5 Ideas for Understanding Immigration in the 2020 Election and Beyond
We are thrilled to feature the important voices and work of the many organizations and individuals that make up the Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition on our blog. This post was written by Adam Strom, Executive Director of Re-Imagining Migration and member of the MCLC since 2019.
The increasing diversity of communities across the United States, coupled with the demands for racial justice during the past several years, have helped drive equity, justice, and belonging to the forefront of our civic life. Issues of race, movement, and migration, past and present, are being used as a wedge to divide Americans. Schools and other educational institutions sit in the crucible, tasked with preparing all young people to build a shared future with people whose identities, experiences, and world views are often quite different than their own. For educators to live up to that task, there is a lot of work to be done, and this election season is one place to start.
We believe that using the lens of migration allows us to develop foundational civic skills and dispositions. These include perspective-taking, inquiry, the ability to communicate and build relationships across difference, the ability to recognize inequities, and the capacity, sensitivity, and inclination to take action toward promoting welcoming and inclusive societies. Moreover, using this lens will better prepare students to understand the contrasting visions of the United States at stake in the 2020 election.
Below are five ideas on how to encourage understanding of migration while promoting these civic dispositions.
Consider using these questions from Re-imagining Migration's Learning Arc to frame these activities:
What are the public stories of migration?
What messages about migration are people hearing through media and thought leaders?
How can we assess whether available public stories about migration are reliable and representative?
How do stories of migration influence how people think and (re)act?
1. Identify the stories of migration in your classroom:
Before turning to the political, it is crucial to understand that migration is not an abstract issue; it is an experience that has touched all of our families at one time or another. We need to recognize that not all migration stories are the same, nor do they all have the same emotional connection. Our Moving Stories mini-unit models an approach for structured storytelling, empathetic listening, and productive processing of student, family, and community stories of migration.
2. What are the campaigns saying, and what are the assumptions that lay below the surface?
Both the Biden and Trump campaigns have pages on their websites describing the candidate’s perspectives on immigration. Consider using the See-Feel-Think-Wonder Project Zero thinking routine to structure reflection about their positions while nurturing close observation, curiosity, and self-awareness. A second pedagogical strategy you might use is working with students to create iceberg diagrams. The method linked here is from Facing History and Ourselves and can be used to consider the assumptions, issues, and ideas underneath each statement.
3. Build context to help students recognize patterns to identify changes and continuities over time.
We are a nation of migration stories, from Spanish settlers reaching our coastlines to English colonists and Africans forced to migrate through slavery. Experiences of migration have shaped our lives. For example, Indians, Irish, Italians, Chinese, Mexicans, Eastern European Jews, and so many others came to this country searching for freedom and new opportunities. Others have fled war, genocide, and climate catastrophes, among them are Armenians, Cambodians, Vietnamese, Central Americans, Somalis, Syrians, and refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a painful paradox that is rarely acknowledged, the Trail of Tears and mass violence against the Native peoples of this country paved the way for Westward migration.
Immigration has also been greeted with mixed reactions. Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty may best symbolize the story we celebrate. There is also a story of xenophobia and anti-Immigrant hate that metamorphosizes and attaches to new targets across time. These stories might be best symbolized through the Chinese Exclusion Act and detention on Angel Island. Among the most powerful entry points to these histories are cartoons depicting immigrants and their detractors. Two robust Project Zero thinking routines for exploring these primary source documents are See-Feel-Think-Wonder and Same-Different-Gain, a practice that promotes purposeful and thoughtful comparisons.
4. Analyze policy and the press.
Every day new accounts about migration fill the news and social media. For example, just this week, this article described a new series of ICE raids timed to send a message during this election season. Another focused on the legal challenges over undocumented immigrants and redistricting. Yet another announced a plan to limit the number of refugees to the U.S. to the lowest number in decades.
Are we prepared to help students recognize the significance of these actions, policies, and debates over immigration? It is our responsibility to promote news and media literacy and civil discussion about critical civic issues. Greater Boston where 90 percent of growth over the last few decades has come from immigration, our future depends on it.
As educators, we need to set the tone and make our learning goals clear, recognizing these are proven practices as identified by the civic mission of schools. Consider using the following routines to help structure this learning.
By whom, for whom, and about whom is a great way to make positions of power visible while identifying voices that are not included in the conversation.
Who Benefits? Can help to promote critical reflection about situations and policy.
Sticky Points is a routine for mapping controversies.
5. Highlight stories of people taking action to create more welcoming and inclusive communities.
In times of polarization, it can be easy to get discouraged. Make sure to introduce stories of individuals and groups working to create more welcoming and inclusive communities. This collection includes a range of examples, from 15-year-old Latinx girls taking a stand in Texas to a white baseball manager, creating opportunities for positive integration in his hometown. See also the story of a Chinese immigrant who won the right to birthright citizenship for everyone born in the U.S.
These stories can serve as mentor texts for students to study as they develop their own action civics projects. We often use this set of routines to encourage students’ creativity as they explore their power to promote welcoming and inclusive communities.
A political cartoon from 1882, showing a Chinese man being barred entry to the "Golden Gate of Liberty". The caption reads, "We must draw the line somewhere, you know."