The Struggle for Citizenship: Educators’ Guide & References
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Thinking About Citizenship
How does your citizenship affect you in your everyday life? What advantages/disadvantages do you attribute to your citizenship?
What criteria should a government use to determine which of its residents are eligible for citizenship? What influences the establishment of these criteria?
Does a nation’s right to preserve its culture and economic well-being justify race and wealth-based decisions regarding citizenship?
Is assimilation necessary for good citizenship?
How well do Indian Americans work with legislators today to further their causes?
How successful are they in building coalitions with other immigrant groups to further their causes?
How is the concept of being “American” evolving as more liberal citizenship policies begin to change the face of America?
As modern technology and travel facilitate connections with the homeland, how does the traditional notion of citizenship loyalties play out in diasporic communities? How does globalization affect the idea of citizenship?
REFERENCES
Wendy Aalgaard. East Indians in America. (Lerner Publications Company, 2005)
Bredbenner, Candice Lewis. A Nationality of Her Own: Women, Marriage, and the Law of Citizenship. (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, 1998)
Gould, Harold. Sikhs, Swamis, Students, and Spies: The India Lobby in the United States, 1940-1946. (Sage Publishers, 2006)
Jensen, Jane. A Passage from India: Asian Indian Immigrants in North America. (Yale University Press, 1988)
LaBrack, Bruce, The Sikhs of Northern California 1904 -1975. (American Migration Series Press, 1988)
Lee, Erika and Yung, Judy. Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America. (Oxford University Press, 2010)
Leonard, Karen I. Making Ethnic Choices: California’s Punjabi Mexican Americans. Temple University Press, 1998.
Rangaswamy, Padma. The New Immigrants: Indian Americans. (Chelsea House Publishers, 2007)
Takaki, Ronald. India in the West: South Asians in America. New York/Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989.
Websites
A.K. Mozumdar. The Universal Message. http://www.mozumdar.org/index.html
Daniels, Roger. “Aspects of the Asian American Experience – Rights Denied and Attained.”
http://asjournal.zusas.uni-halle.de/archive/51/105.html
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
“Immigration Timeline.” Minnesota Historical Society. Last Updated Sep. 23, 2010.
http://www.dipity.com/MnHSreference/Immigration-to-Minnesota-1960-to-Present/
Majumdar, Jayasri Hart. “Bhagat Singh Thind.” Roots in the Sand, a P.B.S. presentation. http://www.pbs.org/rootsinthesand/i_bhagat1.html
http://www.flowofhistory.org/themes/movement_settlement/uspolicytimeline.php
http://www.thepoliticsofimmigration.org/pages/chronology.htm
http://www.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/southAsianStudents/primary.html
http://www.wce.wwu.edu/Resources/AACR/photographs/bellingham/index.htm
Lee, Margaret Mikyung and Wasem, Ruth Ellen. “Expedited Citizenship Through Military Service: Policy and Issues.” http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL31884.pdf
