The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip., January 01, 1925, Image 5

THE
UNITED
r ican
A MAGAZINE OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP
Devoted to the Cause of
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 born.
Vol. 3
vo?ume°us 21
January, 1925
Number 4
AMERICANIZATION AS PUBLIC EDUCATION
AN ADVISABLE STATE PLAN OF IMMIGRANT TRAINING
SINCE THE Americanization movement became a
factor in public opinion throughout America,
several states have adopted carefully planned and
drafted measures for an intelligent program of Ameri­
canization under the direction of thoroughly trained
teachers and directors of such activities. Training
in Americanization—the study of racial background,
the cultural values of old world nations and how they
may be made useful in the process of training and
assimilating the adult immigrant, standardized
methods of teaching, social activities, etc.,—has for
the last few years been a definite course of study in
several eastern and midwestern universities where it
has been grouped with courses in sociological in­
struction.
Sporadic and spasmodic activities of local inven­
tion have been found inadequate and often harmful,
throughout the country, wheie no definite state pro­
gram, properly headed, has been followed. While
much commendable work has been done here and there
in a few places in Oregon, a great many forms of so-
called Americanization work done here had better been
left undone. Too much “doctoring” of the “foreigners”
has been indulged in iby well-meaning people, pro­
ducing anything but a beneficial reaction to the state
and the nation. Much of this work furnishes the
leaders of the foreign groups and the foreign language
press the ammunition used in their caustic criticisms
upon the Americanization movement, which is con­
stantly under fire from these sources.
*
*
* .
The educational work that has been done through
adult immigrant classes in the Public Night Schools
of Portland, where primary, intermediate and citizen­
ship training has been conducted and financed by the
Board of Education, has advanced intelligence in citi­
zenship, to a great extent, even if social Americani­
zation activities have had little or no. attention ex­
cept what has been accomplished in this direction
through the agency of the Neighborhood House, the.
Hellenic-American League and through scattered
denominational sources. Astoria, perhaps, has the
most complete Americanization program in this state,
due to the fine understanding of the immigrant
people and their needs, from an educational and
social angle, which Professor A. C. Strange, Super-
tendent of Public Education, possesses abundantly.
In a few other scattered places where immigrants
reside, some local work has been done, but little of the
kind that has served the purpose of correct Americani­
zation has been done in Oregon as a whole; and the
alien people are yet, for the most, snatching a little
information here and a little there in order to obtain
their citizenship papers, which still is considered by
them, as well as a large number of native Americans,
to be all that is necessary to change an immigrant
from his alien status to that of an American.
The intelligence some people have acquired hap­
hazardly about the immigrant is worse than rubbish.
Their patronizing air and. uninteligent approach have
been one of the chief sources in Oregon, as much as
elsewhere, for the apparent lack of individual interest
in educational facilities provided for their benefit,
which to a deplorable degree has been shown by the
aliens.
If Oregon is to overcome this unfortunate
state of affairs and prove to the country at
large that the people who live in this state have ideals
and are willing to go to bat for them, that they are
determined that it shall not be said of Oregon that
it has no tangible interest in the higher standard of
citizenship among its alien people, which America is
demanding today; then the state legislative body
must follow the course of procedure finally adopted in
many other states and add to the educational program
in Oregon a simple provision for a workable plan
of Adult Immigrant Education and Americanization.
The most economic and practical way to put such a