Immigration or Integration
By John
Davis
Language is holy. It conveys the
stories of who we are and what we believe. Words hold longer than empires. They
cross absorb and bind cultures. So what is an immigrant? Or is
“Integrant” a better word.
The dictionary offers two explanations of
immigration, one political and one scientific. Politically speaking the term
denotes people who leave one country to settle permanently in another. The
scientific definition is of a plant or animal that establishes itself in an area
where it previously did not exist. Humans are of course animals.
Our understanding of the term
immigrant should not be restricted to the political meaning for that tells only
one side of the story.
Beginning with
the scientific it is well known that every human is the descendant of an African
Ancestor. Human lineage has been traced by comparing the DNA in contemporary
humans to determine their path of migration across the globe. Like branches of a
great tree trunk people moved around the globe from Africa. Some branches grew
larger and some died out
entirely.
Humans evolved to meet the
demands of various environments. Mighty mountains and vast seas isolated our
tribes. Cultures differentiated. Food was different, clothing was not the same
and some recipes were spicy while others were bland. Human skin changed to a
rainbow of hues.
As societies
developed human interaction occurred on these geographic borders allowing us to
enjoy the diversity of our species. We are all diverse and not one of us is the
same. Humans are in a constant state of flux and to deny it is inhuman.This
adaptive response is the success of our
kind.
However in the advent of purely
political societies borders were represented as geometric lines on a map and
replaced the geographic boarders that were natural to people. Of course drawing
lines does not automatically separate one culture from another because the
family lives on both sides.
For this
reason political lines fail. Culture is osmotic in nature like a sponge
absorbing and expelling humanity across such
lines.
Therein lies the rub.
Immigration is now a term of political art. In this use the implication is
divisive, protectionist, and demonizing. It is a term of denial for those who
fear the death of a stagnating monolithic culture. It is the hypocrisy of the
static. Things change and time is not
frozen.
When humans first came to
California they immigrated. The first were Asians, also descended from Africa.
Europeans then followed and
integrated.
We should remove the
pejorative political use of the term immigrant from our
language.
Except for the first Asians here we
are all integrants, not immigrants.
Integration is a word that heals, is
acceptant and shines with truth. Read the definition. What do you
think?
“The bringing of people of
different racial or ethnic groups into unrestricted and equal association, as in
society or an organization;
desegregation.
Integrant means,
“Constituting part of a whole;
integral.”
For me, this is what
California is about. Integration is the heart of our well being. As the most
culturally diverse City in the entire world, we in Los Angeles have good and
constant cause to celebrate our emerging world culture, for we are in the
world’s eye.
Posted: Fri - July 1, 2005 at 12:59 PM