Blog Post 16 Nativism, Immigration Policy, and Racial Justice

     Nativism, Immigration Policy, and Racial Justice

    Racism and nativism have been connected since the beginning of our country's history. Nativism is the belief that native-born citizen are superior over immigrants. This often leads of native racism, which is often closely tied with discrimination against certain racial groups. This unfortunately has been prevalent in the US since America's "discovery". The US also has a record of banning certain groups throughout history; Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, etc. Immigration is still a very pressing issue today. This week in class we watched a couple videos regarding immigration, however, the video entitled "Deported" spoke to me particularly. In this short film, a family discusses the deportation of their brother and how their family was split up. Their parents originally moved to the US in the 80s from Cambodia to escape the violence occurring there. To go through all of these hardships and fight so many battles, only to be sent back and for something minor is so heartbreaking to see. You hear a lot about these stories but it was really eye opening to hear it from someone experiencing it. It was a difficult video to watch. 

    Included in this week's bright space page is a link to a website articling what we can do on a personal level to help advance racial justice. There are many groups you can join, you can donate, etc. I think where I am right now is educating myself (or continuing to do so). There have been so many topics we have discussed in class that were so important and impacting so many people, yet I knew next to nothing about them. I think it is important that I keep learning and keep sharing this knowledge with others. 

    I have taken a couple of classes regarding diversity over the past three tears, so I do not think I learned any ideas that were brand new or things that changed my views, however, I did get to learn a lot of information in addition to those big ideas I previously had. I enjoyed so many of the lectures this semester. One that really stuck out to me was when we have a guest speaker come in and talk about her experience as a lesbian, what experiences she had, etc. I enjoyed listening to her story and felt that she had some much to share. I think my biggest takeaway from this class is how important knowledge is. This time next year, I will be an elementary teacher, and I think this class has really made me realize how important representation and diversity is, even starting at a very young age. Our country has so many issues, and if you do not know anything about them, you cannot do anything to help fix them.  


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