Open Letter to Elizabeth Moon

[jimhines]

Ms. Moon,

I’ve been torn about writing this.  In part because “An open letter to _____” just sounds pretentious to me.  And partly because I know there have already been twenty-four gazillion responses to your 9/11 blog post, Citizenship.

I’ve recommended your blog on multiple occasions, for your thoughtfulness and perspective.  I disagree with

Comments

[lady_fellshot]

"Assimilating into the mainstream?" Who would ever want to do that? There's a big sandbar in the middle there, it's too warm and shallow and underdefined and overused and all the fish who like that part of the stream have to dart bark into the deeper channels on either side of it to ensure their survival.

I was under the impression that the make up of the US was an aggregate of different peoples, not a population with "invaders."

I thought this a good response to a generally dismal view on integration of difference and certainly better than what I could do. :)

[jimhines]

"I was under the impression that the make up of the US was an aggregate of different peoples, not a population with "invaders.""

Well, as one Native American commenter pointed out on Ms. Moon's entry (comment now deleted), early U.S. history *does* show a lot of support for the invader model...

[lady_fellshot]

Historically, speaking this is true. Especially since the elements that originally came over from Europe were themselves fringe elements in the beginning.

I was referring to more recent times, although I fear I was unclear about that.

[jimhines]

Nah, I think you were fairly clear, and I pretty much agree with you. It's sad that many people today view immigration as invasion, as a thing to be feared.

Also, given that Elizabeth Moon and I are both deeply ingrained in SF/F circles, I find the idea of "assimilating into the mainstream" to be rather ironic :-)

[sylvanstargazer]

If you examine the history of Irish, Italian, European Jewish, Chinese and Hispanic immigration over the years, fear of invasion seems to be a reoccurring theme. It has frequently led to legal discrimination (including Prohibition. Fear of the Other is bad: it deprived us of alcohol ;-) ).

Tim Wise has interesting things to say about how immigration and failure to assimilate is an assault on the assumptions of White privilege. But essentially, yes, I think any group that isn't invisible will be perceived by some people as an invasion. "The melting pot" metaphor, after all, implies that you are supposed to melt.

[lady_fellshot]

But... I thought we were a stew, not a melting pot, with each different ingredient adding to the delight of the whole. :p

On the other hand this might be me idealizing my idyllic childhood in a really mixed neighborhood talking.

[cissa]

As a cook- a good stew not only had individual tasty elements, but also a context in which they all affect each other, to the mutual benefit of each element. This is why most stews are better the second day, after the elements have had time to "meld".

I think a stew is a lovely metaphor for the US: lots of distinct elements, some of which at least remain somewhat distinct, but all of which affect and are affected by the rest.

[mmegaera]

I've always thought that it was the "melting pot" metaphor that got us into trouble. What we should be going for is a tossed salad [wry g].

[lady_fellshot]

Or the idea of "blending in." Homogenization in society sucks.

[cissa]

I like the stew metaphor above better than tossed salad- in which the individual elements are melded by a thin sauce over very distinct and staying distinct elements. A stew has some elements mush up so that they affect the whole but are not individually visible, and lots of elements that are fairly distinct but have also flavored and been flavored by the other elements.

If we count on the rule of law as the salad dressing, I'm concerned that we won't get a mutual commitment to the whole dish. Where I grew up, the metaphor was much more stew- EVERYONE attended the various ethnic festivals, applauded ethic dancers at the State Fair, etc.- and those ethnicities varied wildly- from Scandinavian to Slavic to Polynesian, just for starters.