Last weekend, after a long week spent attending graduate classes, I walked into the video store to pick up a movie that might give my mind a needed break.
Although I thought a comedy might do the trick, I was drawn instead to a documentary called Farmingville – a film that tells the true story of a Long Island town that has experienced a rapid influx of day laborers and the ensuing racial tension between long time residents and immigrants.
My interest was piqued, for as a former high school teacher at a very diverse high school and as a current doctoral student in the communication discipline who studies immigration and intercultural communication, I decided it was something I needed to watch.
From my experience I have come to know that immigration has drastically contributed to a shift in our population and this change has been a source of great tension.
According to the results of the 2007 Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, 27.7 percent of the entire foreign born population currently living in the United States entered the country between the years 2000 and 2007, with 53 percent of that population originally born in Latin America.
Although immigration has always been an issue our country has grappled, tensions surrounding this topic have become increasingly hostile within the last decade.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate crime statistics show a marked upswing in racially motivated violence against all Latinos, regardless of immigration status.
Indeed, according to hate crime statistics published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), anti-Latino hate crimes rose by almost 35% between 2003 and 2006.
Although Farmingville’s story of racism did not shock me I was pleased to learn is that through a joint collaboration with PBS and a nonprofit organization called Active Voice, Farmingville is being used to start community conversations around the United States about immigration issues.
When I got online to find out more about the film I was impressed to see all of the preparatory community engagement work to help integrate this film into different communities.
According to the Farmingville website, a great resource on immigration, many organizations and community groups have already successfully used the film to address immigration concerns. They were able to do so by downloading their discussion and resource guides and using the information on the Active Voice website.
Although Farmingville is one example of successful community outreach it should be noted that there are the hundreds of other immigration activist groups that similarly promote community dialogue and engagement that can easily be searched for on the web.
Brazilian educationalist and activist, Paulo Freire reminded us about the important role of community dialogue when he noted that, “the earlier dialogue begins, the more truly revolutionary will the movement be.”
Bearing this in mind it is then clear that those individuals carrying out the community engagement plan outlined for Farmingville are on to something. It is through communication about these serious social concerns that we will begin to create true understanding and integration for all people in our communities.
As the Civil Rights Movement taught us ordinary citizens need to be extraordinary in order to enact social justice. We have allowed these injustices of isolation and prejudice to be perpetrated against our immigrant neighbors for too long and we have a responsibility to act in whatever way we are capable. The question is what can we, as average citizens, do?
First and foremost we must educate ourselves on the issue of immigration as this will continue to be a social concern we live with.
Additionally we can organize or choose to participate in these discussions when the opportunity is presented, encouraging our neighbors to do the same so that we can further understand this issue of immigration.
Through this active role in education and participation in dialogue we can truly see better, more inclusive communities form which should be a goal we all share.
For ways of addressing immigration and community engagement in your own communities or to learn how Farmingville is being used to start discussions on immigration, visit the following websites.
Active Voice:
PBS:
Farmingville the movie:
Megan Morrissey is a current Ph.D. student in communication studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
