http://www.nclr.org/index.php/about us/

This is the web site for the NCLR which stands for Nation Council of La Raza. This organisation is a no profitable one. It is the largest Hispanic civil rights advocacy within the United States. With there main aim being to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. By being based throughout America in 41 different states this is an organisation which is a successful one.

His website is pro Hispanic and Latino immigration. This is clearly shown through there being an organisation such as NCLR being set up to support the well being of the immigrants. Although this website isn't saying directly about encouraging immigration it is clear that the organisation is pro the immigration as if not this organisation to helping the immigrants contribute to America.

I believe that this organisation is a positive outlook on immigration as although there are many people who disagree with immigration, NCLR are actually helping Hispanics to do something whilst living in America. Contributing to the country rather than creating more chaos. Without having Latino and Hispanic immigrants America may realise actually how much they as a nation rely to some extent on immigrants services. Such as having them willing to take manual labour jobs which American citizens may think twice about taking.

http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?id=944

This is a web page describing health care when it comes to Mexicans being involved. It highlights negative aspects behind it showing how the immigrants can have knock on affects with their health care. The health care is a better standard in America and many immigrant women are aware of this and legally or illegally they take advantage of this.
 They come over as they believe they will receive better service and better care in America. The problem is is that they are blocking up American hospitals and trying to get away with things and having excuses which allows them to have treatment despite them not being an American.

Anti VS Pro Hispanic Immigration in the USA

After reading this website I clicked off it feeling a bit red in the face and after the smoke exited my ears I thought about how successful this site may be.

http://www.stopthenorthamericanunion.com/Roots.html

When I clicked on the site at first the title 'Pro-Illegal Alien Shills True To Their Hispanic 'Roots' made me feel like the whole article itself would be Pro Hispanic Immigration which I believe is the first issue with the site. If I could not properly understand the title and felt like the article may have taken a more positive turn then a lot of people would not understand either. This already sets the article back on the wrong foot, this is then followed by a series of childish and very bias statements about Hispanic people for example, 'Alien,' as an American stereotype an Alien reminds me of a small green Martian with a big head and big eyes, this then makes the assumption that a Hispanic person is not human, not connected with the world, strange, ugly etc.

'You did notice that he did not say ILLEGAL immigration.  And, to call the Minutemen 'vigilantes' and accuse the press of 'hysteria' for following the magnificent story of ordinary, LAW-ABIDING, patriotic American citizens who are 'doing the job our government refuses to do,' is beyond the pale!'

A Statement like this is very interesting however leaves people who are somewhat liberal in an angry state, the specific underlining's under words like 'magnificent,' 'law abiding,' etc. show that not only do these anti Hispanics believe that Hispanics are alien and different they also believe they as Americans are so much better and deserve so much better when they perhaps do not. This website on a whole by just using two to three words completely sum up the rest of the page, pathetic, childish and bias. The man that has written this article has reduced Hispanic immigrants into something that is not human e.g. alien or Tsunami and has made Americans who probably don't work as hard as the Immigrants to stay in the country look like they are perfect angels and they are being damaged and inflicted on in a certain way by this mass immigration. It is completely bias towards a certain side thus being hypocritical as the article even moans that the opposing team were being bias. This all in all makes the success of this website quite poor. However for a person with strong negative views they may get along quite well with this statement: 'A deluge of illegal aliens that has defied our laws and sovereignty, balkanized our cities and towns, corrupted our unifying English language, culture and society, degraded our hospitals, schools and jails and caused reductions in our American quality of life, job opportunities and wages.'

However to me it seems a bit too much like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=768h3Tz4Qik

When it came to finding a pro Hispanic account it became a bit more difficult, it seemed because English may not be their first language and some live in poverty, the idea of airing their bias views on the internet was a waste of time because they actually had to work to feed their families. However I did come across this...
http://www.lifeintheusa.com/people/hispanic.htm

This website is specifically to try and give people information about Hispanic people, their heritage and numbers over the USA. This article may seem to be objective throughout just given a non bias view upon the issue however in the last paragraph it goes on to explain how some Hispanic people are very successful and make up a larger than average in some of the best careers in the states. This can be seen as a success in the front of the issue however where are the big waving flags? The insults to American people? The passion and the fire? It seems like every pro to Hispanic immigration is weak, wavering and very boring, maybe if they started calling Americans the 'aliens' then the argument may become a lot less weak and a lot more interesting to read. As a supporter I am not just disappointed that the Hispanic people do not fight I am angry that they don't. All in all this website was weak, poor and did nothing for me and I doubt it would really rally people as much as the first website did, so by process of elimination the first website (I hate to say it) was a lot more successful in convincing me.

