A Nation of ‘Accidental Americans’

Added November 24, 2008

Shiwani Srivastava interviews Rinku Sen for the International Examiner on The Accidental American.

A Nation of ‘Accidental Americans’
Category/Issue: Arts & Entertainment, Volume 35 No. 22
BY SHIWANI SRIVASTAVA
IE Contributor

Shiwani Srivastava is a freelance writer covering cultural trends and community issues whose work has appeared on MSN, The Root, and the Examiner online.

“We are all accidental Americans in some way,” writes Rinku Sen, offering up serious food for thought in “The Accidental American: Immigration and Citizenship in the Age of Globalization”. “Sometimes the accidents were happy ones—an unexpected chance to come to the United States, or the good fortune of being born into privilege. For others, the accidents were tragic and violent.” For Fekkak Mamdouh, the book’s central subject and co-author, becoming American was a journey mixed with fortune and adversity. As a winsome French-speaking Moroccan immigrant, he was lucky enough to land a job as a server at the prestigious Windows on the World restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center. But on 9/11, tragedy struck. Not only did he lose 73 co-workers and friends—he was out of work and a sudden target of anti-immigrant sentiments after over a decade of living in America.

That is where the story of “The Accidental American” begins, tracking Mamdouh’s struggle to get aid for the families of immigrant workers who died at “Windows on the World”. The frustrations ultimately led him to co-found ROC-NY, the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York, where he works as Assistant Director fighting for the just treatment of his peers in the industry.

At first glance, Mamdouh and Sen— President and Executive Director of the Applied Research Center and Publisher of ColorLines Magazine—seem like an unlikely team. But Sen is also an experienced community organizer. She has written extensively about immigration policy as a journalist. In this book, she interweaves Mamdouh’s story with detailed reporting about the realities of globalization and immigration policy in the U.S.

The result is a well-researched project that deconstructs current myths about undocumented workers in the U.S. (for example, 75% pay federal taxes using fake social security cards, contrary to popular belief). But beyond that, it challenges readers to think of immigration in a new way—not as governmental policy, but as a phenomenon influenced by the actions of corporations that cross national boundaries freely. Their message is of joint action and new policies so everyone can benefit from globalization.

Sen shared more about the response the book has been getting since its release in September, as well as how it fits into today’s changing political and social contexts:

IE: What do you hope readers take away regarding U.S. immigration policy from reading “The Accidental American”?

RS: I hope they take away a real sense of how the United States could prosper if immigrants were more widely included. There is a huge contrast in the book between Mamdouh’s story of an ever-expanding community that eventually finds a way to reach the entire restaurant industry, and the approach that Congress has taken, which is to define the American community more and more exclusively.

IE: What is the work of the next president when it comes to immigration policy?

RS: The next president hasn’t put immigration on his first year agenda, which means there won’t be any real reform soon. He should address some of the brutality and corruption present in workplace raids and immigrant detention through executive orders … Then he should engage Americans in an honest new dialogue about immigration—why people migrate, their overwhelmingly positive effect on the U.S. and global economy, what it means to embrace cultural change, and how we can make migration a choice rather than an act of desperation.

IE: How can readers who feel enraged and empowered by The Accidental American incorporate community organizing into their lives?

RS: The first step would be to join or start an organization (I recommend joining, but in some places, there’s nothing yet to join). A Google search should turn up plenty of organizations. As part of that process, it’s a good idea to get some training. There are several good books and resources, such as www.commorg.org (a Website about developments in organizing), the National Organizers Alliance, the Movement Vision Lab (Center for Community Change), and my former workplace, the Center for Third World Organizing. But the most important thing is to start fighting on an issue of importance to you and your community. People might have some false starts—it’s not easy in this individualistic culture to get folks together, but most organizers find themselves regrouping many times throughout their careers.

IE: The ROC represents the best of immigrants coming together and working together for fair treatment in the U.S. Have you seen this happening in other industries?

RS: ROC started out being about bringing immigrants together, but it has rapidly grown into an outlet that brings everyone together—an important lesson. Throughout the country, there are excellent examples of immigrants and U.S. born workers trying to change things, especially in the low wage parts of various industries (and other parts of life). Great examples are the North Carolina poultry factories, the Minneapolis housing struggles, the winning expanded public health care in Idaho, and the San Francisco construction industry.

Posted at 11:17 AM, Nov 24, 2008   |  Permalink  |  View Comments