Saturday, June 24, 2006
No bias here
My "summer reading" is not chick-lit at the beach. I am at Lake Erie, but the book I've brought along is "A companion to American Immigration" (see table of contents at my regular blog, Collecting My Thoughts).
Erika Lee begins her essay (Chapter One) with, "When the act [Chinese Exclusion Act] was passed in May [1882] the United States took on a new role as a gatekeeping nation, one which used immigration laws to exclude, restrict, and control allegedly dangerous foreigners, often on the basis of race, ethnicity, class and sexuality." (p.5)
Ms. Lee is an associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota and writes about Chinese immigration. Race, language, gender and ethnicity have been the mother lode of history "studies" and "survey" courses at universities for over forty years*--so much so that their mines are filling with the water of speculation. Ms. Lee and others are coming to the rescuse with immigration laws and policies to throw into the mix.
The gate theme continues and her views are clear within four paragraphs: liberal, unrestricted immigration policies are a force for progress, and restrictive measures legalize racism and discrimination.
I know a bit about gatekeeping myself--having been a peer reviewer and a member of the promotion and tenure committee in my own field. As it applies to scholarly research, the gatekeepers don't allow opposing views into the pipeline of journals or monographs, so young faculty must toe the line, or not receive agreen card contract to teach, or citizenship tenure.
*I was at the birthing of the Russian Language and Area Studies Dept. at the University of Illinois when I was a student.
Erika Lee begins her essay (Chapter One) with, "When the act [Chinese Exclusion Act] was passed in May [1882] the United States took on a new role as a gatekeeping nation, one which used immigration laws to exclude, restrict, and control allegedly dangerous foreigners, often on the basis of race, ethnicity, class and sexuality." (p.5)
Ms. Lee is an associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota and writes about Chinese immigration. Race, language, gender and ethnicity have been the mother lode of history "studies" and "survey" courses at universities for over forty years*--so much so that their mines are filling with the water of speculation. Ms. Lee and others are coming to the rescuse with immigration laws and policies to throw into the mix.
The gate theme continues and her views are clear within four paragraphs: liberal, unrestricted immigration policies are a force for progress, and restrictive measures legalize racism and discrimination.
I know a bit about gatekeeping myself--having been a peer reviewer and a member of the promotion and tenure committee in my own field. As it applies to scholarly research, the gatekeepers don't allow opposing views into the pipeline of journals or monographs, so young faculty must toe the line, or not receive a
*I was at the birthing of the Russian Language and Area Studies Dept. at the University of Illinois when I was a student.
# posted by Norma : 6/24/2006 04:11:00 PM
