XXIIAMERICANIZATION
The United States is still a medley of foreign nationalities, representing all the races of the world, with their social characteristics, customs, prejudices, and even language unchanged. No one need be disconcerted by this fact, for the people who came over in theMayflowerwere foreign-born, the founders of the city of New York were of foreign birth, and so were the first families of Virginia.
In New York State only 35 per cent. of the population is of native birth and descent. Almost one-third is foreign-born; one-third of the children born here have one or both parents of foreign birth. Even with all the resources at our command it would have been a giant task to have assimilated such huge numbers of such divergent races.
The United States was established as a nation where justice, freedom, and opportunitywere to be assured to all the people. For over a century it has been a refuge for men and women of foreign lands, who have been oppressed and have longed for freedom, and who have sought wider opportunity for themselves and their children.
Native-born Americans have accepted their privileges as a matter of course, and without feeling the obligations they imply. They have demanded justice and opportunity for themselves, but they have not felt the responsibility of seeing that it was extended in equal measure to those who come to our shores. They have not realized that it is the obligation of every one enjoying the privileges and benefits of a democracy to see that these are shared and safeguarded by all the people.
The war has brought home to the nation the stern necessity of a united country. For the safety of the nation our ideals of freedom, justice, and opportunity must be put into practice for all the people of the nation. The “square deal” that we stand for must be given at home, the opportunity for better living and the development of character must not be denied any of our people. Only in this way shall we have loyal American citizens who value their allegianceand who feel the obligation to uphold our national ideals.
The Immigrant Is a Great National Asset: The country has been built up largely by his work. The railroads, the mines, the great buildings, the subways, waterworks, steel-mills, sugar-refining, clothes, cigars, furniture, most of the products of our factories, are made by immigrants. The great industries of the country would stop without the millions of hands that they supply.
The immigrant often comes here with high hopes of improving his condition, and he finds himself looked down on with contempt by the native American, exploited at every turn, and every advantage taken of his ignorance. After an alien is once admitted, there has been relatively little attempt made to protect him, to see that he is helped to settle where his skill can best be utilized, or even to aid him in learning our language and customs.
Many foreigners were skilled farmers before they came to this country, but although there is great need for such labor on the farms here, little provision is made to use their skill in that way. The immigrant often has to pay to get a chance to earn his living. When he gets a job his labor is exploited;he has to accept lower wages than an American would take; the living-quarters provided for him may not be fit for human habitation.
Here is a recent picture of a suburb of New York City, a community of 16,000 foreign-born workers: The married workman pays from fifteen to twenty dollars a month rent for a three- or four-room flat, the rooms about ten feet square, with no light but kerosene-lamps. The average family has four children, and each family takes from two to six boarders to help pay the rent. The only running water is on the first floor, and there is one out-of-door toilet. Is it any wonder that the children, the younger generation, are both sickly and lawless?
The factory buildings are large and well lighted, but in many communities of foreign-born unskilled workmen the housing provisions allow for no privacy and are a detriment to family life and morality. Such conditions are particularly bad for the immigrant woman whose work confines her indoors.
It is natural that the foreigner should settle with others of his own nationality, so almost every city and village in the State has a colony “across the track.” In the native section there will be police protection, pavedstreets, running water, sewage and garbage disposal, but this protection often does not extend “across the track.” There, disorder and filth abound and the death-rate is much higher.
Every injustice to the immigrant reacts on us as a people.He must be given a square deal before he can be made into a loyal American.
A common language is the first essential of a united nation. There are solid blocks in New York and other cities where not a word of English is spoken or understood. It is hopeless to try to make Americans of persons who do not understand our language. Speaking English is the first step in citizenship, and the public schools are the logical centers in which to make loyal Americans of our alien population.
Night Schoolsare sometimes provided, but there are many localities still without them; and, after all, it is difficult for a man who has been at manual labor all day to study at night. They are most successful when they are made interesting with stories and games. Experiments have been made with classes held from five to seven o’clock in the afternoon in the factory buildings, and employers often welcome them.
Neighborhood Classes for Womenare being held in the afternoon in some localities. In this case the babies must be included. Provision is made for them in a separate room with a nurse or kindergartner to take charge of them. The best lessons for the mothers are not found in books, but are based on the interests connected with their daily lives and their domestic duties. Paper patterns and a lesson in how to make garments for her baby will chain her attention, and the English names of articles used will be learned unconsciously. “Playing store” with the articles she depends on to feed her family will fascinate her and teach her more practical English.
The immigrant woman is often keen to learn American ways and customs. She is eager to know how to take better care of her family. When the public schools of New York City give away pamphlets about economical cooking, the call for them from the mothers of the pupils is so great that the supply is soon exhausted.
