Ryan Manley's 1102 Blog

  As I continue studying immigration in this course, I tend to notice different trends or central ideas that cross between all areas of research. A couple weeks ago, I wrote my blog post discussing the concept of hostility. I described how many students from Green Card Youth Voices faced hostility when arriving in the US, and how it is something that many immigrants in general have encountered. Racism is something deeply embedded in our society and as I read immigrant stories, it just reinforces that concept.      In this blog post, I want to discuss another common theme- the difficult immigration process. When reviewing the course readings for this week, I came across the “I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status” and found how lengthy and nitpicky the application is for immigrants to fill out. The form is 20 pages long, in small font, and asks so many questions. Seeing all these concise details required to file status reinforces the conc...

  This week I visited the Marietta Museum of History. During the visit, I had a chance to meet the Curator of Exhibits, Amy Reed, and get to see the current exhibits they have at the museum. She started off by telling our group how her job is to get history out into the community. This museum is one of the only museums in the county that focuses on our local Cobb County history and she feels that it is her job to inform the community and visitors about our history. The first exhibit we looked at was The Man with the Camera and it was my favorite part of the museum. Amy told us the story of how back in the 1940s-60s when civil rights were being fought for, people did not know necessarily what was going on “on the other side of the tracks.” What she meant by this is that Whites did not necessarily know what Blacks were doing because they were in separate communities. However, there was a man with a camera known as Mr. Burford, who took photos of the African American community and the...

  “One day, when I was either five or six, soldiers came my house, and they said they needed my older sister… to carry their heavy things for them. She could not go with them because she has asthma and was not feeling well, but the soldiers said “If you don’t follow us, you know what we’re gonna do.” (Cing, 39). Something that really stands out to me between the Green Card Youth Voices book, as well as the New Georgia Encyclopedia readings is the violence and threats that immigrants face. What is most prominent to me, is how a lot of immigrants flee their home countries to escape violence, and then when they come to America, they face even more threats and sometimes violence. It really shows a lot about our society and values and feel it is something important to be discussed. I read a story like Dim Cing’s sister, who was threatened by soldiers in her town, told that she would be killed if she did not help them and then when she escaped them, had to run away to Malaysia out of f...

This week I began to read Green Card Youth Voices, as well as an introduction on Critical Race Theory. Reading both works, I really developed a stronger understanding of race in general and the way that people from different backgrounds experience and interact with others. Reading the Green Card Youth Voices book, I was able to really delve deep into these children’s experiences and all they have been through. What surprised me is just how much they had experienced at such a young age. It made me realize how fortunate and privileged I am to have never had to go through similar experiences. It made me ask myself questions- what would I do if I were in a situation like this? How would I react? What would my plans be in the future after experiencing such a situation? And what struck me in the book, particularly, is how positive the students were after going through terrible situations. I think of how many students have escaped violence in their home country, became separated by their fami...