Claudia and Jade - why have you not posted?

Hispanic Immigration

ANTI immigration:
http://minutemanproject.com/
The Minuteman Project was created to raise awareness about illegal immigration. They are a group of people who strongly believe that immigration is becoming a problem in the United States and that certain actions need to be taken in order to ensure that all immigrants are legal. On the website there is a section of articles that includes the opinions on immigration from notable people. They are very objective and straight forward when presenting the information.

PRO immigration:
http://www.pewhispanic.org/topics/immigration/
This website supports immigration and feels that immigration has a big effect on American population. They provide statistics and opinions of Hispanic Immigrants themselves. They address the issue in a very informative way and the website includes many topics relating to Hispanic immigration.

Anti immigration group website; the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) http://www.fairus.org/

Founded in 1979, FAIR was set up specifically to take action through political means, to instigate change within the government's immigration policies, making it harder for immigrants to gain entry to the United States.

With more than 250 000 members ranging from far right Conservatives, to far left Liberals, including politicians and regular citizens, FAIR operates as a non profit organization relying on donations and membership subscriptions from it's many affluent members and supporters.

FAIR goals;
-To end illegal immigration through enforcement of existing immigration laws,  as well as the application of mew technology
-To set legal immigration to the lowest feasible levels consistent with the nation security, economic, demographic, environmental and socio-cultural interests of the present and future.

Fair Objectives;
-To increase public awareness and understanding of the causes and effects of immigration through sharing research and policy analysis.
-To inform leaders in academe, government, and the media, as well as the public at large of the costs of uncontrolled immigration.
-To influence public policy directly by lobbying and by protecting the citizens' rights in the courts.

Although FAIR are not completely against legal immigration, they do insist legal immigration should be capped at numbers as low as 300,000 per year. Throughout their website you can find facts of legal and illegal immigration. Including an interesting interactive map showing immigration in real numbers;
http://www.fairus.org/facts

Pro immigration group website; Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees. https://www.gcir.org/

Since 1990, GCIR has worked to promote philanthropy in an effort to advance contributions in order to address the needs of America's ever increasing immigrant communities, helping communities financially, legally, and through education.

Like FAIR, GCIR is another non profit organisation, relying on donations from members all across the country, ranging from Conservatives (although not many) to Liberals.

GCIR pride themselves on being an organization concerned with human rights, and equal rights, and do not discriminate within minority communities, thus building a bigger range of people to help when in need.

Immigration is a major part of the fabric of American society, whether you're for or against it, it is impossible to ignore it. I think that these two organization, like many others like them, being donation based really shows how much influence and power the average American can have, ergo making the topic a real issue for the general public. But one thing is certain, the United States always has been, and will continue to be a nation of immigrants in one sense of the term or another.

Pro and Anti Immigration websites

Anti
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Americans-Against-Illegal-Immigration/138508922828268

 

This Anti-Immigration facebook page seems to focus, through the news stories posted, on border control and illegal immigrants. It is made clear that the people who advocate this facebook group wish to "take their country back", and can particularly be seen by this status: "If we are to continue as the Greatest Nation in the world, Illegal Immigration must be stopped. If you value your rights as an American Citizen, then stand and be counted." Thus perhaps pressurizing fellow Americans into standing against illegal immigration by suggesting that they do not value their rights as an American Citizen if they choose not to. Many of the comments and images posted throughout appear to be quite extreme, most obviously the image of President Barrack Obama and the U.S flag covering America country on the map.

Pro

http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/about-us

In contrast, this website for the American Immigration Council is in favour of immigration, clearly seen from the words "Honor, Protect and Promote" displayed across every page within the website. From their 'mission' page it is revealed how they attempt to advance the American Immigration system which is so tirelessly objected to by the previous facebook page; " The mission of the American Immigration Council is to strengthen America by honoring our immigrant history and shaping how Americans think and act towards immigration now and in the future." What is also clear from this website is the idea that America should be proud and wish to promote its diversity and "cultural richness" and want to educate future Americans along these lines. This is emphasized by the many projects and events this council run, such as the 'The Immigrant Youth Achievement Award' which celebrates young immigrants ability to combat the negative stereotypes they are often branded with and the Creative Writing Contest which "past winners have used the theme “Why I am Glad America is a Nation of Immigrants” to discuss their personal immigration experiences."

