethnic heritage so that they could “transform into loyal and proper Americans.” Children were discouraged from speaking languages other than English and the schools had “no place for the culture, history, or language of the immigrants.” When I read this I immediately thought of the sharp contrast between then and now. Today, so many American universities emphasize cultural diversity and use it as a way of attracting students to their schools. In the past, educators led students to believe that their Old World cultures were inappropriate and inferior whereas nowadays, students are taught to embrace their cultural backgrounds. Pluralism and ethic diversity today is encouraged and celebrated as Foner explains, which is evidently very different than the way it was originally perceived. In fact, maybe what was impeding immigrants from assimilating in the past, was the fact that they were forced to sacrifice their Old World traditions so quickly and adopt American customs. It seems that forcing “Americanization” upon the immigrants through education did not prove to be so successful. Perhaps that is part of the reason why our views on cultural diversity have changed so drastically.
Another key difference Foner outlines is the fact that many immigrants are somewhat “Americanized” before they even immigrate to America. She notes the global diffusion of American lifestyles and popular culture in addition to the fact that many immigrants learn English in their native countries, which even further Americanizes them. I think a large part of this Americanization which occurs before even living in America also has a lot to do with developing technology and media which has allowed the American way-of-life penetrate all parts of the world in a matter of seconds.
