Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Immigrants and their children can save our democracy and revive our country; they always have

Beautiful piece in The Hill by my colleague, Dr. Rebecca Callahan.  It dovetails perfectly with my earlier post on how to combat hate like what we witnessed recently in Pittsburgh.  Key quote:

 [C]hildren of immigrant parents have demonstratehigher than average participation in America’s democracy.

Research also suggests that bilinguals and children of immigrant parents show significantly higher levels of empathy than monolinguals. As colleagues and I have argued elsewhere, this empathy is a critical step toward civic investment. By definition, children of immigrants, who comprise one in four children in our public schools today, have grown up navigating two perspectives: that of their parents, and that of larger society, including their school and teachers. This ability to recognize others’ perspectives is essential to becoming an active, engaged citizen. A true democracy thrives when it embraces diverse perspectives and experiences.
Let's also remember that vast numbers of recent immigrants emanate from Latin American countries with strong democratic traditions. 
 
We should therefore not only not scapegoat the immigrant community, but we should actually have an asset-based approach.  In the classroom, this should translate into inclusive, equity-based, and culturally sustaining pedagogy and curriculum.

Great job, Dr. Callahan! Keep up the great work!

Angela Valenzuela


Immigrants and their children can save our democracy and revive our country; they always have

 





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