Therefore, as seen, these websites differ greatly in their attitude and approaches to immigration; while the facebook page seems to occasionally sway into dangerous territory through their somewhat excessive and seemingly racially prejudiced opinions, the American Immigration Council appears to attract many more supporters. This is particularly due to their projects focusing on future and younger immigrants and their positive experience of America as well as honouring America's immigration history which clearly cannot be ignored.  

K-12 Immigration

The project I have chosen on American Immigration discusses how immigration can impact the education of a student. They believe that immigrants have a certain advantage over natives when it comes to the classroom; they call this the "Immigrant paradox." The project is essentially trying to make immigrants and non-immigrants equal in the education they are receiving. They are addressing issues related to tuition, parental involvement, college promotions, and other assistants for immigrants. I would say this project follows the Salad Bowl because the project is set out to benefit the immigrants in order to help them to succeed and have the same opportunities as the American natives yet recognizing that they are still of different heritages.

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ920370.pdf

Claudia's post - K12 Immigration

Within this essay which I have discovered it shows the amount of immigrants which came from their home land (usually) Europe due to their poor living conditions. New York City was the place where the majority of immigrants set up their new home. By 1860 NYC was home to over a million residents. ‘More than half of the city's population at that time were immigrants and their American-born children.’ Families where carrying on or starting families in America which resulted in the families have different nationalities.

Within the essay it puts a positive light towards the immigrants as although they were so many of them taking over the city, they would work for cheap. And during the industrial revolution America needed a lot of cheap labourers who would do a lot of work for cheap which was perfect fit for the desperate immigrants looking to be able to support their family.

During the war immigration decreased but then afterwards many wanted jobs and it became difficult to return jobs to soldiers but also to keep working immigrants.

http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/immigration/

K-12 Immigration

http://www.walworth.k12.wi.us/3-4%20Team/Stelling/Immigration%20Web%20Quest.htm

With the USA becoming increasingly an 'immigrant' nation, and with immigrant numbers predicted to continue to rise in years to come, the education of the youth on immigration has never been more important.

The K12 project i have chosen is made up of 4 parts; a timeline, a boys journey, tours of Ellis Island, and an immigrants friendly letter.

The timeline consists of students creating on line timelines including at least 7 dates which are important to US immigration, 5 of which must be when large groups of different immigrants entered the US. This part of the project is designed for students to discover for themselves gather an appreciation of the immigration history and diversity of the United States.

A boys journey involves students reading A boys journey by Seymour Rechtzeit (a story of a boys journey from Poland to the USA in the 1920s) on the Scholastic webpage. After each chapter, students are asked a series of questions challenging what they have took from the book, while challenging their opinions of immigration in the story. This section is designed for the students to encounter a real life retelling of the immigration process to the USA.

Tours of Ellis Island involves students taking interactive tours of Ellis Island and making notes for the next section; an immigrants friendly letter.

An immigrants friendly letter involves students using the information they have learned from the rest of the project to put themselves in the place of an immigrant and to write a first person letter back to their homeland. This portion of the project is designed to literally put the students in place of an immigrant and make them think along the same lines, and see the world as they do.

All of the sections of the project above revolve around inclusion, diversity, understanding, and compassion. I think that overall the project teaches on the theories of the salad bowl, in that although there are so many different races, ethnicities, and so on, the one common denominator is that they all share the same land, and that they are all American.

K12 Being taught about Immigration in as many lessons as possible

America seems to be following a trend of teaching immigration to their K12 students recently as President Obama passed that education for immigrations would become less to allow more immigrants into the country for a two year study programme which would see them integrated into K12 schools around the USA. The main contenders of these programmes have been said to be California, Ohio and Colorado which have gained a higher rating of immigrant students to pass through their doors (maybe due to Colorado's recent change in cannabis laws). Therefore American's are in a panicked state where they have no choice but to teach their K12 students more about immigration to allow a smooth transition into this new law and although some parents are not happy about it, Immigration is being taught in almost every lesson, as we can see here in this following website, there are lesson plans, resources and facts for teachers to follow to successfully teach K12 students about the Immigration in Ellis Island and how immigrants have felt through Geography, History and even mathematics.

https://www.teachervision.com/immigration/teacher-resources/6633.html

Although this website is intended to be used for those in United States, UK and Australia the lesson plans are exclusively about Immigration to the United states.

