Vincent N. Parrillo
A Collection of His Work
by
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Cultivated for almost 5,000 years, roses were known to the ancient Persians, Greeks, and Romans. One of our most popular flowers, the rose now comes in more than 8,000 varieties. Yet as beautiful and romantic as most people find roses to be, their thorns can hurt. Roses seem a particularly apt analogy in any discussion about multiculturalism. Both require warmth and nurturing to bloom fully. The stronger their roots, the more they thrive. A variety of species is common to both, yet universal treatment gives vibrancy to all. Both also contain beauty and danger. Focusing only on the rose when reaching for a growing one brings painful contact with a thorn; focusing narrowly on racial or cultural differences often causes the pain of isolation or conflict. Some proponents of multiculturalism (the separatists) want to focus on only one variety of “rose” among many, whereas other advocates (the inclusionists) stress the commonality in origin that so many kinds of “roses” share. The third group of multiculturalists (the integrative pluralists) emphasizes the overall beauty of “roses” of different colors and varieties sharing the same “garden.” The critics of multiculturalism, however, seem only to see its “thorns.” Completely ignoring the thorns needlessly places one at risk. If we look only at the thorns, we miss the beauty of the rose. If we pay heed to the thorns or remove them, as florists so thoughtfully do for their customers, they cannot hurt us, and our appreciation for the rose remains unspoiled. We now look first at the thorns, the negative side of multiculturalism, and then at the roses, the positive side. The “Immigrant Thorns” Make no mistake about it. Continuing high immigration fuels the debate about multiculturalism because this subject is about much more than simply preserving national identity. It is about power struggles among groups. It is about economics, jobs, social welfare, and tax dollars. Concern about large numbers of immigrants arriving each year can instill antipathy in many native-born White and Black Americans toward multicultural policies or programs promoting cultural diversity. With more than 21 million immigrants arriving since 1990, a sizable proportion of the U.S. public thinks there are too many immigrants in the country. Such anti-immigration sentiments have sounded in the land almost continually since large numbers of Irish Catholics began entering the United States in the early 19th century. Today, Americans have mixed opinions about immigration. A May 2007 CBS News/New York Times national poll, for example, found that 57 percent of respondents said they felt that the most recent immigrants contribute to the country, whereas 28 percent thought they caused problems. Yet in a June 2007 NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll, a more even split occurred, with 46 percent saying immigration helps more than it hurts the United States, whereas 44 percent thought the opposite. On the subject of unauthorized immigration, 61 percent viewed it as “very serious,” and another 30 percent said it was “somewhat serious.” One multigenerational pattern about the public response to immigration needs mentioning. Contemporary immigrants of any time period have almost always received negative evaluations by most native-born Americans, many descendants of earlier immigrants once castigated by other native-born Americans. With the passage of time, people view these now “old” immigrant groups as making positive contributions to the cultural and socioeconomic well-being of society as they transfer their negative perceptions to new immigrant groups. Several anti-immigration organizations lobby for restrictive laws to curtail immigration. The largest of these are the American Immigration Control Foundation (AICF), the Foundation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). Although these and other anti-immigrant groups vary in the intensity of their views, they all see the present immigration as a threat to the United States. Their opposition rests on their belief that immigrants either take jobs away from Americans, often from poor people who are forced onto welfare, or else use tax-supported services in health and education. Either way, these groups insist, the immigrants drive up social welfare costs. Other arguments include the assertion that immigrants strain law enforcement resources, contribute to an overpopulation problem through their higher birth rates, and deplete our natural resources. . . If multiculturalism means favoring an immigration that places a financial hardship on the American worker and taxpayer, then many Americans oppose multiculturalism. The “Immigrant Rose” If a nation’s strength lies in its people, then the strength of the United States clearly lies in the diversity of its people. Immigrants from all over the world have come here, and in one way or another, each group has played some role in the nation’s evolution into its present superpower status. Past immigrants built our cities, transportation systems, and labor unions and enabled us to come of age both agriculturally and industrially. Many of today’s immigrants have revitalized our cities; helped our high-tech industries remain competitive; and pumped billions of dollars annually into the national economy through their businesses, occupations, and consumerism. Combating negative stereotyping, societal ostracism, and fear about their growing size, each immigrant group then and now has worked hard to survive and put down roots. Viewed as a threat, each has proved to be an asset. Although the immigrant roses bloom, others do not often appreciate their beauty. It is the exceptional individual who admires immigrants when they are immigrants. Only after the immigrant rose fades and its falling petals mingle with the soil that contains all our roots do we look back and cherish the bloom that is part of our heritage.
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About the Book
This book is a collection of many talks and writings of Vincent N. Parrillo, a professor of sociology, Fulbright scholar, and internationally renowned expert on immigration and intergroup relations. He gave dozens of invited lectures on three continents, frequently under the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department through its programs in the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) and the International Information Program (IIE). In representing the United States abroad, he was interviewed through numerous radio, television, and newspaper outlets, including Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. In addition, other speaking engagements came from universities in Asia, Canada, and Europe, some of these as the keynote speaker at international conferences. He was also a visiting scholar in Belgium, the Czech Republic, England, and Italy. Numerous U.S. newspapers also called upon him for his commentary on current events. His reputation, both in his homeland and abroad, primarily came from his journal articles and books that mostly centered on the themes of assimilation, diversity, or multiculturalism. As his public presentations and writings increased, they generated still more speaking invitations that in turn led to many being transcribed and printed in various scholarly publications. Many, but not all, of these writings have been included here. A unique and multidimensional person, Parrillo expanded his horizons into other fields of endeavor. He wrote, narrated, and produced six television documentaries for PBS, so popular that they were aired repeatedly and DVD copies were in heavy demand. He drew from his insights into Ellis Island and immigration to write two historical novels, He also acted in, or directed, dozens of plays—comedies, dramas, and musicals—for a number of community theaters in northern New Jersey. This collection is an effort to capture at least a part of his insights and observations that he presented to a worldwide public.
About the Author
About the Editor Martha “Martie” Ohl attended Drew University and majored in English. She spent a dozen years in public relations before becoming an early childhood and music teacher. An intimate friend of Vincent Parrillo, she heard him speak in numerous venues and is quite familiar with his publications. About the Book This book is a collection of many talks and writings of Vincent N. Parrillo, a professor of sociology, Fulbright scholar, and internationally renowned expert on immigration and intergroup relations. He gave dozens of invited lectures on three continents, frequently under the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department through its programs in the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) and the International Information Program (IIE). In representing the United States abroad, he was interviewed through numerous radio, television, and newspaper outlets, including Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. In addition, other speaking engagements came from universities in Asia, Canada, and Europe, some of these as the keynote speaker at international conferences. He was also a visiting scholar in Belgium, the Czech Republic, England, and Italy. Numerous U.S. newspapers also called upon him for his commentary on current events. His reputation, both in his homeland and abroad, primarily came from his journal articles and books that mostly centered on the themes of assimilation, diversity, or multiculturalism. As his public presentations and writings increased, they generated still more speaking invitations that in turn led to many being transcribed and printed in various scholarly publications. Many, but not all, of these writings have been included here. A unique and multidimensional person, Parrillo expanded his horizons into other fields of endeavor. He wrote, narrated, and produced six television documentaries for PBS, so popular that they were aired repeatedly and DVD copies were in heavy demand. He drew from his insights into Ellis Island and immigration to write two historical novels, He also acted in, or directed, dozens of plays—comedies, dramas, and musicals—for a number of community theaters in northern New Jersey. This collection is an effort to capture at least a part of his insights and observations that he presented to a worldwide public.