Read it or Weep

Welcome back to the virtual book club on difficult topics – we hope that these resources have helped spark conversations and new ideas for all of you! This week, we’re looking at another facet in the social justice sphere – immigration. Specifically, that of undocumented immigrants and people of color.  

As always, we’ve got a list of books to start your reading journey, local organizations that could use your support, and more reading to further the conversation. Click on any of the book covers below to be taken to Hoopla, one of our emedia sites. Just log in with your library card number and PIN, and you’re ready to go! 

Books to start the conversation: 

Local Organizations to Support: 

Legal Aid Society of Cleveland

Hope Center for Refugees and Immigrants

Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland  

The Refugee Response 

Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland – Migration and Refugee Services

US Citizenship Privilege Checklist: 

1. Most if not all of the time I am able to surround myself with people who share a common or collective history, who understand the norms of U.S. society, who speak the same language that I do, and who understand my culture.  
2. I can see my nation as “default” – it is normal, everybody else is “different”.  
3. I can view my cultural norms as universal.  
4. I do not know what is like to have war in my homeland.  
5. I expect people in other countries to speak my language when I travel abroad.  
6. I can assume everybody knows, or should know, my culture (for example, “American Idol” contestants).  
7. I can assume no one else has any of the technological advantages I have (for example, assuming others do not know how to use a computer or oven).  
8. I can easily ignore the fact that most news stories are told from the USAmerican or Western point of view and are not a universal truth.  
9. I assume everybody wants to live in the United States, since I have been trained to believe is the best place to live (even without universal health care).  
10. I see people from other countries as inferior to me, even if they are highly educated and successful. 

The list continues here, in the Examples of US Citizenship Privilege document from the University of Michigan. 

For further reading, check out this summary of key findings on immigrants from the Pew Research Center, a teaching guide on refugees from the UN Refugee Agency, and a lesson plan on asylum seekers from the Advocates of Human Rights. 

Check back next Sunday for more of the virtual book club!