Reference no: EM133745609

Assignment:

As we have discussed previously, discourse is a way of framing reality using language and symbols. Issues such as immigration, are shaped through particular ways of communicating about it which orients people around it, positions the people involved, and addresses it through policies, practices, and procedures. Essentially, it is a pattern of communication that reflects and upholds specific ideologies and interests. They are often used to craft national narratives about the past, present, and future, as well as identity. National narratives serve several functions such as legitimizing the social order and building a shared sense of identity and belonging. They can also minimize and/or leave things out such as histories of violence, exploitation, and discrimination. The portion of text below is from the Sleeter article you read for your Family History assignment and expands on this phenomenon.

Excerpt from: Sleeter, C. E. (2016). Critical family history: Situating family within contexts of power relationships. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 8(1), 11-23.

Family and National Mythology

Generally, nation-building projects involve constructing a national narrative based on myths of origin and identity, and building personal psychological identification with that narrative (Bouchard, 2013; Van Alphen & Carretero, 2015). As Anthias and Yuval-Davis (1992) put it, nationalist ideologies use "myths of 'common origins' and perceptions of 'common destiny' as the main building blocks of ideologies of national solidarity and 'common culture.'" (p. 58). In societies based on the violence of colonization, national mythologies involve massive forgetting and reconstruction of collective memory (Garretón, 2003; Renan, 1990; Waldman, 2012). In a discussion of African identity in relationship to colonialism, for example, Mazrui (2013) argues that collective memory of the past blends nostalgia, or "idealizing the past as our idea home," with amnesia, "a partial suppression of an unwanted past" (p.14).

In the U.S., historical nostalgia linked with amnesia characterizes the dominant national mythology. That mythology greatly minimizes the violence of European and White American genocide against the indigenous population and enslavement of people of African descent, bracketing that violence off from the present and creating an imaginary distance between it and the White ancestors. The national mythology tells of immigrants arriving in an empty space and receiving the opportunity to pull themselves up through hard work. Homesteading enabled immigrants and other Whites to acquire "free land" that purportedly belonged to no one (Freund, 2013).

Jacobson (2006) argues that "White ethnic sensibilities" were grafted onto "the very question of European expansionism," enabling a shift from the "popular Pilgrim-and-Founding- Fathers national legend to the more recent conception of 'nation of immigrants'" (p. 343). As a result, White Americans regard claims of genocide as "an affront to American exceptionalist narratives of being both a chosen and benign nation" (MacDonald, 2015, p. 412). But, as Toni Morrison put it, "We live in a land where the past is always erased and America is the innocent future in which immigrants can come and start over, where the slate is lean. The past is absent or it's romanticized. This culture doesn't encourage dwelling on, let alone with coming to terms with, the truth about the past" (Gilroy, 1995, p. 222).

Goldstein (2014) observed that in the U.S., "discussion of U.S. colonialism as a contemporary formation remains relatively infrequent outside of Native American studies and leftist or anarchist critique" (p. 12). It is possible, however, to unearth silenced histories. For example, working with several descendants of the Greene plantation in Rhode Island, Frank and Ryzewski (2013) constructed a historical narrative that accounted for relationships between the New Englanders and the Native American inhabitants. Their research confirms "that plantations in Rhode Island were not merely household farms, but sites of enterprise and commerce in which English settlers ultimately set the terms and prices at the expense of Native Americans who were excluded from the English system" (p. 39).

The notion of America as a "nation of immigrants" is one that has been often deployed in the public sphere to foster a sense of belonging and exceptionalism. historian and Professor Emerita of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Hayward, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz helps us trace the genealogy of this idea in the accompanying reading for discussion.

Instructions

For this discussion, reflect on two commonly circulated public discourses that shape narratives of national identity:

• "America as a Nation of Immigrants"
• "The American Dream"

First, read:

Module 04 Reading - Not a Nation of Immigrants by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Then watch the following films:

• Asian Americans PBS Documentary - Breaking Ground
• Latino Americans PBS Documentary - Empire of Dreams

Lastly, reflect on and respond to the following questions:

1. What is your experience with the notion of the "American Dream" and America as a "Nation of Immigrants?" You can discuss where you have encountered these ideas, how you relate to them, and/or your thoughts about them. It's up to you.
2. What is Dunbar-Oritiz's critique of the nation of immigrants discourse? Provide an example.
3. How does the reading compare with your response to question #1?
4. What "American Dreams" were featured in the films and how did they compare to the realities encountered? Describe an example from each film.
5. Describe an aspect of each film that stood out to you and why.

PART 2

After reading the Hu-DeHart article, The History, Development, and Future of Ethnic Studies, please respond to the following questions:

1. What are the components of ethnic studies as articulated by Hu-Dehart?
2. How is it different from area studies?
3. What challenges does the field face?
4. What did you previously know about the field of ethnic studies before entering the class and how does this knowledge compare with what you've learned thus far?
5. Do you feel that your educational experience was relevant to your ethno-racial and cultural background? Why or why not?