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Arizona Impact

Indigenous Act helped complete the work of the 19th Amendment

Tempe campus
October 11, 2019

ASU professor says voting inequalities for Native Americans still exist nearly a century after Congress granted them citizenship

The 19th Amendment of the American Constitution officially gave women the right to vote in 1920, putting to rest decades of contention, civil disobedience and suffrage efforts.

However, many people don’t realize that not all women (and men) were on equal footing after its passage.

The Indian Citizen Act of 1924 gave Native American men and women full citizenship (and the right to vote). And nearly a century later, it’s still a struggle.

To commemorate the lead-up to the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 14, ASU Now turned to Katherine Osburn for elucidation.

Osburn, an associate professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, is an ethnohistorian whose research focuses on gender, race and political activism. Her current book project, "Sovereignty, Services, and Citizenship," focuses on the relationship between indigenous peoples and the state of Arizona. She said despite the good intentions behind the 1924 act, the legislation remains a work in progress.

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Katherine Osburn

Question: What was the Snyder Act, and how did it come to pass?

Answer: The Indian Citizenship Act granted full citizenship to all indigenous peoples living in the United States, but it is important to understand that a fair number of Native Americans had already become citizens before it passed. Throughout the 19th century, state officials occasionally granted their indigenous neighbors citizenship if the applicant appeared to be “civilized.”

Policymakers could debate what activities constituted civilized behavior, but the one constant in the decision to extend or withhold citizenship was tribal standing. Government administrators regarded Indians who lived on tribal lands as owing allegiance to an alien political system. This was one reason why Indians who accepted individual allotments of land under the 1887 policy of forced assimilation known as the Dawes Act received citizenship if they lived on their allotments for 25 years. Policymakers believed that living on these allotments severed tribal ties and assimilated Indians.

Moreover, by the 20th century Congress had extended citizenship to numerous indigenous persons through random provisions of individual acts of Congress and as a reward for military service. Yet many Indians still lacked citizenship until Congress granted (or imposed upon, depending on your point of view) citizenship to remaining American Indians. Support for Indian citizenship in Congress was no doubt bolstered by their military service in World War I, but the larger context of this act was rooted in a desire to assimilate indigenous peoples into the mainstream of American culture. After all, the Dawes Act was still in force. 

The text of the act reads:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all noncitizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided, That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property."

In a legal sense, the second part of the act allowing citizen Indians to continue residing on tribal property undercut the long-standing idea that living in tribal communities was incompatible with citizenship. In a practical sense, however, state officials carrying out the machinations of citizenship still resisted extending full citizenship rights to their indigenous neighbors on reservations. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had established the process for creating new states, and it allowed state officials to construct the stipulations for exercising the franchise. Thus, the Snyder Act extended the franchise in word, but not necessarily in deed. This meant that as late as 1938, seven states still disfranchised indigenous citizens. Arizona was one of those states.

Q: The irony of allowing indigenous peoples, who were here first and allowed to vote last, is not lost here. How galling it must have been for all Native peoples.

A: Leaving suffrage for the First Americans for last is indeed ironic, but it was that very matter of being First Nations that created that situation. Indigenous peoples are citizens of tribal polities that existed before the creation of the United States, and these polities hold a government-to-government relationship with the United States. Thus, their political status is unique, and that means that they are not just another minority group hoping for inclusion in the U.S. political order. For indigenous communities, protecting their sovereignty as tribal nations is the paramount political concern. Indeed, in the early 20th century, most indigenous communities were focused on immediate matters of survival under very difficult economic conditions. At the time the act was passed, a minority of Native Americans called for the franchise, and they did so more to improve the lives of their people through political engagement than from a desire to participate in American political institutions.

The most prominent advocates of citizenship and voting rights in the early 20th century were certain members of the Society of American Indians (SAI), a pan-Indian organization founded to lobby Congress and the Indian Service on behalf of Indian self-determination and to educate the public on Indian issues. The SAI was created on Columbus Day in 1911 by a group of highly educated Indian professionals (graduates of Indian boarding schools and American colleges) who had been working with sociologist Fayette Avery McKenzie of Ohio State University to improve Indian policy. One of the most prominent leaders was Dr. Carlos Montezuma (Wassaja), a Yavapai whose family resided in the Mazatzal Mountains.

In 1871, a Pima raiding party had kidnapped Wassaja and sold him to an Italian immigrant named Carlos Gentile. Gentile renamed him Carlos Montezuma and sent him to boarding schools and then to college. Montezuma took a medical degree from Chicago Medical College in 1889 and helped to found the SAI in 1911. In 1916, Montezuma started a journal titled Wassaja in which he expressed his criticisms of the way indigenous peoples were treated. When WWI broke out, he editorialized that, without citizenship and full civil rights, Indians should not be compelled to fight, especially since they were allegedly fighting for democracy, the benefits of which they were denied at home. This was a position held by a lot of indigenous peoples. Others felt that fighting would earn them citizenship. Still, citizenship in the United States for indigenous peoples is a dual citizenship and must be understood as such.

Although Montezuma sought civil rights for indigenous peoples, he also fought for Yavapai self-determination, helping to create their reservation at Fort McDowell in 1903 and supporting the resistance to relocating them to the Salt River Reservation in 1918 and 1919. He led efforts to win water rights for the reservation in the early 1920s. ... He represented a new way of thinking in the early 20th century that sought to use citizenship as a tool of indigenous self-determination. Voting must always be seen in that context.

Q: Why did it take longer for indigenous peoples to be fully franchised than for women?

A: The issues surrounding the 19th Amendment were very different than those of disfranchised indigenous peoples. Women’s voting rights were entangled with assumptions about gender, while Indian voting was linked to their unique political status. Moreover, simply passing the Indian Citizen Act did not fully franchise Indians. Since states set the parameters of voting rights, they were able to raise barriers to Indian voting.

