In her essay, “More than Just a Shrine: Paying Homage to the Ghosts of Ellis Island,” author Mary Gordon argues that a separation exists between the descendents of early American settlers and the descendents of later immigrants. Through reflecting on her experience at Ellis Island, Gordon demonstrates her connection to the Americans who passed through as opposed to those who influenced immigration policies. Gordon provides examples of how those already in America affected how Ellis Island received foreigners. Even at the beginning, New Yorkers and officials fought over where to locate the immigration center without distracting from their new Statue of Liberty. Once in action, the acceptance process depended on the “political events and attitudes …show more content…
During her trip, she thinks of her grandparents, and of their experience arriving in America as teenagers. She agonizes over their mistreatment. Relating to those who passed through, Gordon wants to tell the “ghosts” of the American immigrants that she prefers them to the Americans who “stole their names and chalked their weaknesses in public on their clothing” (Gordon 632). Gordon’s essay inspires me to contrast her trip to Ellis Island to my recent journey to Stone Mountain near Atlanta, GA. Unlike Gordon, I did not know much about my destination. I heard about this Confederate memorial while visiting Warm Springs, GA. A hotel manager described the carvings of prominent Confederate leaders on the side of the mountain. Out of curiosity, I decided to stop by on my way home. Gordon’s familial background connects her to Ellis Island, but I had no expectation of feeling a personal relation to Stone Mountain. In fact, I was sure that this monument would inspire anger and hate. I recalled middle school history classes describing the Rebel States as evil monsters fighting to keep slavery as part of their lifestyle. High school focused more on the issues of state rights as an ignition to the Civil War; however, the South was the enemy, a regretted part our past. I was curious to see how and why it was immortalized on a …show more content…
I soon realized that Stone Mountain was not what I expected. As demonstrated by their quotes, the rebel soldiers displayed their passion and willingness to sacrifice their lives in order to fight for what they believed in. The pride that motivated the soldiers to fight the bloody battle compares to the pride Gordon admires in the immigrants that allowed them to persevere throughout the poor mistreatment at Ellis Island. The soldiers fought ferociously against a country they used to call their home. They fought against their brothers and their friends. They fought for the rights they felt were being stripped away from them. These soldiers had wrong and immoral views, but they would rather fight than concede to a different belief
The experiences of American immigrants is as diverse as the immigrants themselves. Joseph Bruchac’s grandparents were Slovak children who immigrated to Ellis Island. Bruchac, who is half Native American, perceives the mass arrival of immigrants as negative, since they took the land of the Native Americans through violence. He is torn between the immigrant part and the Native American part of himself. In contrast, Phillis Wheatley, who was forced into slavery and brought to America from Africa, sees this forced immigration as a positive.
Immigrants to America face possible danger and death, yet they are shunned. This is shown in the work of Barbara Kingsolver. The injustices the characters faced in the novel, which was set in the 80’s, are still prevalent today. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
Ken Burns is a historical documentary filmmaker. He made a documentary about the civil war that was criticized and seen my many. Many Americans viewed the war in a different way based on the information or lack of information provided by Burns. Rose and Corley share the dangers that come with filmmakers shaping the way people view historical events. In this essay, we will view the weaknesses of Burns films.
In Search of the Promised Land: Book Review Franklin, John Hope, and Loren Schweninger. In Search of the Promised Land: A Slave Family in the Old South. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. The narrative In Search of the Promised Land: A Slave Family in the Old South, by John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger, was a real page-turner and a pleasure to read. The narrative chronicles the fascinating life of Sally Thomas and her three sons John Rapier, Sr., Henry Thomas, and James Thomas who were fathered by white men.
“More Than Just A Shine-Ellis Islands In “More Than Just A Shine-Ellis Island,” Mary Gordon describes a visit she made to the Ellis Island, the gateway to America for immigrants throughout the last century. Ellis Island, the place, however, does not interest Gordon as much as the people who passed through it. Gordon imagines their dreams and their hopes as they pursued their destinies in a new and foreign land.
With all of these soul-shattering, life-changing conditions, it is less of a war and more of a test of strength for the soldiers, here at Valley Forge. Some men were going home and not returning. Other men just completely deserted. Even George Washington’s position was uncertain, the members of congress didn’t trust him. Life at Valley Forge was obviously horrible, and the ugly truth is that it wouldn’t get much better.
