The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Immigration Act of 1924 with Daniel Okrent
Air Dates: October 28-November 3, 2019 In 1924, a new American law ended the wave of immigration to this country that had begun in the 19th century. Hundreds of thousands of southern- and eastern-European immigrants had entered the United States each year before the law, but after 1924, those numbers were reduced to a trickle. Daniel Okrent is the author of a remarkable history of the bigotry and sham science … Read More
Memory, Connection, and Healing Through Storytelling with Patricia Nguyen
Air Dates: October 21-27, 2019 If you are a regular viewer of “Story in the Public Square,” you know we define “story” and “story-teller” very broadly. Educators, artists, scholars—and more—all qualify in our eyes; but occasionally, we meet a talent that weaves all three skills together with a profound humanity that commends their work to us, as they inspire and even heal others. Patricia Nguyen is just such a person. … Read More
Immigration and America’s Dairy Farms with Julie Keller
Air Dates: June 10-16, 2019 The super-heated rhetoric over immigration and border security in the United States today is part of a long tradition of anti-immigration hysteria. Julie Keller puts our recent panic in a sociological context—exploring changes in who works on American dairy farms, and how they traveled from Latin America to farms in the upper-Mid-West. Julie C. Keller is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of … Read More
Gabriela Domenzain on “Story in the Public Square”
Air Dates: February 17-18, 2018 The politics of immigration reform in the United States are front and center today, with calls for a wall on America’s southern border and news of more aggressive enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Gabriela Domenzain reminds us that these aren’t just policy debates—these are people’s lives we’re debating. The daughter of Mexican immigrant doctors, Domenzain was raised in Miami, where the Spanish and … Read More
Emma Lazarus and American Exceptionalism: Picks of the Week
Statue of Liberty Caught in White House Immigration Row | BBC Trump Advisor Stephen Miller Undermines Poem’s Connection to Statue of Liberty | NPR New York Today: The Politics in Poetry | The New York Times The stories we tell ourselves shape the way we think about ourselves—read any self-help book and you know that “self-talk,” is a common refrain. When you tell stories about yourself where you are always … Read More
Fear is Corrosive to Freedom: Picks of the Week
Trump invites victims of illegal immigrant crime as guests for speech to Congress | Washington Times The real goal of Trump’s executive orders: Reduce the number of immigrants in the U.S. | Los Angeles Times Bannon’s reckless pursuit of ethno-nationalist greatness | Washington Post This week’s Picks-of-the-Week are co-authored by two historians, Pell Center Executive Director Jim Ludes and Salve Regina University Provost Scott Zeman. In the November 2016 election, … Read More
Politics vs. Cynicism: Picks of the Week
Old Trump: Mexicans Are ‘Rapists.’ New Trump: They’re ‘Great People!’ | The Daily Beast Trump Flip Flops on Immigration Again | Outside the Beltway First Read: Trump’s Stunning Flip-Flop on Immigration | NBC News I admire politicians—and that’s not a particularly popular point of view. Still, I admire politicians, because the best among them understand how to move society forward. They recognize that working together is essential to solving common … Read More
Pulitzer Prize-winning author, journalist discusses “Enrique’s Journey”
On Monday, April 13, the annual lecture sponsored by the Pell Center and Mosaic, Salve Regina University’s student newspaper, featured journalist Sonia Nazario, who recently published her non-fiction novel, Enrique’s Journey. The story of Enrique’s journey and Nazario’s journey spoke to the interests and curiosities of the many Salve Regina University students and community members in attendance. The lecture was also sponsored by the Office of Mission Integration. Enrique’s Journey tells … Read More
Perception of Immigration, U.S. Policy and Islamic State | Picks of the Week
Immigration and the Economy Government, Economy, Immigration Are Top U.S. Problems | Gallup The data on white anxiety over Hispanic immigration: What drives American views on immigration is often not pretty | The Washington Post Facts About Immigration and the U.S. Economy | Economic Policy Institute A Gallup poll released last week says that Americans currently feel that immigration is one of the top problems facing the United States. The finding, … Read More
The Immigration Issue
On one hand, you’re turning your back on innocent children, many of them escaping poverty, violence and a number of other horrors. Yet on the other side, you have legal American citizens who struggle day by day, single mothers, homeless veterans, and hardworking families who can’t catch a break. This is the question that Congress is being asked to answer before they depart for the month of August. In my … Read More