Something+About+America+by+Maria+Testa

=__Something About America__=

Overview
Consider the many immigrants in the United States whom many people, for no reason other than they are considered “illegal”, look down upon, or even do worse to show their dislike for such people. Regardless that it is important to know that we all came from different backgrounds, it is important to realize that some immigrants today have refugee status. As a reminder, a refugee is someone who is fleeing their home country to escape danger or persecution. With the United States being such a blessed nation, it is only appropriate for us as a people to welcome refugees and their families with open arms. Surely, even in the current supposed economic “crisis”, accepting refugees and giving them our support, which for most Americans, means doing little more than allowing them the chance to live within our society. Now, with the quickly growing number of immigrants and refugees in the United States, it is important for teachers to establish understanding and empathy of the situations of others. These people come to the United States because family is what is most important to them, no matter who they are or where they come from.

Teaching Ideas
As teachers of English, we have an important job of creating understanding and empathy for those less fortunate. One way of doing that is putting things into perspective. Consider this activity which can be implemented and adapted in many ways. For nearly all Americans, the only contact we have with those in dreadful situations, as refugees once were and perhaps their family still are, is through images in the newspaper, on television, or on the web, but how often do we actually reflect on these images? Give your students a chance to do this by you, the teacher, posting an image or images, larger would be best but any could work, of a refugee family, the child of a refugee family, or someone who is still being persecuted in their home country. Often these people have no voice, no one to tell their problems to, no one to ask for help. Your students, however, citizens of the United States, have a voice, but consider the person(s) in the image, if they had a voice, what would they be saying? Allow your students to write for a while about what they think they would be saying, then have students share their thoughts.

Discussion Questions

 * 1) How can we, as teachers, help students become empathetic towards people such as refugee families?
 * 2) In Something About America, Maria Testa mentions the lack of an American “welcome mat” for people like her, should there be one? What else would it say on it?
 * 3) Should refugee families be forced to return to their home country when the war, or persecution ceases? Why or why not?
 * 4) Consider the poem Only in America from Something About America, why does the narrator view America or Americans in this way, and how might this reflect a global view of America?
 * 5) What might a refugee family consider as being an American?

Links / Resources

 * 1) http://www.aecf.org/Home/KnowledgeCenter/SpecialInterestAreas/ImmigrantsRefugees.aspx : The resources on this page address access to services that encourage existing family strengths while supporting healthy social and economic integration.
 * 2) http://www.refugees.org/ : For nearly 100 years the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has acted to address the needs and rights of persons in forced or voluntary migration worldwide by advancing fair and humane public policy, facilitating and providing direct professional services, and promoting the full participation of migrants in community life.
 * 3) http://refugeefamilyservices.org/ : The mission of Refugee Family Services is to support the efforts of refugee women and children to achieve self-sufficiency in the United States by providing education and economic opportunity.