Migration and Belonging

In this excerpt from his memoir, Rodriguez provides a stirring recollection from his adolescence: the first time he experienced racism as a result of being an immigrant in America. As he says, the experience "stays with [him] like a foul odor."

In this poem, the speaker addresses his father, recalling for him the lush Puerto Rican landscape that he grew up in. Now, this green can be seen only in his father's dreams.

In this poem, the speaker--who is Native American--responds to a series of unspoken discriminatory questions. The reader can deduce the missing questions based on the speaker's responses.

In this blog post, the author details the internal struggle she feels when coming to terms with the bloody heritage she shares with conquistadors like Christopher Columbus and the pride she takes in remembering, embracing and living out her cultural history.

A trip to Haiti gives Joseph a new perspective on his identity and his adoption.

In this essay, the author identifies vague terminology used by the United States government during World War II to describe their actions toward Japanese Americans and outlines terms that would more appropriately describe the government's actions.

In their trek from Mexico to the U.S. border, this young group is reminded that dangers lurk beneath them and hang over their heads every day and every night.

“By the time I was in the second grade, everyone was calling me Raymond.”

“Do you remember when your parents said you had to get married?”

An 1886 advertisement for a laundry detergent called the Magic Washer shows Uncle Sam booting out a group of stereotypically depicted Chinese Americans.

"Rough on Rats" is a late 19th-century advertisement for a pesticide. The image depicts a stereotypical Chinese man eating a rat.

Felipe Morales' telling account of an encounter with a blind woman on the streets of Washington, D.C. was recorded for This I Believe. The NPR project features brief personal essays in which people from diverse backgrounds discuss how their values affect their daily lives.

In this poem, the speaker traces the senseless killings taking place abroad and at home, with a particular focus on the African-American community. The speaker also calls communities to action to "grow our hope and heal our hearts" in order to live together in peace.

To cover is to downplay aspects of our identity that make us different from mainstream society. Kenji Yoshino argues that, although we live in an age where the law prohibits many forms of discrimination, people still face pressure to hide who they are.

The Grand Council Fire of American Indians wrote this letter in response to the Chicago mayor's 1927 campaign against the use of British textbooks in public schools. The letter condemns the misrepresentation of Native American history in schools.

The U.N. General Assembly adopted the original version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The intention was to safeguard the international community against atrocities such as occurred during World War II.

This essay expounds on the injustices and false perceptions faced by women in the welfare system. Tillmon contends that the system is overrun with sexism and that until American women are liberated by equal pay, the welfare system will continue to be a trap for them.

Margaret Batchelder writes to President Theodore Roosevelt to tell him how women inspectors welcome immigrants—with smiles and encouragement. Although not allowed to question the immigrants, the women make a difference in the immigrants' first experiences on shore.