THE
UNITED
rican
A MAGAZINE OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP
Devoted to the Cause of
Vol. 2
Americanization, Assimilation and Group Elimination; Pointing the way to a Constitutional
Americanism, to Equality in Citizenship, and a better understanding
between Native born and Foreign bom.
ÄS"-20
January, 1924
Number 4
QUALIFYING ALIENS FOR AMERICAN LIFE
HAPHAZARD AMERICANIZATION COSTLY TO AMERICA
TS THE concept of real and true Americanization, the
1 welding and molding process to good American citi
zenship for foreign and native bom alike, such a dif
ficult thing to comprehend ?
If we base our conclusions upon the common ex
pression's of misconception, prevalent among people
who assay to “Americanize,” we should hold to the
affirmative.
America’s alien problem has been aggravated and
enlarged upon in every way because of the common
ignorance of the inherent values which the people of
foreign birth have brought to America.
Much of thus could have been prevented if the
Americanization of the alien people in America had
been given sufficient and serious attention among the
American people in a general way. Only a few have
from the start considered it in its proper light and
sought to arouse general interest also for the purpose
of eliminating the mentally and educationally defi
cient people who in the very beginning attached them
selves to the Americanization movement for the social
and political attention thereby to be gained on a new
plane, in some undisputable altruistic cause.
Too many people have attached themselves to the
Americanization movement with the false notion that
the chief requirement of an “Americanizer” is native
birth. The erroneous conception of Americanization
— common among the foreign born and prevalent in
many circles among our finest native Americans — is
undeniably due to the mischief done by people who
sally forth to transform the foreign born into that
kind of “Americans” they are themselves. Their
hoity-toity opinions of themselves and their naive
notions about the foreign bom as a whole, as ex
pressed in their activities and their “missionering”
speeches on occasion, are the specific factors which
in this movements formative period unfortunately
has served a purpose reacting negatively to the
Americanization cause.
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♦
Only recently we listened to a speech by a man who
without any special training for Americanization
work had taken upon himself the task of preparing a
number of foreign born for citizenship. His remarks
gave conclusive evidence that he approached his
duties, in a new field, with the idea that it was so
easy that to use his own words, he “expected to put it
over — big.” In a field where there are no trained
teachers and instructors to be had, the willingness on
the part of one man, with some general teaching ex
perience, to help men and women who apply for citi
zenship to study the essentials in history and govern
ment to a point where they are able to answer a few
questions and pass a limited naturalization test,
should be duly appreciated. Under these conditions
it is safe to say that the government representatives
in naturalization matters: examiner and judge, occupy
trying positions. Anyone carefully watching the pro
ceedings would draw the conclusion that they admit
applicants into citizenship half heartedly and at times
because of pity and out of consideration for the appli
cants’ earnestness and the evident struggle they have
made to gain the intelligence held necessary to citi
zenship, instead of on the ground of the applicants’
satisfying intelligence.
The period of citizenship training is the most vital
period in the life of the foreign born in America.
Due to the new standards required he becomes con
scious of his actual unfitness and takes up his prepa
ratory study with considerable apprehension. Again
for a period ¡he becomes openminded and willing to
learn. If the teacher is one of special training, who
knows the mental reservations, the racial or nation
ality background of his pupils, who understands how