An American Coat of Many Colors

Truth Thursday

Ghana.
Rwanda.
Ethiopia.
Philippines.
England.
Bolivia.
Zimbabwe.
El Salvador.

These are the countries from which eight children in my son’s fifth grade class are first generation immigrants. 

That’s not to mention the boy who was adopted from Japan, or the girl who was adopted from China, or the girls whose father was a Zambian doctor. Or the children whose families hail from Poland, Germany, Russia and Israel at least a couple of generations ago.

So of the 25 kids in his class, more than half are either first generation immigrants, or have families that have roots in other countries.

Sitting in the classroom at Piney Branch Elementary School is like a social studies lesson in micro globalization. I had the great fortune to be there last month for the annual international feast, the school’s solution to the December holiday mayhem.

In preparation for their party, the students composed poems, “Where I’m From,” and wrote reports on their country of origin. These poems have always been one of my favorite pieces of the 5^th grade curriculum, as even the most non-poetic student will string together several words of beauty as he or she describes his or her roots.

I am from injera.

I am from days named Adrian.

I am from magnolias and Azalea City.

I am from Xbox and Wii.

I am from my hard working mother.

I am from a better future.

I am from God.

I get a little teary eyed listening to these heart-felt descriptions. And I also get teary eyed thinking of the great experiment in immigration this country is, and what it means to come leave everything behind to come here and try to make a better future.

I spent a couple of years working in the immigration advocacy field, and it was there that I came to truly understand patriotism. It was hearing the stories of people who risked all they had and all they knew in order to come to America that made me realize the privilege I had as a native-born American. It was by going to a friend’s naturalization ceremony at the Washington Convention Center, and watching as 800 people took the oath of citizenship and became citizens of the United States, that for the first time I parsed the words of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Everyday, my children attend schools where their friends and fellow students bring with them into the classroom stories from other places, traditions and customs from their home countries, food that is foreign and languages that are difficult to understand. Everyday these students, against all odds, are growing up in a country where they will be free to be anyone they want to be.

The New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, at his daughter’s 2006 graduation from high school, wrote a column about the phenomenal number of foreign names he encountered as his fingers went down the roster of seniors in his daughter’s senior class.

He wrote that, at the graduation, “a United Nations meeting broke out … I became both fascinated and touched by the stunning diversity — race, religion, ethnicity — of the graduating class. I knew my daughter's school was diverse, but I had no idea it was this diverse.”

That school was Montgomery Blair High School – where my 16-year old son is currently a junior.

Friedman goes on to talk about how our enemies in the world – Iraq and Afghanistan, to name two – are focused on purifying the world from diversity and the “other.” Here in the United States, however, we run on an engine of diversity, and this is the key to our future. The amazing amalgam of names in the Blair graduating class list is what makes and keeps us strong.

My kids are growing up in a world that depends on all its citizens to be smart and to do good. They will need to be skilled in working with people from all over the globe in order to be successful. Without realizing it, when we chose our neighborhood and our schools all those years ago, we were choosing the most incredible breeding ground for developing an understanding of how to work with a broad range of people from all over … right in our own backyard.

One of the things I love most about Piney Branch is that its Principal and Assistant Principal make themselves very well known to the kids, and are very visible. They both sat in my son’s classroom as the children read their poems, and several of the kids went up to them afterwards and shyly showed them each their poems personally. Those students, all of who were ESOL (English as Second Language) kids, received hugs for their effort.

It is a school that embraces the other. It celebrates diversity, and teaches all of our children who attend the importance of being welcoming, interested, and most of all, respectful of those who have joined us in this great melting pot of a neighborhood and a country.

I am from America, land of open arms and opportunity for all.

 

 Photo by LeSimonPix via Flickr

 

 

Comments

[Susan Katz Miller]

You know I loved this one!

[TNH Guy]

I really enjoyed reading this post. We moved from DC to the midwest a few years ago. In general we've been quite happy. But the one thing I really miss from DC is the diversity. While everyone in the midwest is not of the same creed, color and religious belief, I do feel that our kids are lacking exposure to a wide array of people and perspectives. I love our quality of life but it means that as parents we need to double down on our intention to ensure that our kids learn about the breadth and depth of what will be an entirely globalized America and world waiting for them.

[A Facebook User]

Very thoughtful post Karen. Let us hope that our federal legislators will take note and pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that will stop the separation of families as reality is that some of these bright shining faces are from families with at least one person who is out of status. Let us also hope that our state legislators will see fit to stop the xenophobic laws that crop up in Annapolis each year that place roadblocks in the future of these children. How many will not be able to go to college or work because they can not legalize? How many will be thwarted by the referendum this coming fall to not allow these children who have grown up here, and whose parents pay taxes, to not qualify for in state tuition? How many will grow up without a parent because the parent is removed from the US under inhumane laws? There are so many anti-immigrant foes in our midst. Your article shows us the human side.