The Human Face of Immigration

Article Author name(s): Maureen Costillo
Title of article: The Human Face of Immigration
Title of journal: Teaching Tolerance
Volume of the journal: Spring 2011
Issue number of the journal: 39
Intended audience: Teachers, students and the community

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-39-spring-2011/human-face-immigration

Key Points: When 8th grade English teacher Mindi Rappaport asked her students their opinions on the issue of immigration and what they knew about, she got a strong consensus: Legal immigrants are good, model residents; “illegals” are very bad. Most people can say that their families have immigrated from other countries and continents at some point over the past 400 years. By now, most of these families have assimilated and lost touch with their native language and traditions that have not survived past third and fourth generations. However, this is not the case for those first generation immigrants whose parents moved here to provide a better life. For these families, language and native traditions still hold strong, and it is entirely simple for society to pinpoint these families and often make the assumption they are illegal.

Students work on a “Family Heritage Project” and really ask some critical questions about their own beliefs and their family history as it relates to their own immigration. The project is successful as “students build a cultural identity for themselves as well as a family history of resilience”. For students to hear each other’s story really tears down walls and allows students to make common connections amongst themselves. Morgan Spurlock (Super-Size Me) is the creator of the controversial documentary series 30 Days, which is frequently used as a tool to open student’s eyes and expose them to other culture and circumstance, providing some enlightenment. The overall goal of the Family Heritage Project is to “build empathy, break through common mindsets and encourage students to examine their received notions”.

Relevance: It really is amazing how strong of an opinion such undereducated students can have about very serious national issues such as immigration. It’s really important that students don’t form opinions simply based on what they overhear of their parents discussions, but rather by researching and investigating the issues and forming their own thoughts.