Introduction to Immigrant Voices: In Search of Pedagogical Reform
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Description
"If we were to write the real history of the United States, the centerpiece of such a history would be inescapable-it would be the implacably brutal story of violence and the fundamental role that it has played in creating and preserving the "American way of life." Although the immigrants to this country most assuredly would be relegated to minor supporting roles among the cast of world-historical characters and events, theirs would be the real story of the United States, in the epochal shaping of social, cultural, and economic life. Immigration has a varied history, not all of it ending in the Panglossian fable known as the "American Dream." Among the earliest that made their way to these shores were European settlers. "Settlerism" in this case turned out to be little more than a form of decaffeinated imperialism. This is not to mention unspeakable acts of genocide whose haunting memories still cause the earth to groan beneath our feet. Regrettably, the legacy of colonialism lives on today, with wealthy elites-the "minority of the opulent"-still extracting surplus labor from workers, still armed by the weapons of white supremacy and all-consuming self-interest, still bent on reproducing colonialist formations, and still reaping the benefits of belonging to the capitalist class."
ISBN
978-0-7425-0040-2
Publication Date
2000
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield
City
Boulder, CO
Disciplines
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Curriculum and Social Inquiry | Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
Recommended Citation
McLaren, P. (2000). Introduction. In E. Trueba & L. Bartolome (Eds.), Immigrant voices: In search of pedagogical reform (pp. 1-15). Boulder, CO.: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.
Copyright
Rowman & Littlefield
Comments
In Enrique T. Trueba and Lilia I. Bartolomé (Eds.), Immigrant Voices: In Search of Educational Equity. Dr. McLaren's chapter begins on page 1.