While literacy tests and poll taxes were used against indigenous voters in many places, the primary impediments to voting were generally rooted in the unique political status of indigenous peoples as belonging to separate polities. Some states borrowed the language of the U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2, which bars “Indians not taxed” from citizenship and used it to deny voting rights. Legislators in Idaho, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico and Washington withheld the franchise from their indigenous citizens because those who were living on reservation lands did not pay property taxes. In New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, state officials argued that living on a reservation meant that Indians were not actually residents of the state, which prevented their political participation. These issues were at the forefront in Arizona when indigenous activists challenged their disfranchisement.

Article 7, Section 2, of the Arizona constitution stated, “No person under guardianship, non-compos mentis, or insane shall be qualified to vote in any election.” Arizona lawmakers understood this as prohibiting Indians from voting because they were allegedly under federal guardianship on their reservations. When two Pima men from the Gila River Reservation attempted to vote, the Pinal County recorder refused them. Tribal leaders mounted legal challenges that finally reached the Arizona Supreme Court. In Porter v. Hall (1928), the state argued that indigenous Arizonans were outside of the political boundaries of the state and that, following Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), they were wards of the federal government. The court dismissed the first notion but fastened on the second. Arizona Indians lived within state political boundaries but, as long as they resided on reservations, they were under the guardianship of the federal government — as federal officials had maintained. Regardless of the provisions of the ICA, they would remain disfranchised until they assimilated and abandoned their tribal status. The Arizona Supreme Court eventually overturned Porter in Harrison v. Laveen (1948), on the grounds that the guardianship clause in the Arizona constitution violated the 14th and 15th amendments. Despite this victory, literacy requirements still disfranchised Arizona Indians until the 1965 Voting Rights Act banned them.

Q: Did the Indian Citizen Act end up making a difference? Did Native Americans end up becoming a big voting bloc?

A: Yes and no. No, because efforts to disfranchise indigenous Americans continued regardless of the law. Yes, because the Indian Citizen Act, paired with the 14th and 15th amendments, provided the foundation for legal challenges. Court victories against voting restrictions throughout the 1940s and 1950s helped more indigenous citizens to exercise their rights. In the 1950s, the Indian vote was significant in several Western states. In the 1956 election, both parties in Arizona issued a statement on their Indian policy, and in 1964 President Johnson's campaign made a point of reaching out to Indian voters.

More significant, however, was the Voting Rights Act, and the 1970 and 1975 amendments that strengthened the act. The Voting Rights Act outlawed any practices that “deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color” and established federal oversight of elections in areas where discrimination had historically been practiced. Apache, Coconino and Navajo counties came under scrutiny for disfranchising Native voters, and the literacy requirements were finally struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court under the provisions of the 1970 amendments. In 1975, Apache County attempted to gerrymander its voting districts to dilute the Navajo vote. Navajos challenged the action, and the case made its way to the District Court for Arizona. In Goodluck v. Apache County (1975), the court struck down the gerrymandering as unconstitutional. That same year, amendments to the Voting Rights Act ordered that language assistance be given to voters whose first language was not English. This provision increased voting on Navajo lands in San Juan County, Utah, by 95%. Indigenous voter rolls in Arizona have grown steadily ever since, and candidates for public office ignore their concerns at their peril.

Q: What is the situation today with Native American turnouts at the booths, and do they still face issues?

A: In recent years, indigenous voters played a significant role in Western states where their numbers are greatest. Janet Napolitano traced her victory in the 2002 Arizona governor’s race to the Native vote, and indigenous voters helped Al Gore carry New Mexico in 2000. The National Congress of American Indians created a national campaign of voter registration and education titled Native Vote in 2004. They encouraged tribes to hold their tribal elections on the same day as national elections, and places that followed this advice increased turnout significantly. On the Navajo Nation, Code Talkers (veterans who had used the Navajo language for security in wartime communications in WWII) traveled the reservation in 2004 urging their people to vote. In Phoenix, the Native American Community Organizing Project registered voters for the 2004 elections, and both Democrats and Republicans reached out to indigenous voters.

Ultimately, however, election officials across the nation have continued to suppress the Native American vote. Current challenges include refusal to accept tribal identification cards and residences — reservations often do not have traditional street addresses — for voter registration, scant language assistance, and inaccessible polling and registration sites. These problems led to a bipartisan investigation on indigenous voting rights in 2018 that resulted in the Native Voting Rights Act. The bill creates a Native American Voting Rights Task Force to provide funds and assistance to tribes for increasing voter participation and addresses problems with voter registration and polling sites. The bill provides funds for federal election observers and requires the Department of Justice to consult annually with tribes to make certain elections are flowing smoothly. It is stalled in the Senate, and its passage is not certain given the current political climate.

As always, however, indigenous peoples are not waiting on the federal government to deliver justice. Indigenous leaders all across the nation have organized to resist disfranchisement. Here at ASU, Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, director of the Indian Legal Clinic at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, founded Native Vote project in 2004. Third-year law students run the clinic, which provides both legal and practical assistance to Arizona’s indigenous voters. Most galling to some of the workers is the presence of nonindigenous poll workers disqualifying indigenous voters on indigenous lands. Native volunteers monitor 12 polling stations around the state to prevent such actions and provide legal assistance on the phone. Nearly a century after the Indian Citizen Act established American citizenship for indigenous peoples, its promises are still not fully realized, but indigenous activists and tribal leaders continue to demand the United States keep its word to America’s first peoples.

Top photo: President Calvin Coolidge posed with Native American men, possibly from the northwestern United States, near the south lawn of the White House on Feb. 18, 1925. It was taken after Coolidge signed the bill granting Native Americans full citizenship. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

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Generations of Latinos yearn for a sense of belonging

Tempe campus
October 11, 2019

ASU professor spent a decade studying millennials and Generation Z; her research shows millions believe they are not perceived and treated as Americans

Latino youth and young adults born and raised in United States who are fluent in English and steeped in American culture still feel excluded from this country. Though they are politically active and identify as Americans, they feel their identity and place in American society is constantly questioned.

These are the findings of Arizona State University’s Nilda Flores-Gonzalez, a professor and associate director of sociology in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family DynamicsThe T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics is housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences., who studied societal placement of Latino millennials and Generation Z. That work is the basis of her landmark book, "Citizens but Not Americans: Race & Belonging Among Latino Millennials."

