Linda Barrett Osborne

omg

Yes it's from 1997, but some of the eyewitnesses and participants who were interviewed were relatively young at the time and are likely still alive. I do feel bad that so many were so hopeful... and we've seen too little progress since then. (So-called Law Enforcement officers have always been a very big part of the problem, for example.) The book is still extremely relevant; it's not just an important historical document (though it is that, too).

I love that the group interviews such a show more variety of people. A black ballerina, a white nun, a Jewish man who was a college student at Berkeley, an Hispanic couple who were both victims & activists, well-known people and moms & dads, even a former member of the KKK!.

It's divided into sections, which are introduced with contextual history primers.

Brown v. Board of Education of 1954 was a unanimous decision: "all nine justices, including three from the South, had voted to end school segregation."

"If you want peace, work for justice."

I'm particularly impressed by a photo from Selma, of one of MLK's marches just before the troopers attacked. The photographer caught a billboard proclaiming: "The Selma National Bank welcomes you to Selma. The city with 100% human interest!"

Includes a bibliography, timeline, index, and 'further reading' section. show less

Just started and already pleased. I can tell this is going to be thoughtful, and careful, and that I'm going to learn stuff. For example, I did not know that Benjamin Franklin spoke out against immigration.

Ok done. Learned a lot.

Thomas Nast supported immigration. He's got a bad reputation in the history books that I learned from, but he was probably savvy enough to recognize that hard working newcomers would contribute to the economy.

Also learned about Angel Island. Not nearly the big deal show more Ellis Island was, but still worth knowing about.

Because of quota laws, European Jews could not escape WWII to America, and so many of those 6 million deaths are on our hands.

Perla Rabor Rigor, an immigrant Filipino nurse, said "To me... success is not measured by the position the person has reached in life, but by the obstacles she or he has overcome."

Highly recommended, especially to teens, the target audience.

Also, lots of backmatter/ appendices. :) show less

Linda Osborne is no historian and this is very evident as this book is fun to read! This book is a collection of facts regarding immigration statistics and laws organized by ethnicity. Most histories are organized either chronologically in the case of a survey or by location if one is doing a world history survey. This is organized by ethnicity. Keep that in mind as we explore some more about this book. Most histories, if not a survey, tend to focus on a theme or question and try to answer show more that question or support that theme. Osborne does not do this. This is clever because most historians have to sort of argue against their own thesis with good data and then debate the validity of that with themselves. Osborne's unstated but implied theme seems to be: Immigration policy in the U.S. is not fair. It has never BEEN fair. It is controlled by the political majority (in this case white males). It also favors that majority or those who sympathize with it. I wish she would simply state this and support it with what she has brilliantly organized. Yes it is by ethnicity and if stated from the outset, this organization she has chosen would prove a brilliant move. But, let's explore accuracy. Linda Osborne has a degree from a college apparently so famous that a sad little pleb like myself has never heard of it. So, I dug around on the internet and found out it costs more than Harvard to attend this school. She has a bachelor's degree from this school though, in what, I could not find. She was a lead writer at the Library of Congress's publishing office and as such probably still has access to a staggering array of primary sources, as evidenced by many of the best photos and testimonials I've ever seen being offered in this book. Also, the bibliography is ACTUALLY USEFUL TO THE LAY PERSON! The index is thorough and accurate which is to be expected from someone who worked at the Library of Congress. Overall, I think she means to shed light from a left wing perspective on the immigration debate. This is done superbly. But, since again, she did not state an argument, she does not have to provide another perspective. Well played Ms. Osborne, well played! The book offers some VERY educational posters, photos, news articles and testimonies from each ethnicity's struggle through American history to get in, assimilate, and be accepted. I will not try to argue the other side of the unstated coin that Ms. Osborne has presented here but, I will simply congratulate her on a visually stunning, one-sided masterpiece of easy to read and informative non-fiction.
EDIT
I want to keep all of my previous comments as is to show evolution of thought on this subject. I wish to rephrase and clarify one statement. In retrospect, I can see where me saying that this is "fun to read" is cold-hearted as it deals with the real and poignant struggles of different ethnic groups in coming to America. I am a life long learner and as such, when I find a book stimulating and easy to read and it imparts knowledge I did not previously possess, I am having fun. Also, my critique on organization in retrospect seems a bit off the mark as since this book deals with the struggles of different ethnicities it is in this case appropriate to organize it as such. I hold to my star rating though, as one star was deducted for not stating an argument and another for not defending it. I would definitely recommend this book to my young readers with the caveat that it is from a slanted perspective. show less

There are some not-perfect things about this book, including its being outdated (written in 2015, so not old, per se, but a lot has happened immigration-wise in 6 years) and the author several times using the term "illegal" to describe people rather than their immigration status, which is inaccurate at best. Aside from this, though, it's a kid-friendly, non-partisan overview of the history of immigration policy in the US.