It touches on issues around Ellis Island and the treatment of the Immigrants, the lines of chalk on the jacket reminded me a lot of the mistreatment of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust who were subjected to hours of tortuous queuing and this teaching plan would be good to help emulate some positive ideas about what Immigration was like. https://www.teachervision.com/immigration/printable/39648.html

I believe that a lot of these lesson plans touch upon a Melting Pot idea of Immigration in the United states, where the K12 students are being taught that the United States are in fact all just a bit of other countries and America is a melted down version of many different countries. This is shown through the specific lesson plan, 'U.S Place names show our diversity.' It touches on the founding names and their origins showing a Melting Pot idea that America is made up of many different places around the world making it 'Diverse.' https://www.teachervision.com/maps/diversity/4981.html. The lesson itself includes an activity of a map of the United States to back up this idea of America being a little bit of everywhere else.

K 12 Immigration project

http://its.guilford.k12.nc.us/webquests/immigration/immigration.htm

This immigration web project was created by Guilford County Schools Technology Services which provides various different on line learning techniques and projects to schools in North Carolina. The project itself is focused on the period 1820 to 1924 and clearly aims to help the children in 5th grade understand the experiences of those thirty five million immigrants during this time.

There appears to be a particular emphasis throughout this project on the experiences of the immigrants, including that of children (A Boy's Journey), perhaps suggesting that the 5th graders will be able to relate to them better and find it easier to learn about their experiences. There is also a focus on actually speaking to someone who went through the "difficult and dangerous" journey to America and learning about their first hand experience; during the project the children are prepared to interview "someone who was born in another country and moved to America" implying this will help their understanding. Most interestingly however, the vocabulary task which is the very first part of the project includes words with both positive and negative connotations. For example, the words which they are required to research and write a brief definition of, vary from 'America' and 'journey' to 'deformity', 'disease', 'baggage' and 'inspection'; all of which evoke feelings of uneasiness and even fear.

Despite this, it appears that overall the children learning about immigration through this web project would find it difficult to form their own opinions and ideas on the subject; particularly as they learn very little of what happens to them after Ellis Island which is a huge focus throughout. Only the interview with someone who had experienced immigration and perhaps hints from the vocabulary task suggest any negativity surrounded immigration. Overall, it is clearly hoped that the children come to understand "why the United States is called the nation of all nations."

LGBT and ACLU

https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights

This article is about LGBT which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. The ACLU stands for American Civil Liberties Union and they work closely with LGBT people helping them to express their issues and changes they want to make to society. LGBT main mission is to create an environment where citizens who come under the being LGBT have the same rights as everyone else in America. No other organisation is able to match the progress and affect which LGBT have had and they are now currently one of the biggest advocate organisations about in America in present day.

The success which LGBT have had is being able to help make marriages legal in 17 states and this number they hope will continue to grow. This organization believes that they should be allowed the same respect and opportunities as any other person. Not only do they fight for equal rights for marriages but for many other issues which being in the category of LGBT may affect your life:

- Basic Rights and liberties, not being discriminated in society having equal rights to be able to have equal opportunity in getting a job, buying a house and to have free expression

- Parenting, the ACLU try and help LGBT families to be able to foster or adopt children. This acceptance of gaining is one of the hardest to gain as this is an issue which many will disagree on as citizens of America may believe that for the baby to have an equal balanced chance in life should have both a male and female parents. This could be because that the people believe that there are issues in life men have never had to go through and therefore will not be able to be able to fully understand elements of that child’s life and the same for women.

-Youth and schools
This is about allowing children in education be able to feel free in expressing their rights and emotions. But it also helps children who are part of a same sex family and their parents are from the same gender. It is supporting them and saying that they should not be discriminated in any way judged or put down. They are as equal as anyone else no matter their family back ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEzSaQgbM6s

This is a video of well-known people in America who are gay. LGBT have had a huge effect and this shows the extent as Obama has stated how he believes in gay marriages. Being able to have the president of the United States, someone who has such great power has helped LGBT incredibly. It has allowed them to be able to feel more comfortable and more accepting in society which is the way in which LGBT wish for their continuing campaign to go and continue to grow.

Confederate and Proud!

When we think of Confederacy as an American Identity we may not think too positively, we may think guns, racism, slavery and the rest but a symbolic identity of America all the same.

However this Facebook page 'Proud of my confederate ancestors' shows that where you come from is a very important part of identity outside of just being American. Most Americans you ask will more than likely tell you their ancestry as one of the first things they would tell you about themselves, Jewish-American, Irish-American, Italian-American and so forth and the same for this exact page. Although confederacy may not be a minority in racial terms but the idea of being strictly confederate is minority which is seen as an equally controversial as other identities in the American culture.