As National Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close this week, ASU Now spoke to Flores-Gonzalez about her research and how this group of disenfranchised Latinos views themselves and their status as Americans.

Question: What does the title of your book, “Citizens but Not Americans” mean?

Answer: “Citizens but Not Americans” conveys a pervasive feeling of not belonging among U.S.-born Latinx millennials. These youth felt that despite their birthright citizenship and their embracement of American values, they are not perceived, nor are they treated, as Americans. This does not mean that they do not identify as Americans — because they do — but that in their daily interactions and experiences, their American identity is frequently questioned.

Q: What led you to research the thoughts and feelings of societal placement among Latino millennials and Generation Z?

A: During interviews with Latinx youth who participated in the 2006 immigrant mobilizations in Chicago, I found that most U.S.-born Latinx youth alluded to a feeling of not being “really American” or being a “different kind of American.” Since the study focused on politically active youth and their political socialization, I did not have data needed to explore their feelings of national exclusion, and if these feelings of national exclusion were shared by Latinx youth who were not politically active. I decided to conduct another study — on which the book is based — to understand why they feel they are “citizens but not Americans,” if this sentiment is common among U.S.-born Latinx youth and how they contend with feelings of exclusion from national belonging.

Q: You state that Latino millennials and Generation Z don’t feel as though they are a part of nation. Why is it important to feel as if they are a part of it?

A: With demographic changes that are transforming the U.S. into a majority-minority nation, it is imperative for the health of the nation to include nonwhites as full and equal members. We know that racial inclusion leads to access to opportunities. It also strengthens democracy as people with stronger attachment to their national identity have higher levels of political engagement. What will it mean for the economic and political future of the nation if most of its citizens are not considered or treated as full members of the nation? How can we prosper economically as a nation, and maintain a vibrant democracy, when most citizens are marginalized? These forms of exclusion have real life consequences in people’s life chances and everyday interactions in society.

Q: What do you feel are your big picture findings with Latino millennials?

A: In "Citizens but Not Americans," I examine how Latinx millennials understand their place in U.S. society, and highlight the role that race plays in how they see themselves as members of the nation. These youths understand that assimilation, or the adoption of American values and beliefs, does not turn them automatically into Americans. Despite being U.S. citizens by birth and embracing American values, they still face questioning of their status as Americans. This happens because in the national imagination, American continues to be associated with white and European heritage, and these youths’ physical and cultural traits such as skin color, phenotype and surnames mark them as nonwhite and non-European, and therefore as not Americans. To counter their national exclusion, these youths emphasize their American values as well as deploy counternarratives that offer an expanded vision of belonging to the nation and allow them to claim their rightful place as Americans. For instance, they emphasize that the United States is a nation of immigrants, and as the children of immigrants they embody this American trope.

Q: Do you feel that perception of Latino millennials and Generation Z will change over time?

A: As a society, we have to change the way in which we conceptualize who is an American for racial and ethnic minorities to feel that they belong. There is some indication that millennials and Generation Z are more politically liberal, and support same-sex marriage, interracial marriage and the legalization of marijuana. While it is assumed that these liberal views extend to more positive and inclusive attitudes towards ethnic and racial minorities, research suggests that white youths’ racial attitudes do not differ much from their parents. The resurgence of nativism, and particularly anti-immigrant attitudes and support for harsh immigration enforcement policies, suggests that Latinxs will continue to find themselves positioned at the margins of national belonging. 

Q: What are your recommendations, if any, to try to address these issues in the future?

A: As millennials age into adulthood, we are shifting our focus to Generation Z, seeking to understand how an increasingly nativist climate affects how diverse youths make sense of themselves and others as Americans. I am working on a new project with ASU faculty Angela Gonzalez, Nathan Martin, Emir Estrada and Edward Vargas to examine how an increasingly nativist climate affects Latinx, Native American and white youths' definition of who is American, shapes their sense of national identity and belonging, and motivates them to engage civically and politically to challenge this narrow conceptualization of Americanism. Our preliminary findings suggest that young adults see political engagement, both at the individual and collective levels, as the vehicle for challenging individual and institutional racial dynamics to achieve a more inclusive American society.

Top photo: ASU Professor Nilda Flores-Gonzalez published "Citizens but Not Americans: Race and Belonging Among Latino Millennials" in 2017. She wrote of her research showing that Hispanic people born between 1981–1996 are viewed as a different type of American, but not viewed as American. She looks at how they claim their Americanness. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now.

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Award-winning author talks 'real and reel' Latino lives at ASU

Tempe campus
October 3, 2019

Latino studies expert Frederick Aldama gives lecture on pop culture’s simplification of Latino identity, experience

Over the past couple of decades, depictions of Latino characters have become more frequent in popular media, from Sofía Vergara’s portrayal of Gloria, the Colombian-born wife of the family patriarch on ABC’s uber-successful sitcom “Modern Family,” to Michael Peña’s portrayal of Ponch, an undercover FBI agent in the 2017 feature film reboot of the TV series “CHiPS.”

But just because we’re seeing more Latinos on screen and in popular culture doesn’t mean they’re being represented well. Vergara’s Gloria is hot-headed and has trouble speaking English, and Peña’s Ponch is hypersexualized, both noted stereotypes of the Latino population.

“Are we being asked to laugh with Gloria or are we being asked to laugh at Gloria?” asked Frederick Aldama of an audience of students who had gathered for a lecture he gave Wednesday afternoon at Arizona State University titled “Real and Reel Latinx Lives Matter.”

“Because there’s a big difference, right?” he said. “When the writers are asking us to laugh at her and we’ve never had the chance to laugh with her, it’s a problem.”

Aldama, Distinguished University Professor at The Ohio State University, is an award-winning author known as much for his imaginative comics that tell authentic stories of Latino life as for his scholarly work to advance the field of Latino studies.

“He represents the highest pinnacle of innovation in Latino studies at the present moment, and as we know, ASU is all about innovation,” said David William Foster, Regents Professor of Spanish at ASU’s School of International Letters and Cultures, when he introduced Aldama on Wednesday.

