Tow #9- America, the Not So Promised Land

In ‘America, the Not So Promised Land’, Tara Zahra, a historian who studies nation, family, and ethnicity, speaks about the immigrant perspective on America as the so called ‘promised land’. She claims that, despite America considering itself the land of opportunity, many immigrants regret coming to America in search of jobs and safety. Several times, Zahra turns to quotes throughout her op-ed in order to make her statements. She turns to historians, economists, and immigrants themselves in order to get different perspectives on the matter. For example, Zahra uses quotes from Bosnian refugees who explain why they came to America, recalling “’We were afraid of poverty… We thought we wouldn’t be able to step out on the street because of drugs, murders, and similar things. We were afraid that there was no health insurance similar to what we had…’” Using the perspective of the refugees allows the reader to understand what America is like from a foreign perspective. It also allows them to provide reasoning behind what they chose to do. Also, as Zahra is not an immigrant herself, it allows her to develop ethos in her argument. Having the perspective of a person going through the experience personally allows the reader to develop a sense of sympathy. She also turns to history in order to develop a cause and effect argument. She says “In spite of the rhetoric of globalization, we still live with the passports and border controls introduced after the First World War. This system, a response to xenophobic agitation, created the current distinction between legal immigrants and “illegal” aliens. In 1965, the quota system was eliminated, enabling more migrants to come to the United States from Asia, Latin America and Africa. But it remains difficult for migrants to respond nimbly to changing economic or political conditions,” (para 13). Her main argument is that despite the elimination of the terms that we find were so commonly used throughout our history, it still develops a bias among the communities within America. As she must use several perspectives from outsiders, it seems that Zahra is attempting to address the American audience. Therefore, she can introduce them to a perspective other than their own. It seems that Zahra is attempting to take away the pride that America is using in attempts to cover up their biases against immigrants. Though I find the essay was well informed and filled with facts and different perspectives, I would have liked to see her add a bit of pathos in it. It was there, but had the potential to be expanded on a bit more, especially in an essay where it could have worked very well.