The page is a mixture of pictures of the confederate flag showing respect and love for their identity, pictures of the civil war which controversially show the battle and the hard times between differences in American identity and ideas and even have facts about 'Black confederates' which seems like they are trying to patch up negative stereotypes of their ideas.

No matter what we may believe about the confederates their beliefs make up an identity that arguably as American as it gets, yet their identities are so far from the average American that confederates are a minority group. All in all this group proves just this, they are single handedly making their identity and culture separate from the average American identity.

https://www.facebook.com/ProudOfMyConfederateAncestors

Gay Marriage USA

https://www.facebook.com/GayMarriageUSA

This Facebook page was created to promote the idea of same-sex marriage in America. Their goal is to legalize these marriages in all the states and support those who choose same-sex marriage. Whether or not the founders of this page are homosexual, they certainly agree with the idea of self-expression and are giving people a place to share their own feelings on the subject. The subject of same-sex marriage is a matter of self-identity in America. People who support this Facebook page most likely feel that the choice to marry in the same gender is a personal and very powerful choice in expressing who they are as an individual. They feel that this is a right they should have as an American and they are greatly expressing their beliefs. 

UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND

UNCF- United Negro College Fund.

http://www.uncf.org/

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6X-M7riOHo

The United Negro College Fund, or UNCF, is a charity set up in 1944 in order to provide college education to African-American students from low or moderately low family incomes. The charity over the years has aided more than 400,000 students earn degrees, though working with over 900 colleges across the country.

As the United States of America is such a vast and widely varied nation, acting as a melting pot for people of different race, religion, ethnic background, and other distinguishing attributes. It's evident that personal and cultural identity are prevalent. You can see this by looking at the multitude of cultural, racial, and personal identity advocacy groups present in the USA.

Historically, African-Americans have been severely mistreated. In fact up until the 1950's civil rights movements, African-Americans had very few rights at all. The reason i have chosen UNCF to explain the importance of identity in America is simply because of the fact that UNCF exists. And what i mean by that is, even though we live in the 21st century, as civilised as we think we are, that fact that African-American children (among others) are so disadvantaged that many of them rely of charities to provide education shows a huge cultural gap between the African-American community and the rest of the nation. This in turn says to me that the importance of identity simply says we're all different, and no two groups of people are the same. Although they share the same nationality, their cultural views, values, religions, and ways of life could be worlds apart. This is why identity is important.

The video linked at the top is from a UNCF add campaign aimed to promote the charity and to increase donations. The tag line at the end of the add (which is also the charity motto) says 'A mind is a terrible thing to waste'. This says to me that beneath things like race, sexuality, and so on, we're all human.

National Congress of the American Indian

http://www.ncai.org/

The NCAI (National Congress of the American Indian) is an organisation in the United States which advocates and promotes the "broad interests of tribal governments and communities", and is well known as the oldest and largest representative American Indian establishment, founded in 1944.

 Its main aims are illustrated throughout the website; the NCAI clearly show they wish to protect and advance the tribal rights already existing and attempt to improve the future of Native American people. Over the past half century, the Supreme Court, Congress, United States Presidents, and hundreds of treaties have repeatedly reaffirmed that Indian Nations retain their basic powers of self-government; thus differentiating themselves from other Americans.

The groups for which the NCAI claim to represent are in themselves quite diverse, from American Indians to Alaskan Natives and their tribal governments, tribal citizens and individuals. In relation to their "identity" as separate from other Americans, it is made clear that the NCAI want to encourage others in learning about the American Indian culture and different way of life in comparison to other Americans. The NCAI is engaged in a wide range of policies, some of which are singularly involved in the welfare of Native peoples, tribal governments, and nations. However, in many other instances, tribal governments are important policymakers in partnership with the federal and state governments. Similarly, one of their main aims is to " educate the public toward a better understanding of Indian and Alaska Native tribes. " therefore revealing how they still wish to identify in some way with Americans but above all else see their "identity" as separate and individual to their "nation."

Welcome to the blog. First post - Locate, post and analyse any example of a website which acts as an advocate for a minority or other self-defining group (for instance, as defined by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, age, location or any other marker of identity. What is asserted by your choice about the importance of an “identity” beyond simply being American? REMEMBER – a site that contains a video or images that you can use in your post is the most helpful for discussion.