Though they make up about 18% of the current U.S. population and are growing at a rate of about four times faster than any other demographic in the country, Hispanics and Latinos only see about 2% representation in media, Aldama said. What’s worse, when they are depicted, it’s often as one of a handful of negative stereotypes, ranging from hot-headed to oversexed to cowardly to criminal.

“This stuff should drive you nuts,” Aldama told the crowd.

His visit to ASU’s Tempe campus came midway through Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.

“This country is so good at erasing histories that are inconvenient to them,” said Aldama, who founded the Obama White House award-winning LASER: Latinx Space for Enrichment and Research. “We get one month out of the year, so we might as well have fun.”

Aldama grew up during the 1970s in California, when he remembers being punished for speaking Spanish or speaking English with a Spanish accent.

“It (knowledge of the Spanish language) became something we coveted but publicly were ashamed of,” he said.

Aldama’s father was a civil rights activist from Mexico City. His mother was of Irish and Guatemalan descent. As a teacher, she hoped to change the negative cultural view of Latinos, inspiring Aldama to focus on the subject as an undergrad at Berkeley, and later as a doctoral student at Stanford.

While studying media and pop culture, he said, “I wanted to know: What do they actually do in the world? Are they just entertainment? Are they more than entertainment? How do they transform audiences to act in the world? … What is pop culture studies? Why even bother? Because this stuff matters. … Media matters because it does act on us and it does change things; our ideas about people.”

When Aldama asked the crowd to name a Latino story or character they’d seen depicted in the media recently, the first two responses were “Jane the Virgin,” a satirical telenovela, and “Hustlers,” a 2019 film about the lives of exotic dancers that includes Jennifer Lopez among its cast.

“OK, so we have the virgin and the whore,” Aldama said. “Is that all we’re getting? I don’t know, I think we can do better.”

He said that doing better means putting Latinos behind the camera — writing, editing and directing — not just in front of the camera, so that more accurate, positive stories can be told.

“One Day at a Time,” a web series documenting the ups-and-downs experienced by a family of Cuban Americans, is a good example of that, he said, as is the 2014 film “The Book of Life.”

“What I love about this movie is, guess who (the) primary audience is? It’s you guys,” Aldama told the majority Hispanic and Latino students gathered to hear him speak.

Despite much of his lecture being focused on screen media, Aldama’s “big passion” is comic books.

“This is where we’re really going nuts,” he said, noting that “Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer: Undocumented Vignettes from a Pre-American Life,” the memoir of an undocumented immigrant by Alberto Ledesma, was recently chosen as required reading for freshmen attending California State University, Northridge. Aldama also gave props to Gabby Rivera’s “America Chavez,” published by superhero powerhouse Marvel Comics.

“Marvel is finally getting it; getting that we need Latinx’s … telling our stories,” he said.

Aldama himself has contributed to the genre with such comics as “Dora,” a story told from the perspective of a young girl detained in what he referred to as the “concentration camps” at the U.S.-Mexico border. His most recent endeavor is the children’s book “The Adventures of Chupacabra Charlie,” a second-generation vegan chupacabra, set to publish in January of 2020.

“When we go to the library, we don’t see our stories,” Aldama said. “I want to make sure we’re not just thinking and teaching and studying this stuff. I want to be putting this stuff out in the world.”

In 2015 Aldama founded SOL-CON: The Brown and Black Comix Expo at The Ohio State University as a space where brown and black comic artists and animators can come together with students, indie comics, exhibitors and industry insiders to tell their own stories.

At his talk on Wednesday, health sciences senior Christine Otaluka asked Aldama what he thought about Afro-Latin American representation, noting how actor Jharrel Jerome, who portrayed the African American man Korey Wise in the Netflix drama “When They See Us,” identifies as Afro-Latin American but is only being recognized by the media as African American.

Aldama agreed that a better understanding of intersecting and multicultural identities is much needed in popular media, citing his graduate student Danielle Orozco's piece for “Latinx Spaces” titled “Race and Alien Face: The Other-Worldly Roles of Zoe Saldana” as acknowledgement of that.

“It’s an area that needs work, but we also need to raise awareness about it within our own communities,” he said.

Top photo: The Ohio State University Distinguished University Professor Frederick Aldama delivers a lecture titled "Real and Reel Latinx Lives Matter" at the Memorial Union on ASU's Tempe campus, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

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'Towards a More Perfect Union' at ASU Gammage brings a new perspective to social change

September 30, 2019

A protest of social injustice and an opportunity for change: ASU Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with ASU Gammage is redesigning the classic orchestral concert.

“Towards a More Perfect Union” will debut its first and only show on Oct. 5 at ASU Gammage. The show follows seven unique composers through their personal journeys with the challenges of our time, backed with music from ASU students in the School of Music. Joel Thompson, Martha Gonzalez, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Jeffery Meyer, Carlos Simon and Tamar-kali. (Not pictured: Joan Tower.) Download Full Image

Daniel Bernard Roumain is an ASU professor of practice, institute professor, composer and co-director of “Towards a More Perfect Union.” He said this performance is intended to make the audience take a step back and reevaluate the perspective they have on society.

“I hope (the audience) has a new sensitivity and empathy towards people of color,” Roumain said. “I would like them to think of this as a challenge in a way that is engaging and to continue the conversation and dialogue.”

Works by Tamar-kali (composer for Academy Award nominee "Mudbound"), Roumain ("We Shall Not Be Moved," a New York Times top 10 classical new works), Joel Thompson (ASU Projecting All Voices Fellow), Carlos Simon (Sundance/Time Warner Composer Fellow), Grammy winners Joan Tower and Martha Gonzalez and renowned spoken-word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph. 

Jeffery Meyer, co-director for "Towards a More Perfect Union" and associate music professor at ASU, said the conversation for this new style of concert began around two years ago.

Meyer said when he first met Roumain, he was immediately interested in his style of work.

“(Roumain) has a very interesting career, and I wanted to know how I could get the orchestra involved,” Meyer said.

