Study of Immigration
Human beings define their history through the decisions they make. The idea that people create their history is true because people can shape their future (Hatton, 2011). According to Eleanor Roosevelt, the course of history is determined by the choices that society makes (Sternsher & Hareven, 1968). Decisions of different nature stem from dreams, values, beliefs, and ideas of people. In a democratic setup, it is not the leaders that determine the course of history but the collective voice of the ordinary people. The wife to the 32nd president of the United States affirmed this position shortly before she passed on in 1962 (Geraldine, 2017). I strongly agree with Eleanor’s postulation for the simple reason that the power to choose cannot be alienated from a person. It would be hypocritical to claim that leaders can decide on behalf of people since it is people who choose their leaders. I further support Eleanor’s position since human beings are logical units able to determine right from bad. Human beings define their history through decisions that are influenced by their aspirations, and no leader or third party can take away this inherent authority.
This position might, however, be challenged by the author of Guarding the Golden Door, Roger Daniels, especially as it relates to immigration policies in the United States. If Eleanor and Roger were to be left in a room together, they would sharply argue on the matter with each advancing different arguments to support their positions. Eleanor, as a strong proponent of the concept of democracy, would base her arguments on the fact that people are the architects of their future since power is inherent in people. In my opinion, Roger Daniels would posit that leaders sometimes make choices for people that have adverse effects. He might support his position with various decisions that have had far-reaching implications he notes leaders have made in ignorance and falsely sold them to the public since 1882. According to Roger Daniels, the Chines Exclusion Act of 1882 is such a decision that people in power made for the general American Public and has since created patterns that have not been deviated from ever since (Daniels, 2013). Roger has previously argued that the United States’ immigration policy is cumbersome, illogical and often inconsistent thanks to the decisions made by leaders (Mead & Daniels, 2004). The accomplished author further claims that most leaders are influenced by partisan politics when they make bad choices and decisions for the people (Daniels, 2013). In this regard, the two personalities would extensively differ on the idea that people create their history.
Rachel Rubin and Jeffrey Melnick, authors of Immigration and popular culture, analyze how patterns in popular culture are influenced by the sociopolitical nature of immigration in America. Two immigrant cultures, that of Jamaicans and that of Europeans in the early 1930s, stand out for me from the book. Immigrants from Jamaica had a significant influence on rap music in the 1970s while those from Europe were for a long time depicted as gangsters in cinemas in the 1930s (Rubin & Melnick, 2007). In the case of the European Immigrants, the authors seem to suggest that leaders in the film industry had some extent of influence on how society viewed these people. In the case of Jamaicans, on the other hand, the authors seem to suggest that immigrants have had an impact on popular culture. From my point of view, if Melnick were to join Eleanor and Roger for dinner, he would offer a perfect middle ground on the subject. My opinion is guided by the fact that, from the perspective of the book, it is possible to have situations where leaders choose for people, and somewhere people make their own decision as architects of their future. In conclusion, it is my opinion that society should realize that their future lies in their own hands and if they let their leaders define it, then they would in effect be allowing them to set a history that will not be subject to change.
References
Daniels, R. (2013). Guarding the golden door: American immigration policy and immigrants since 1882. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Geraldine, K. (2017). Nurturing Eleanor Roosevelt Family and friends. Eleanor Roosevelt, 30-53. doi:10.4324/9781315271248-2
Hatton, T. (2011). Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future. Economic Record, 87(279), 650-652. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4932.2011.00771.x
Mead, W. R., & Daniels, R. (2004). Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants since 1882. Foreign Affairs, 83(2), 164. doi:10.2307/20033930
Rubin, R., & Melnick, J. P. (2007). Immigration and American popular culture: An introduction. New York: New York University Press.
Sternsher, B., & Hareven, T. K. (1968). Eleanor Roosevelt: An American Conscience. The Journal of American History, 55(3), 677. doi:10.2307/1891072