Americanization

The appointment of the Naval Consulting Board signifies a new departure in the preparedness campaign which has been thrilling the country for many months. It signifies the wane of the propagandist movement and the dawn of a constructive program; the supplanting of agitation by action; the routing of denunciation by cooperation. We are in the future to hear more of industrial preparedness than of military preparedness. We are not only to have more battleships, but to conserve men; not only to increase our production capacity for ammunition, but to steady our labor market to make this possible. No other nation in the world would think itself equipped to give battle, to endure the strain of long campaigns and sieges, to mobilize and train an efficient army, that had the seasonal occupations, the heavy labor turnover, and the employment system that prevails in America. No other nation would be considered efficient that had millions of men in its midst not speaking the national language, not of its citizenship, from whom it asked nothing but manual toil and to whom it gave little but the pay envelope. We hear much these days of a new term. It is called Americanization. We use it rather glibly-it sounds well, but what does it mean? It means somehow or other that America shall profit by what immigrants bring in addition to their labor; it means that along with rights go duties; it means that Americans must give more to the foreigner than a job and a bunk to sleep in; that in some way we must all have a more common understanding of the opportunities and ideals of America; of the meaning of her institutions and liberties; and that we can converse in a common language and stand up under one flag. Americanizing America is the task and responsibility of Americans. There is no subterfuge, excuse, or sophistry by which 240

Americanization · Sociology · Anthropology · Chemistry · Intelligence, Security, War Strategy · Leadership, Human Resources, Global Affairs

• Decolonizing Ludlow

  Open Access•Karin Larkin•International Journal of…•2019

  Add to list