Notebook Assignment #3
Immigration as a Response to Social Perception
An immigrant chooses to leave their country of residence, and often their home country of birth, for many variations of the same primary reason. There is something wrong in their country significant enough for them to want to leave, and the country they plan to immigrate to promises to be the solution to that problem.
For some that means escaping a war zone to somewhere that promises peace. For others that means leaving behind a home with little or no financial prospects in favor of a new home with a promising economic future.
During World War 2, the US saw a drastic uptake in foreign immigration from European and Asian countries affected by the violence and persecution of the Nazis, even before the US became directly involved in the Ally’s war effort. America was far enough removed from the war to be presented as a safe haven for those seeking to flee the wave of death overtaking Europe. Of course, the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent Japanese Internment were proof that the US was not necessarily any safer for immigrants and refugees than any other Western country at the time, but the image of a possible safe haven wasn’t marred and people continued to flood in anyway.
This concept of the outsider’s perception dictating fluctuations in immigration holds true in peace times just as surely as war times. In the 1960s, America underwent a massive Civil Rights Movement which drew global attention. Though it was truly a very tumultuous time for the country, the image of a country undergoing massive social improvements, for the benefit of racial minorities primarily, was what most of the world saw. America was presented as progressive and accepting, even as racially motivated violence continued within our borders.
In 1965, following the passing of the Voting Rights Act, which marked a significant turning point in the Civil Rights Movement, this outside perception was further magnified. In addition, many legislative measures preventing mass immigration were simultaneously lifted. This began the largest scale immigration to American since WW2.
My grandmother was 18 years old in 1965, looking to start a new life in a new home. Presented with the idealized image of the American Dream and a land of justice and equality, she found herself headed for the US as that new home.
