Readers Write: Civil discourse in Big Sky country; Kids of US parents aren't 'immigrants'

Letters to the Editor for the August 12, 2013 weekly print issue: 

The recent cover story on a new 'green' economy in the Rocky Mountain region created a civic space in its pages for persons who hold often strongly divergent political views to find some measure of common ground as they think about the economic potential of the region.

The term "second-generation immigrant" is inappropriate and inaccurate when used to describe children with one parent born in the United States.

Civil discourse in Big Sky country

I have been rereading the June 10 cover story, "Rise of the 'green coast,' " which looks at the enormous potential of the northern Rockies to become America's new "green coast." The interviews with politicians, high-tech entrepreneurs, and environmentalists capture the kind of "energy" and optimism that is generally lacking in most accounts of the region – accounts that address energy only in terms of natural resource extraction.

These interviewees are confident and optimistic about the region's future. But there is something else about the piece that commands attention. The article has created a civic space in its pages, a forum for persons who hold often strongly divergent political views to find some measure of common ground as they think about the economic potential of the region. Might there be some hints of an emerging civility in Big Sky country? If we can imagine a fresh start for civil and civic discourse in the northern Rockies, the timeline for creating the new green coast will be shortened considerably.

Robert W. Rydell

Professor of history

Montana State University

Bozeman, Mont.

Kids of US parents aren't immigrants

In the July 8 & 15 cover story, "The measure of an American," I was surprised to read the term "second-generation immigrants," defined as "American children with at least one foreign-born parent." If the one parent is US-born, the term "second-generation immigrant" is inappropriate and inaccurate. My children fall into this category, having been born in the United States and having a US-born mother and a Kenyan-born father. I've never thought of a person with an American parent as an immigrant. A child is a US citizen if one parent is a US citizen, whether the child is born in the US or not.

If the child is born in the US, it is especially ludicrous to refer to him or her as an "immigrant" of any generation. Anyone born in the US is an American citizen, so a better term for children born in America of two immigrant parents is "first-generation Americans."

Miriam Kingori

Chico, Calif.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Readers Write: Civil discourse in Big Sky country; Kids of US parents aren't 'immigrants'
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Readers-Respond/2013/0812/Readers-Write-Civil-discourse-in-Big-Sky-country-Kids-of-US-parents-aren-t-immigrants
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe