Not long ago Cherokee County
was very rural and very white. But then
I-575 changed everything. Suddenly it
was part of the Atlanta metropolitan complex.
And with this came an influx of outsiders. Some of them were professionals like me, but
others were illegal migrants from Latin America.
Indeed, it will not be many
years before twenty percent of this region is Hispanic. This must inevitably change the character of
the community. In addition to affluent
exurbs, there will be semi-rural ghettos.
Although most of their residents will be out of sight, they will
nevertheless require attention.
Before I continue, let me
make my attitude toward immigration plain.
My grandparents were immigrants from Russia. My wife’s grandparents were immigrants from
Germany. At Kennesaw State University, I
have colleagues from Romania, Germany, Korea, Thailand, India, and Ghana. They are valued associates whom I have no intention
of sending back from whence they came.
I, therefore, favor
immigration—but only legal immigration. If
we, as a nation, cannot control our borders, it will not be long before we will
be a very different kind of country. A
flood of cultural diversity will swamp our prosperity and freedoms.
Let me explain. Our democratic institutions and capitalistic
economy evolved slowly. It took centuries
of experimentation to reach our current level of success. Moreover, there is nothing inevitable about their
continued viability. These must be
nurtured if they are to remain strong.
In the past, as assorted
waves of immigration broke on our shores, we have had the time to assimilate these
newcomers into our way of life. They
started as poor greenhorns, but their children and grandchildren learned
English and discovered what it meant to be part of a free country.
For some groups, this
journey was shorter than others. Thus,
the Germans assimilated more quickly than the Irish, while the Jews did so more
rapidly than the Italians. What made the
difference was how congenial their culture of origin was to the American
culture.
It turns out that peasant
populations take longer to adjust to an urban industrial society. They have little experience with complicated
technologies or market economies. Back from
where they came, their aspirations tended to be submerged by a landed gentry.
As a result, they are not
oriented toward participating in democratic institutions. Nor are they concerned with encouraging their
children to get a better education. What
matters to them is survival. They want
to work and live more comfortably.
For the most part, they
succeed in this. And because they do,
their children raise their sights. They
begin to understand what their parents don’t.
This enables them to begin the transition to Americanism. It also provides a foundation for their own children
to make even greater strides.
But this too is a slow
process. It can, however, be hindered by
the ambience in which immigrants are surrounded. If their numbers are extremely large, they
may find themselves residing in communities that are not very different from
their homelands. They will speak the
same language and maintain the same attitudes.
Yet if they do, it will be
more difficult to learn how to be American.
Consequently, if we simply ignore this problem by insisting that
diversity is a value in itself, we are, in fact, discouraging assimilation. Furthermore, pockets of non-integrated
populations, if they are too extensive, may overwhelm the whole.
The point is that for
immigration to work, it has to be regulated.
The numbers, especially from poor hinterland communities, must be such
that they facilitate incorporation into our society. This is not an anti-immigrant attitude; it is
pro-immigrant.
No one is helped, least of
all the immigrants, if they become a pariah people in the United States. If they develop into a segregated lower
class, they will endure the pain of discrimination. The rest of the country will also
suffer. We will lose the contributions
these folks might otherwise make in exchange for importing a disruptive
minority.
Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University
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