ASU Symphonic Orchestra students rehearse music for "Towards a More Perfect Union."

The seven featured artists came together quite organically, Roumain said. 

“All of their works are quite original,” Roumain said. “I know their music and their work really well and thought they would make a really good fit for our students here and orchestra here.”

Roumain said he thinks this will be a unique opportunity for people in Tempe and the Phoenix area to explore these questions that are often not discussed.

“There has been great backlash against people of color and immigrants in the United States, and this concert is not an answer to that, but a deep look into the diversity that forms our society,” Meyer said.

The show will involve music, spoken word, film and other multidisciplinary forms of art.

“There is something that music does to people that words cannot do that brings us together,” Meyer said. “So if there is a message of unity and understanding, this is a powerful medium to create some sense of understanding and some sense of unity and love.”

Student tickets are $10; purchase all other tickets for $20.

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ASU professor's book on U.S.-Mexico border wins humanities award

September 25, 2019

Growing up in California, Julian Lim, assistant professor at the Arizona State University School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, was surrounded by a multiracial family and community. 

However, she found that the reality of the “melting pot” she lived in was rarely reflected in her college history courses.  "Porous Borders," by Julian Lim "Porous Borders: Multiracial Migrations and the Law in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands." Download Full Image

“Ethnic and race studies tended to remain compartmentalized into Asian American, African American, Latino/a and Native American studies,” Lim said. 

“I wanted to dig into and describe a past that was much more diverse, where people mixed and identities seemed more fluid.”

The culturally diverse past of the U.S.-Mexico border is described in her first book, “Porous Borders: Multiracial Migrations and the Law in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands.”

The book, which draws from her own experiences and research to paint a new multiracial picture of the region, was awarded the 2019 Institute for Humanities Research (IHR) Book Award for outstanding humanities-based scholarship.

Of her book, Lim said, “One of the main messages that I want people to understand is that there has always been mixing in the United States.

“Many Americans would assume that because I am talking about the U.S.-Mexico border, that my subjects were primarily Mexican and Anglo-American. But in fact, the border region was home to diverse indigenous peoples long before any European arrived, and became home to a much more heterogeneous population by 1900 (including many Chinese and African American migrants).

“And it could have continued to grow in diversity, were it not for the passage of increasingly restrictive federal immigration laws that were designed to exclude racially undesirable immigrants.”

In her book, Lim argues that nations and governments have long used borders to regulate race and national identity, and that racially charged immigration laws have created a monoracial identity and effectively erased the multiracial reality of the past.

Furthermore, Lim explains that political demands on immigration laws make it difficult for the U.S. to embrace a diverse future.

“Diversity by itself will not produce a ‘postracial’ society,” Lim said. “History, both distant and more recent, shows us how politicians and nativists rely on demographic ‘tipping points’ to drum up support for draconian and exclusionary immigration laws and policy.”

Lim’s new project, which she is currently researching as a fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, dives deeper into the politics of immigration law in the U.S.

“I am currently working on my second book, which continues to explore the ways in which U.S. immigration law and policy has shaped national identity and demography in the United States," Lim said. 

“In particular, it looks at how immigration officials relied on certain ideas and forms of legitimate versus illegitimate marriage to make decisions about who to admit into the country, and by extension, form families and reproduce.”

On receiving the book award, Lim said, “I am honored to be selected for the award. The IHR is a critical institution of intellectual exchange at ASU, fostering conversations about issues affecting the broader community in Arizona and beyond. I am very grateful to have its support.”

Lim will discuss her book “Porous Borders” at the IHR Book Award and Author Reception on Oct. 10. Community members are encouraged to attend to learn more about the book and the multiracial past of the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Novelist imparts message of literary inclusivity to ASU students, faculty

September 23, 2019

Representation and inclusivity in modern American fiction are essential components of honest, accurate writing, novelist Jess Row told a crowd of faculty, staff and students at Arizona State University. 

The creative writing program at The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences hosted Row on Sept. 17 for a discussion and Q&A on his recent essay collection, “White Flights: Race, Fiction, and The American Imagination.”  Jess Row Novelist Jess Row speaks at an event on Sept. 17 at The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at ASU. Photo by Bruce Matsunaga Download Full Image

“White Flights” — which was published in August by Gray Wolf Press — analyzes the effects of whiteness in the history of American literature, and is partly addressed to Row himself as a former creative writing student. 

Row read an excerpt from an essay in “White Flights” that described the relationship between notable American short-story writer Raymond Carver and his editor, Gordon Lish.

“Essentially, the practice of writing that Lish has taught ever since the 1970s has to do with excising anything that culturally, historically or socially locates the individual,” he said. “The turn is away from thinking about a person’s social reality at all, to a kind of aphasic representation of thoughts or actions as happening in this very empty space.”

According to Row, one of the culprits of this literary trend is the modern incubator of academic creative writing: the workshop.

“It became clear to me, after taking multiple creative writing workshops, that this idea that you’re supposed to be constantly looking for ways to cut your work down was a kind of shame-based methodology,” he said. “You have to ask, ‘What is it about this work ethic of always reducing, reducing, reducing’ — what is that really perpetuating?”

To Row, the reduction of cultural details in creative writing represents an attempt by mostly white authors to “other-ize” people of different social and racial backgrounds.

“Oftentimes in the writing workshop, what’s essentially meant by doing this is stripping away cultural context,” he said. “Anything that locates the story in a particular linguistic community or ethnic community — all of that is the material that’s supposed to be excised.”  

Matt Bell, the facilitator of the event and director of creative writing at ASU, said literary communities at ASU haven’t yet had the kind of conversations about race Row initiated.

“Race is obviously an important subject in America and in writing, and we often don’t talk about it through the lens of whiteness and how white writers write about race,” he said. “I’m hoping that this is a conversation that we haven’t had as much as we could, and that this is a chance to begin or further that in different ways.”

Bell stressed the importance of lineages when it comes to creative writing, and that mentor relationships with their mentees can often perpetuate the style of writing Row discussed. 

