The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip., June 01, 1925, Page 26, Image 26

Page Twenty-six
THE UNITED AMERICAN
JUNE 1925
“Americanization is Neighborization”
By I. MARGARET MORRIS, Director of Americanization, Thompsonville, Connecticut
TN THE writer’s opinion, the whole scheme of the
1 Americanization of immigrants is still very much
in the making, from the definition of the term itself
to the methods advocated to bring about the desired
consummation. This proves that this cause is a living,
not a cut and dried, dead subject; it is a hopeful sign,
as are also the many indications that progress is being
made in the right direction in several phases of the
work. The realization that only teachers, specially
trained in the “direct method,” should be employed
for English classes of adults foreign-born seems to be
well nigh universal in educational circles. And the
methods taught these teachers are not so standardized
as to hamper the individuality of the “born” teachers,
while tending more and more to help them to short
cuts as well as to give the uninspired but conscientious
ones the necessary technique for imparting at least
a working knowledge of the English language. The
improving of textbooks, as well as methods, goes on
apace; the machinery for preparing trained teachers
is better oiled every year; the requirements and stand­
ards are being raised, and the teaching of English
and of the facts required by examiners of petitioners
for naturalization is improving in both quantity and
quality.
But is not the problem of awakening genuine loyalty
to our institutions, both governmental and social, still
largely a matter of the individual teacher’s personality
and temperment, as it likewise is with the day
school teachers of future American citizens, whether
native or foreign-born ? In other words, are the pupils,
in either day or night schools, being really American­
ized ? Go into their homes for the answer 1
Granted that different ways are not necessarily
less desirable and that we might well adopt some of
the, to us, strange customs in-use for centuries in
other lands, the difference in climate, as well as en­
vironment, is reason enough for many of the differences
in ways of living which should be adopted by the new­
comers. The constant wearing of caps indoors, even
in bed, by babies of foreign-bom mothers, certainly
does not seem to result in loss of hair and may account
for the scarcity of earache among them. Perhaps all
babies would better be capped! But the ancient
custom of swaddling the limbs, including the arms
sometimes, to keep them straight or the baby quiet,
is as shocking to the visiting nurse as to the conven­
tional American mother. And too much clothing in
summer is just as cruel as too. little in winter, besides
being both unthrifty and insanitary.
Any serious differences in the customs of dress­
ing, eating, or lodging which effect the health, how­
ever, may be dealt with authoritatively by the local
health officials, though still legitimate subject matter
for lessons in English. Equally important to true
Americanization, but unreachable by governmental
agencies, is the inculcatating of the best American
ideals, and of the higher standards of living of which
the visible material possessions are only the symbol.
Too many of our would-be American citizens are like
that one recently reported as putting a sign “Furnished
Rooms” in her window, not because she wished to
rent any, but to let people know that her next door
neighbor was not the only one who had her rooms
furnished. Too many ambitious and thrifty house
owners of foreign birth, who keep their grounds and
homes immaculate and spend their savings in furnishing
the two or three largest rooms with far from cheap
rugs, curtains, parlor and dining-room furniture, are
still unable to speak, much less read, the language
of our country, and habitually use their kitchens for
general living-rooms, while the children sleep three
and four in a bed in small rooms, unheated in winter
and stifling in summer, with practically no con­
veniences for dressing or privacy.
Daniels’ “America via the Neighborhood” and
Bogardus’ “Americanization” both give many illustra­
tions of the misinterpretations of American standards
as well as the prevalent causes for same: viz. the aloof­
ness and indifference to the newcomers of the native
born residents who might so greatly aid them by
just being neighborly. Doubtless many another town
or city might be appalled at the results of listing the
purely non-commercial organizations within its boun­
daries, as was a New England town of some 13,000
inhabitants, of whom almost 10,000 lived in the
principal industrial section, to find that, without
counting the many societies functioning within each
of the eleven churches, there were over eighty separate
organizations. Approximately 20 % of these were com­
posed of foreign-born residents, practicing the sup­
posedly American virtue of cooperation among them­
selves, with no help from the native-born. A step in
the right direction will be taken, if half or more of
these form a central union, composed of delegates
from all the others, for the purpose of initiating and
developing various forms of community work; but the
social structure as a whole will require deeper digging
and broader foundations before a really American
edifice will rise.
What we, as Americanization workers, need particu­
larly to strive for (in addition to forwarding all the
good work already started) is to arouse the native-born
to their responsibilities as interpreters of Americanism
and to realization of the fact that, quite unconsciously
and unintentionally, they already are influencing, for
better or worse, the foreign-born, who emulate what
tjhey see of their dress on the street, their home
furnishings in the shop windows, their manners as
they come in contact with them industrially and other­
wise, and their characters as they understand them
from their actions in public.
In rural districts or small communities, the right
influences can best be exerted by the natural neighbor­
ing of the older residents with the newer. But in the
industrial towns and cities, where the foreign-bom are
already more or less segregated in sections no longer
considered desirable by Americans, such cannot be done
incidentally, and would better not be attempted at all if
there is likelihood of its even seeming to be offered in|i
patronizing spirit. It can be done, however, by aif'
would-be helpers sincere and independent enough to go