Speaker addresses incorporating immigrants into society
Dani Wang / The Dartmouth Staff Dani Wang / The Dartmouth Staff Americans must expand their sense of identity to stave off the divisive effects of immigration, Harvard University professor Robert Putnam said in the lecture, "E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in a Changing America." A new national identity one that welcomes the diverse backgrounds of immigrants should be promoted by policymakers and embraced by citizens, Putnam told the audience in Filene Auditorium on Friday afternoon. How to integrate immigrants into society should be included in the dialogue as policymakers discuss how to combat illegal immigration, Putnam said. In the current immigration debate, too much focus has been placed on how to keep immigrants out "how high the wall should be," Putnam said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Illegal immigrants can be detrimental to integration because they are more isolated from society, according to Putnam. Policymakers must expand national identity to embrace immigrants through increased funding for English-language training, civic education of new immigrants and increased federal support for local services in areas that have not experienced heavy immigration in the past, Putnam said. Rather than suggesting that community diversity should be discouraged or that immigration should be slowed to avoid this conflict, Putnam said that Americans should work to deconstruct existing notions of what factors constitute significant cultural differences.
