The Accidental American vividly illustrates the challenges and contradictions of U. S. immigration policy, and argues that, just as there is a free flow of capital in the world economy, there should be a free flow of labor. Author Rinku Sen alternates chapters telling the story of one "accidental American"--coauthor Fekkak Mamdouh, a Morrocan-born waiter at a restaurant in the World Trade Center whose life was thrown into turmoil on 9/11--with a thorough critique of current immigration policy. Sen and Mamdouh describe how members of the largely immigrant food industry workforce managed to overcome divisions in the aftermath of 9/11 and form the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY) to fight for jobs and more equitable treatment. This extraordinary story serves to illuminate the racial, cultural, and economic conflicts embedded in the current immigration debate and helps frame the argument for a more humane immigration and global labor system.

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Rinku Sen

Rinku Sen is president and executive director of the Applied Research Center (ARC) and the publisher of ColorLines magazine. She is the author of Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing and Advocacy.

Fekkak Mamdouh

Fekkak Mamdouh is cofounder of the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) of New York and codirector of the Restaurants Opportunities Center United, the country's first national restaurant worker organization.

Silver Medal, 2009 Nautilus Book Award, May 2009

Finalist, ForeWord Magazine 2008 Book of the Year Award, May 2009

Bronze Medal, 2009 IPPY Book Awards in "Current Events," May 2009

"'Windows on the World' was the name of the World Trade Center restaurant that was destroyed on 9/11, and in The Accidental American, it provides a window with a striking view. Sen and Mamdouh show how, in a few weeks in 2001, the restaurant's immigrant workers went from being victims of terrorism to being targets of American anti-immigrant fervor. There's a bright side, though, because this book vividly highlights a seldom-mentioned side of recent immigrants' experience: their willingness to struggle for better working conditions for workers of all ethnicities in their adopted nation."
–Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch, and Dancing in the Streets

"Sen and Mamdouh have written a wonderfully illuminating book. By focusing on the concrete experiences of particular people caught up in the whirlwind of changes associated with immigration, they show us an overlooked aspect of the global changes that have set contemporary immigration in motion. And because they also show us the resilient efforts of these ordinary people to act together to control the forces that are shaping all our lives, they tell a story that is essentially hopeful and, indeed, the only story that in the end matters."
–Frances Fox Piven, Distinguished Professor, The Graduate Center, City University of New York and author of Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America

"Through the eyes of a Muslim World Trade Center restaurant worker, Sen and Mamdouh tell the dramatic story of immigrants struggling to organize in the hardened climate after September 11th. With precision and insight, they reveal why the current debates over immigration to the global North are largely wrong-headed and argue we must embrace our nation's cultural diversity and our globalized future."
–Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of The Hip-Hop Generation and editor of Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop

“Rinku Sen has brilliantly depicted the new stage in America’s immigrant saga. She explores the shadowy corners of our modern global economy, the courageous battle for survival of low-wage migrant laborers and the furious rise of anti-immigrant feeling here and in Europe. By organizing to improve their working conditions, she reminds us, those immigrants are changing our nation for the better.”
–Juan Gonzalez, New York Daily News columnist, author of Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America and cohost of Democracy Now

"If you have ever had to struggle as an outsider or a newcomer (and all of us have), this book will touch your heart. It is a poignant story that points the way forward for us all. "
–Van Jones, President and Founder of Green For All

“You can read piles of stultifying position papers on immigration and globalization or you can read Rinku Sen’s story of Fekkak Mamdouh. I recommend the latter. Yes, it’s a much more compelling tale, but it will also get you much closer to the heart of the both the challenges we face and their solutions.”
–Jared Bernstein, senior economist, Economic Policy Institute and author of Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed?

"Cultural exchanges between people from different parts of the World have heavily influenced my musical compositions. Rinku Sen has written a book that seeks to promote immigration policies that ensure that our cultures can continue to flourish by mixing with each other without the fear of economic exploitation."
–Eddie Palmieri, nine time Grammy award winner

"What distinguishes The Accidental American from the crowded field of books on the contentious issue of immigration is its examination of the subject from a number of distinct scales and perspectives. Sen and Mamdouh provide a unique and engaging narrative that is attentive to both the structural inequalities generated by globalization and the ways these inequalities are experienced, and challenged, by individuals. Taken as a whole, the book highlights creative possibilities at the local, national, and global levels that help us move beyond the current policies of criminalizing immigrants."
–Michael Omi, Associate Professor, Ethnic Studies Department, University of California, Berkeley

"The Accidental American is a critical, necessary work, exploring one of the most challenging human realities of our time. The book engages the immigration dialogue by telling a story which is both compelling and instructive. The narrative of Fekkak Mamdouh's journey is interwoven with insightful analysis and relevant history to create political, economic, social, intellectual and even emotional space, taking the conversation away from the no-win perameters of "either/or." This book is a must for anyone interested in justice today.
–Kathy Engel, Adjunct Professor, Gallatin School of Individualized Study/New York University Communications of author of "Ruth's Skirts" and coeditor of We Begin Here: Poems for Palestine and Lebanon