One of the most talked about issues in American politics is immigration. Sadly, a conversation that should be about reform is overshadowed and misguided by racist, anti-immigration activists.
Because of xenophobic attitudes towards immigrants, our nations discourse around immigration is focused on brutal acts of exclusion as opposed to empathy and inclusion. In order to move towards a real solution to the nation’s questions about immigration, we must experience a shift in how we perceive it, which requires a focus on what immigration has awarded to and continues to provide for America.
Every U.S. citizen knows that if their relatives are not recent immigrants, somewhere along the line of one’s American heritage is a family member who made their way here from another country. Also, to be frank, the United States was founded by immigrants and believe it or not, continues to fuel and stimulate the American culture we know today. Diversity has and continues to weave this colorful tapestry of a nation together and it should stay that way. Therefore, we must honor and support the many immigration reform activists working to not save those threatened by the cruelty of our current policies, but also to educate the public about how American culture is rooted in immigration and its history.
As an homage to these hardworking activists and as an effort to retain optimism while immigration reform sits idly in the White House, here are a couple recent videos exposing an American Imaginary defined by immigration.
“Love, America” by Naya Rivera
How Immigrants Are Fueling America’s Cultural History Through Fashion
Watch video here: http://fusion.net/culture/story/immigrants-fueling-americas-cultural-history-fashion-807233 
Images courtesy of Fusion, jcunews.org,