“Jess was talking about the way he was taught as a writer,” he said. “Some of the people he mentioned taught or influenced me, and so in some ways, it’s thinking about what we want to pass on as teachers or what we don’t want to pass on.”

Tara Ison, an attendee of Row’s speech and a professor of English at ASU, said Row “makes me question my own privilege.” 

“As a woman, I'd always read Carver through the lens of gender, not race,” she said. “Listening to Jess Row, I’m grateful for him giving me the three-dimensional-ness of this issue.”

Until hearing Row speak, Ison said she’d previously noted the isolating aspects of Carver’s writing style as opposed to its racial imbalance.

“I’m white, so it’s easy for me not to think about the ‘whiteness’ of it,” she said. “But Jess's writing makes me want to revisit my relationships with other writers, and my own privilege, that I haven’t looked at enough. He’s keeping me on my toes — on my white toes — in a way that I need to be.”

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Arizona Impact

Intellectual discourse takes center stage at ASU literary salon

Downtown Phoenix campus
The next Get Lit salon takes place at 7 p.m., 10/3 at Valley Bar.
Check out Revolution (Relaunch) from 8 a.m.-noon, 10/5 at Phoenix Public Market.
September 20, 2019

The Piper writers center revives Get Lit salon series to encourage community discussion, activism

Every first Thursday in downtown Phoenix, a revolution is stirring at the Get Lit salon series, a recently revived community literary event facilitated by ASU’s Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing.

To attend is to feel as though you’re part of a clandestine secret society meeting in a speakeasy. From Monroe Street, you turn down the alley between Cornish Pasty and the U.S. Bank building and walk until you come to a door crowned in glowing red letters that read “Valley Bar.” You enter and immediately descend a creaky wooden staircase. Two hard lefts and you find yourself at an almost hidden doorway, tucked away in a corner beside a wine shelf. The room is small and dimly lit with old-fashioned lamps. The vintage furniture, the wall of books and tchotchkes and the exposed joists and pipes overhead evoke the comfort and familiarity of a friend's parent’s basement in some bygone decade.

At the event’s inaugural revival salon Sept. 5, the topic of conversation is radical newspapers, independent publishing and social justice. The evening’s host is Rosemarie Dombrowski, principal lecturer of English in ASU's College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, and it’s fitting; when Get Lit was in its first iteration, Dombrowski served as the permanent host. Now, under the new model, each salon has a different host and anyone can submit ideas for the next salon’s discussion.

Inspired by 17th century salons that provided a space for intellectual discourse, Get Lit also now has a place to call home in this cozy underground corner of Valley Bar, something Piper Center communications specialist Jacob Friedman is grateful for.

“Having this space affords us the opportunity to grow and make this event more inclusive,” he told the crowd of about 30 who had gathered that first Thursday in September.

Things kicked off that evening with Dombrowksi announcing the completion of the first full issue of her latest publication venture, The Revolution (Relaunch). She describes it as “a revisionary, radical and creative resurgence of the weekly women’s rights newspaper founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in 1868.”

The goal of the paper (or “zineA zine is a small-circulation, self-published work of original or appropriated text and images.,” as Dombrowski is wont to call it) is to be a space for creative activism that highlights the local, grassroots social justice work of the community. It features everything from poetry to cultural criticism to creative nonfiction to interviews with activists and covers such topics as women and reproductive rights, indigenous rights, the Latinx community and the border, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights and disability rights.

The Revolution (Relaunch) publishes the first of each month online and quarterly in print. Print copies are available for free at coffee shops and other small stores in and around Phoenix. They accept submissions year-round and encourage community members to contribute.

During the discussion that followed Dombrowski’s announcement, both the issue of accessibility and diversity were addressed, with salon attendees suggesting the publication also consider distributing via public transportation, where it might reach more people who could identify with its message, and also that the publication consider diversifying its editorial board, something Dombrowksi stated it is already aware of and strives for, even though she acknowledged it is mostly female at the moment.

“We don’t consider ourselves a feminist newspaper,” she said. “We’re certainly a place for the most inclusive kind of feminism, but we really consider ourselves a social justice paper.”

But what is social justice, anyway? Or, at least, what do we mean when we say something is a social justice issue?

“It has to grapple with something that is impacting a population negatively,” Dombrowski said, and that’s what she hopes The Revolution (Relaunch) will do.

“Every city needs a revolutionary publication,” she said.

At that point, one salon attendee asked those present if they’d ever heard of the Arizona Informant. A couple people raised their hands. The attendee, Phoenix resident Kirk Ivy, then explained that the Arizona Informant is an African American-owned newspaper published weekly in Phoenix.

“Black newspapers have been very important to social justice movements,” Ivy said. “We have to get out of the small universes that we live in. If we don’t reach out as individuals, we’re going to stay where we are.”

Dombrowski echoed Ivy’s sentiment regarding the role of publications in fueling social change.

“Zines have always been part of the cultural revolution,” she said, adding that she believes Emily Dickinson was a “zinester,” because even though she was only published in a newspaper four times in her life, “she was doing really radical work.”

“From Dickinson to Riot GrrrlRiot Grrrl is an international underground feminist movement that emerged from the West Coast American alternative and punk music scenes of the 1990s using zines as its primary method of communication., zines have been part of so many social revolutions; they’re a way to publish radical literature and a way to publish radical thought,” Dombrowski said. “But they have to be in and of the community.”

The Revolution (Relaunch) will be participating in the Piper Center’s Meet Your Literary Community event Saturday, Oct. 5, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Phoenix Public Market.

The next Get Lit salon will be held Thursday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. at Valley Bar. The topic is “Whose Gaze Is It, Anyways?,” and attendees can expect to ask themselves and each other such questions as, “How does colonization affect the creative process?”; “What is the white gaze?”; and “How do political, social and cultural discourses around specific ethnicities, races and groups shape the marketplace for literature?” Phoenix-based writer Rogelio Juarez will host.

Top photo courtesy of Pixabay

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Partnership advances semiconductor innovation in Phoenix

ASU, ON Semiconductor professorships developing the next generation of talent

September 20, 2019

Industry and academic partnerships are critical to strengthening innovation, talent and economic development in the Phoenix metro area.

