September Classic of the Month: Becoming an American

"We are a nation of immigrants, dedicated to the rule of law. That is our history - and it is our challenge to ourselves....It is literally a matter of who we are as a nation and who we become as a people. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. One people. The American people..."

— Barbara Jordan, Chairwoman of the U.S. Commission of Immigration Reform, 1995

During this time of upheaval, migrant children separation, and the unknown governing surrounding ICE and the border patrol, we thought it was a good time to showcase Becoming an American: Immigration and Immigrant Policy, Including Executive Summary of U.S. Immigration Policy: Restoring Credibility as our Classic of the Month this September. 

Since President Ronald Reagan's 1986 amnesty of millions of illegal immigrants, immigration has been on the political agenda without any meaningful progress. The United State's illegal immigrant population increased to over 11 million. Economic inequality worsened, and crime and terrorism have entered the immigration conversation. In this contentious environment, President Trump proposed a wall at the Mexican border and decided a review of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that offers protection to those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Politicians who again are speaking of "comprehensive immigration reform" should read Becoming an American: Immigration and Immigrant Policy from the U.S. Commission Of Immigration Reform (a.k.a. the Barbara Jordan Commission), headed by the late Barbara Jordan. This 1997 report contains many guiding principles that are still relevant:

- The rule of law is paramount, therefore illegal immigration is unacceptable and must be deterred;
- Lawful immigrant admission needs to be reduced;
- Call for the Americanization of new immigrants, i.e. the cultivation of a shared commitment to the American values of liberty, democracy, and equal opportunity.

Students of immigration, politicians, journalists, and anyone interested in the history of U.S. immigration and solutions for 21st century America will find this vital background reading.

About the Author

Barbara Jordan (1936-1996), a national icon of the Democratic party, the first African-American woman in the Texas Senate (1966), and the first woman to represent Texas in Congress (1972), was the driving force behind this report. Unfortunately, she died just before the release of this report and few of her Commission's recommendations were implemented. Now twenty years later, it is time is to honor her legacy and learn from this report.

Other Jordan Commission's reports are: U.S. Immigration Policy: Restoring Credibility (1994) and Legal Immigration: Setting Priorities (1995)--executive summaries are included in this publication--and U.S. Refugee Policy: Taking Leadership (1997).

September Quote of the Month: The evidence is that the Negro family in the urban ghettos is crumbling

"The evidence is that the Negro family in the urban ghettos is crumbling."

— Daniel Patrick Moynihan

In honor of our Book of the Month, The Moynihan Report, we are highlighten this poignant quote from the lead author, Daniel Moynihan, this September.

Against the backdrop of President Johnson's War on Poverty and the Watts riots in Los Angeles, a young civil servant with the Office of Planning and Research O at the Department of Labor, Daniel P. Moynihan, wrote in 1965 his most controversial study The Moynihan Report - The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.

This report drew widespread attention from critics and supporters alike. It concluded that the conditions under which black children were being raised, generally in single-mother households, were the leading cause of black poverty.

As Moynihan wrote decades later: "The work began in the most orthodox setting, to establish at some level of statistical conciseness what 'everyone knew': that economic conditions determine social conditions. Whereupon, it turned out that what everyone knew was evidently not so."

Although Moynihan was a liberal politician and the report called for jobs programs and vocational training for blacks, many black and civil rights leaders found his report patronizing and that it relied on stereotypes of the black family and black men. 

The 1965 statistics, when approximately 25 percent of black babies were born out of wedlock, have not improved 50 years later, when this percentage has grown to 75 percent; with 50 percent for Hispanic babies and 29 percent for white babies. Also in other areas, such as income, employment, and incarceration, the statistics have deteriorated for blacks. The legacy of The Moynihan Report is that the debate it launched around cultural causes of black poverty is still not settled in modern day America.

September Book of the Month: The Moynihan Report - 50 years later

With the upcoming midterm elections, supreme court nominations, and immigration issues on everyone's mind, Cosimo would like to present The Moynihan Report: The Negro Family - The Case for National Action by Office of Policy Planning and Research of U.S. Department of Labor Daniel Moynihan as our Book of the Month for September.

Against the backdrop of President Johnson's War on Poverty and the Watts riots in Los Angeles, a young civil servant with the Office of Planning and Research O at the Department of Labor, Daniel P. Moynihan, wrote in 1965 his most controversial study The Moynihan Report - The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.

This report drew widespread attention from critics and supporters alike. It concluded that the conditions under which black children were being raised, generally in single-mother households, were the leading cause of black poverty.

As Moynihan wrote decades later: "The work began in the most orthodox setting, to establish at some level of statistical conciseness what 'everyone knew': that economic conditions determine social conditions. Whereupon, it turned out that what everyone knew was evidently not so."

Although Moynihan was a liberal politician and the report called for jobs programs and vocational training for blacks, many black and civil rights leaders found his report patronizing and that it relied on stereotypes of the black family and black men. 

The 1965 statistics, when approximately 25 percent of black babies were born out of wedlock, have not improved 50 years later, when this percentage has grown to 75 percent; with 50 percent for Hispanic babies and 29 percent for white babies. Also in other areas, such as income, employment, and incarceration, the statistics have deteriorated for blacks. The legacy of The Moynihan Report is that the debate it launched around cultural causes of black poverty is still not settled in modern day America.