The need for some special help for the foreign woman was never as great as it is to-day. There are about four hundred thousand of them in New York State who have become citizens because their husbands arecitizens. They are going to vote. Many of them cannot speak English. In the course of time the law providing that a woman shall take the citizenship of her husband without qualifying for it herself, may be changed, but meanwhile these women are voters. They need help and education, and for the protection of the State the community must give it to them.
Home Teachingof women in the tenements as part of the regular school system is being tried in California. Teachers are sent into the homes to show by practical demonstration economical cooking, how to improve sanitary conditions, and to teach the mother how to care for her children.
Naturalizationwould do more to arouse a sense of responsibility in the alien if it were conferred with a ceremony which would appeal to the imagination. Many of the people who come to our shores come from countries where beauty and ceremonial are part of the national life. The process of naturalization, as conducted in many courts, is usually perfunctory and often sordid. If the courts are crowded, an applicant may have to come six or eight times with his witnesses, losing not only time, but being in danger of losing his job. He is often ignorantof the whole subject of government; he may know nothing of the questions involved in an election, but there is rarely an effort made to teach him anything of American ideals. The political club that wants his vote is the only thing connected with government that pays any attention to him, or offers him help. Often he finds that his vote has a market value. So the ballot, the symbol of freedom and self-government, becomes to him only a bit of graft. Definite standards of citizenship that apply to all alike, better tests of their knowledge of English and of our government, would help to impress on aliens the meaning of the oath of allegiance.
Uniform Naturalization Laws: In New York State an alien has to wait five years to become a citizen with a vote. In Nebraska, a Turk or a Greek or an Armenian who landed six months before, if he has taken out his citizenship papers, is permitted to vote, although he may have no educational qualifications of any kind, and know no English nor anything about our government. In seven other States a man can vote simply by declaring his intention of becoming a citizen.
Ignorance of Laws: Besides the lack ofprovision for learning the duties of citizenship, there is little opportunity for the immigrant either to become familiar with our laws or to learn respect for the law. He gets his knowledge of the vote from the ward boss, and he learns contempt for the law when he sees the curtains of the saloons pulled down in front, and the back door open. As he sees the constant disregard for law all around him, liberty becomes license in his mind. Then as he prospers and grows well-to-do, building laws, factory inspection, fire protection, and other attempts at government regulations, often seem to him restrictions which are to be evaded as much as possible.
Sweatshops and the padrone system are to his mind part of the American system for getting rich. In taking advantage of them for his own profit he feels that he is only following the custom of the country. A contempt for law and opposition to any attempt of the law to interfere with what he considers his rights are the natural results.
The study of civics[10]in the public schoolsshould begin not in the high schools and colleges, but in the lower grades. A majority of children leave school before they reach the grammar school. A practical course in government may be made simple and interesting even for them.
The idea has been seriously advanced that the oath of allegiance, accompanied by a dignified and beautiful ceremony, might be administered to groups of boys and girls as they reach twenty-one years of age, in a manner to impress on the public mind the value of citizenship. The “citizen receptions” which have been given monthly in Cleveland and Los Angeles, to the new citizens of that period, have done this. After a patriotic program, with the judge of the court presiding, each successful applicant is very proud when he receives his naturalization papers like a diploma, awarded beforehis family and friends. Such a ceremonial cannot fail to carry home the conviction of the value of the citizenship so conferred, and the importance of living up to the responsibility imposed by it.
FOOTNOTES:[10]The study of citizenship in the public schools may be made a vigorous aid to Americanization. Many foreign parents depend on their children for their knowledge of the customs of the new country. What the children learn in the public schools has its influence on the life of the family at home. If the children are taught orderliness, consideration for others, and respect for authority, they carry those qualities home. If they are undisciplined, they take home disregard for parental authority, and a lack of consideration for the rights of others, that will stand in the way of their comprehending the first principles of good citizenship.
[10]The study of citizenship in the public schools may be made a vigorous aid to Americanization. Many foreign parents depend on their children for their knowledge of the customs of the new country. What the children learn in the public schools has its influence on the life of the family at home. If the children are taught orderliness, consideration for others, and respect for authority, they carry those qualities home. If they are undisciplined, they take home disregard for parental authority, and a lack of consideration for the rights of others, that will stand in the way of their comprehending the first principles of good citizenship.
[10]The study of citizenship in the public schools may be made a vigorous aid to Americanization. Many foreign parents depend on their children for their knowledge of the customs of the new country. What the children learn in the public schools has its influence on the life of the family at home. If the children are taught orderliness, consideration for others, and respect for authority, they carry those qualities home. If they are undisciplined, they take home disregard for parental authority, and a lack of consideration for the rights of others, that will stand in the way of their comprehending the first principles of good citizenship.