The Greater Phoenix Economic Council reports a widening gap between the number of jobs in the region in microelectronics fields, including in the semiconductor industry, and active candidates with the skills needed to fill them. The report also notes the importance of attracting experienced early career professionals needed for the industry to continue to innovate. Bertan Bakkaloglu and Dale Rogers, ON Semiconductor Endowed Professors of Engineering and Business Bertan Bakkaloglu and Dale Rogers, ON Semiconductor Endowed Professors of Engineering and Business, are two years into five-year endowed professorships from leading semiconductor-based solutions supplier ON Semiconductor. Together, Bakkaloglu and Rogers are addressing pressing engineering and supply chain challenges as well as attracting and retaining top local business and engineering talent. Photo by Marco-Alexis Chaira/ASU Download Full Image

Arizona State University, the nation’s leading university for innovation, and ON Semiconductor, the Phoenix-based global semiconductor supplier, recognize the need for a skilled and talented workforce and have partnered to ensure the pipeline of engineering and business professionals and technological development remains strong.

ASU offers a deep well of expertise in semiconductor technology among the faculty of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, and the nations' second- and third-ranked undergraduate and graduate supply chain and logistics programs, respectively, in the W. P. Carey School of Business. ON Semiconductor offers a portfolio of products to help engineers solve electronic design problems and boasts a reliable world-class supply chain.

“Hubs of innovation and talent generation will feed the local companies and draw others in,” said Hans Stork, senior vice president of research and development at ON Semiconductor. “This in turn drives the economy and spurs further reinvestment.”

ON Semiconductor committed $2 million to ASU for the ON Semiconductor Endowed Professorships in 2017. The five-year award supports two professors’ efforts to help address pressing engineering and supply chain challenges as well as attract and retain top local talent.

The faculty members selected for the endowed professorships are expanding the frontiers of research in these fields and growing the next generation of semiconductor industry professionals.

ON Semiconductor Endowed Professor of Engineering Bertan Bakkaloglu and ON Semiconductor Endowed Professor of Business Dale Rogers are now two years into the professorships.

Bertan Bakkaloglu with his graduate students.

Graduate students assist ON Semiconductor Endowed Professor of Engineering Bertan Bakkaloglu (third from right) with research in his lab. 

Photo by Jessica Hochreiter/ASU
ON Semiconductor Endowed Professor of Business Dale Rogers (bottom left).

ON Semiconductor Endowed Professor of Business Dale Rogers (bottom left) poses with students, faculty and administrators from Chemonics and ASU in front of the Old Main building on ASU's Tempe campus after the MiniMasters global supply chain management certificate program’s graduation ceremony. 

Photo courtesy of Amy Hillman
Arizona State University supply chain management senior Ryan Dong

Arizona State University supply chain management senior Ryan Dong is continuing an internship at ON Semiconductor where he learns valuable real-world applications for his classroom education.

Photo courtesy of Jackie Terry/ON Semiconductor
Bertan Bakkaloglu with his graduate students.
ON Semiconductor Endowed Professor of Business Dale Rogers (bottom left)
Arizona State University supply chain management senior Ryan Dong

Engineering the future of the semiconductor industry

Bakkaloglu works in the areas of analog, mixed-signal and power-management integrated circuits, fields that are playing an increasing part in the revenue streams of semiconductor companies in metro Phoenix. These are technologies integrated onto semiconductor “chips” that enable our increasingly sophisticated electronics to function.

“Most semiconductor companies are expanding their business in these areas, and a majority of our research group’s graduates are securing jobs at these companies,” Bakkaloglu said. “We also have active research programs with semiconductor companies that are increasing their competitiveness.”

The professorship funding has supported a doctoral student in Bakkaloglu’s lab and the purchase of a programmable electronic load and current probe, which he and his team use to expand characterization and testing for semiconductor technology research.

Bakkaloglu’s electrical engineering graduate students are also helping to research power management integrated circuits and other efficient power delivery technology used in smartphones and automotive sensors.

“With feedback from industry experts, we provide realistic and innovative solutions that target a wide range of applications,” said Bhushan Talele, an electrical engineering graduate student. “My current graduate research gives me a holistic view and approach to solve the problems at hand. This will be the most vital aspect for an industrial or academic research role in my future.”

Through his graduate course on advanced analog integrated circuits, Bakkaloglu helps about 200 students each academic year to develop skills in high demand by the semiconductor industry. He also offers a 45-hour online version of the course, which has attracted more than 180 students in the first two years of the program.

Bakkaloglu applies his extensive industry experience in his teachings, which is evident to ON Semiconductor as the company interacts with his students through internships and industry meetings.

“We can tell from how well-grounded his students are and the understanding they show pertaining to the needs of industry,” Stork said.

Over the past two years, Bakkaloglu has graduated five doctoral students, four master’s degree students and guided dozens of nonthesis graduate students in research pursuits. Most of them are now working in the Phoenix area.

Bakkaloglu recently earned major grants for semiconductor research from industry and is looking to expand his analog and power management research through additional funding from the Semiconductor Research Corporation.

“I am very interested in an active research collaboration with ON Semiconductor with funded graduate students working on analog design problems specifically important for the company’s strategic growth areas,” Bakkaloglu said.

Shaping strategies for semiconductor supply chain challenges

Today’s tumultuous economy has made studying supply chain management especially important to minimize disruptions to the global supply chain.

“We’ve got lots of folks scrambling to figure out where to source goods that are currently manufactured in China and now they need to change the shape of supply chains,” Rogers said. “That’s all very relevant for the semiconductor industry.”

Rogers’ expertise in reverse logistics, sustainable supply chain management, supply chain finance and secondary markets combined with the partnership with ON Semiconductor have given him an edge in innovating supply chain strategies.

Along with AVNET Professor of Supply Chain Management Elliot Rabinovich, Rogers leads the Internet Edge Supply Chain Lab at ASU. There, the research team examines supply chain management at the intersection of the internet and physical systems.