Monuments of Confederacy The Confederate monuments should be a thing of the past and torn down. “The statues were built to honor the Confederacy and maintain the idea that whites are superior to other races. ”(Landrieu, 2) Statutes are not designed to simply remember our history, but the statues purpose is to honor and venerate the person or idea it represents. These statues honor the idea that slavery was ok.
In the news today, a continual debate can be found about the significance of Confederate monuments and if they should remain or be removed. Confederate monuments that have been erected throughout the U.S. should be kept because of the preservation of America’s history. For instance, in the article, The Unbearable Lightness of Confederate-Statue Removal, the author lists how slaveholder monuments aren’t the only statues being vandalized, but the Lincoln Memorial and Mount Rushmore are other symbols of U.S. history that some believe need to “blow up” (Murdock). Every historical symbol can have both people who appreciate it and who oppose it. That doesn’t mean that we should tear down all symbols, but
Having heard a great deal about Jefferson Davis and the 21st century uses of the Confederate flag and the controversy around the meaning of these flags along with statues and other monuments remembering the “heroes” of the south. The debate among many in our country was triggered when Dylan Roof attempted to start a “race war” when he killed nine African-Americans in South Carolina. More unrest occurred when many protestesters fought for a statue of Robert E. Lee to come down in Charlottesville, Virginia (Criss and
In the book “The Free State of Jones”, by Victoria Bynum, the war between the Union and the Confederacy was described. Not only that, but the author reveals many things about the war that is not widely known, or largely mistaken for something else. The style this book is written is not fiction, as it has raw facts splattered across the pages. One of the main topics that is covered in this book is slavery, and how the South contributed to it. Tying to that, the main character’s relationship with an African American woman is also mentioned.
It has been over fifty years since slavery had ended in the South with the enactment of the 13th amendment, leaving all former slaves and African-Americans free. The Great Migration, which started in the 1910s, was seen by African-Americans as a new hope, a chance to leave what they saw as the restricting rural South to find better opportunities, jobs, and the private life in the North. In 1917, when most of the migrations occurred, ten-year-old Rubie Bond and her parents left Mississippi to travel to Wisconsin. Fifty years later, in “Beloit Bicentennial Oral History Project” (1976), Rubie Bond was interviewed as part of Beloit College Archives’ project to document the history of the Great Migration. In her interview, Bond recollected why her family and many others left the South.
The immigrants entering the United States throughout its history have always had a profound effect on American culture. However, the identity of immigrant groups has been fundamentally challenged and shaped as they attempt to integrate into U.S. society. The influx of Mexicans into the United States has become a controversial political issue that necessitates a comprehensive understanding of their cultural themes and sense of identity. The film Mi Familia (or My Family) covers the journey and experiences of one Mexican-American (or “Chicano”) family from Mexico as they start a new life in the United States. Throughout the course of the film, the same essential conflicts and themes that epitomize Chicano identity in other works of literature
There was a politically correct remembrance of the Confederacy in that men felt so strongly about their beliefs they were willing to wage war and die for them, many felt that should be honored. My own understanding of the South’s passion with the Civil War is much like Tony Horwitz, In that the War is so intriguing and interesting because it involves the country I live in and the beliefs that are so passionately felt to this day. Born and raised in California I believed racism to be dead and the surprise I received moving to the panhandle of Texas was discomforting. The Civil War has a unique way of luring
John J. Bukowczyk, of Wayne State University, seemed overall impressed with Anna Pegler-Gordon’s book on photography and its involvement in immigration, “In Sight of America: Photography and the Development of U.S. Immigration Policy,” declaring that it was “excellent and thought provoking.” Bukowczyk claims the book opens a new dialogue for methods and motivations behind immigration laws and actions against immigrants that led to reactions by the immigrants. He also addresses the book’s wide range of topics and interpreted the main theme to be “the creation of race as fact,” which Bukowczyk clarifies is not her original thought but that of Coco Fusco. In the end, he conceded that Pegler-Gordon was likely overestimating the value of images and he claims they more likely confirm rather than define the oral and print culture of immigrants, officials, and immigration history. Krystyn Moon, of the University of Mary Washington, also praises Pegler-Gordon’s book.
" The Amateur Emigrant, 1895. " Robert Louis Stevenson. University of South Carolina, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.