“We're working directly on innovations in the tech sector that apply to the supply chain,” Rogers said. “We’ve worked on a ‘warehouse of the future’ project to figure out what technologies are being brought inside the warehouse and warehouse networks.”

Rogers has expanded the supply chain curriculum at ASU and developed programs to increase access to supply chain education, including the formation of a stackable master’s degree in supply chain to support Massachusetts Institute of Technology MicroMasters students in finishing their studies at ASU.

He has also worked with ON Semiconductor to host competitions in which undergraduate and graduate students formulate solutions and present their cases for supply chain business challenges pitched by the company.

“We have formed a holistic partnership with Professor Rogers and the W. P. Carey Business School at ASU,” said Brent Wilson, senior vice president of global supply chain and procurement organizations at ON Semiconductor. “We participate in curriculum development, sponsor and judge team competitions on case problem solving and employ a pipeline of interns from the supply chain department, of which several become full-time employees every year. ON Semiconductor is happy to partner with a college that is focused on solving the problems of the future in the supply chain space.”

Around the world, Rogers is enhancing supply chain talent through the Frontier Economies Logistics Lab, which develops innovative supply chain strategies and solutions to improve quality of life and reduce poverty in remote economies.

Through his involvement with ASU’s international development programs, Rogers helped to start the MiniMasters certificate in global supply chain management program to support more than 350 Chemonics International employees, many of whom live and work in Africa, to become next-generation supply chain leaders.

As Bakkaloglu and Rogers continue their work, ON Semiconductor looks forward to generating ideas and discussions with professors and students, and engaging with a “refreshing source of academic enthusiasm.”

“The professorships have generated increased interaction between ASU and ON Semiconductor, and not just with the two professors,” Stork said. “Multiple faculty have come to our Phoenix site to give seminars, and we have toured labs and reviewed work in progress at ASU. This has led to a better grasp of the capabilities of ASU and developed a network of contacts, allowing us to find a match quicker when the need arises. We also have gained valuable insights and recommendations on hiring student interns and graduates.”

Supporting student success

Arizona State University and ON Semiconductor have a long history of collaboration dating back to 1999, with numerous initiatives to foster academic and industrial advancement. In addition to supporting faculty through the ON Semiconductor Endowed Professorships, the company has funded scholarships for W. P. Carey School of Business students and Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering students to pursue opportunities in supply chain and electrical engineering.

Richard Rigby, an electrical engineering undergraduate student, received the ON Semiconductor Engineering Scholarship in the 2018–19 academic year, allowing him to continue his education and avoid debt. The support has inspired him to pay it forward.

“I am grateful that I have been able to just focus on school and on improving my educational experience,” Rigby said. “In the future, I plan to give back to students in similar ways, which will give more of them the ability to increase their power through education.”

Samuel Perez was one of the first recipients of the ON Semiconductor Engineering Scholarship in fall 2016 when he was a junior studying electrical engineering. The two years of support he received was more than a scholarship — it felt more like mentorship to him.

“I remember having conversations with [then ON Semiconductor University Relations Program Manager] Kayla Snyder about different paths, like getting an MBA or going into power electronics, and she mentioned how valuable that would be for semiconductor companies,” Perez said.

The encouragement they provided is what he remembers most, now that he has graduated and embarked on his professional career.

“It was all about them encouraging me to pursue whatever I’m passionate about,” Perez said. “That helped me more than anything.”

ON Semiconductor often hires ASU students as interns, where they learn valuable skills and apply their education to real-world challenges.

Syona Singh is a supply chain management student at ASU who interned at ON Semiconductor over the summer. She says the experience allowed her to apply theoretical knowledge and explore her passion for the field.

“I now know how to relate my classroom knowledge to a corporate setting,” Singh said. “Working alongside senior executives and knowing they had confidence in my work and abilities was truly a morale and confidence booster.”

ASU supply chain management senior Ryan Dong started interning at ON Semiconductor in May and has earned valuable hands-on experience.

“I am able to work with supply chain concepts that I first learned only months ago,” Dong said. “I have been able to build relationships with the internal teams at ON as well as external vendors, gaining great experience and communication skills in the process.”

Beyond hands-on experience, ON Semiconductor conducts several activities to get to know ASU undergraduate and graduate students through tailgates with executives, on-campus information sessions with student organizations, professional development events and lunch mixers with hiring managers.

The company also has an increased presence on campus with ON Semiconductor Day. At the event, company executives have breakfast with engineering and business students and professors. ON Semiconductor representatives also play "Jeopardy!" games with engineering students and host supply chain competitions with business students.

The relationship pays off with an influx in talent come hiring season. In 2018, ON Semiconductor hired 77 interns from ASU out of a total 233 intern hires across the U.S. Out of 27 new college graduate hires out of ASU, 19 were recent interns.

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Visions of the future, lessons from the past

September 20, 2019

ASU Thought Huddle podcast episode mines the past for ways to think about the future — religion, art and technology all come into play

How do we think about the future during precarious times? As Thought Huddle podcast host Mary-Charlotte Domandi notes, the latest episode talks about the future “by talking about the past and thinking about how we can steer toward a future that doesn’t take us careening off the cliff.”

Called “Future Visions, Past Reflections,” this Arizona State University podcast episode garners insights from the past by exploring the fields of religion, art and technology.

Jeffrey Cohen, dean of humanities in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of English, opens the discussion by describing the relevance of the Noah’s Ark story to our own times.  

“It’s a story of human survival during a time of ecological catastrophe, one of the earliest that we have and one that we keep retelling in different forms over time,” explains Cohen, who is co-writing a book titled “Noah’s Arkive: Towards an Ecology of Refuge.”

In what he describes as “ark thinking,” with both positives and negatives, that may include building shelters against storms and inviting animals in, but also “you have to decide who’s going to be included and who’s going to be excluded. That means most people are going to end up on the outside. What does that mean if you weren’t given admittance into the ark? How can you be sure that those on the outside were not worthy of being saved?”

ASU English Professor Ayanna Thompson, who is also the president of the Shakespeare Association of America and director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, explores how productions of Shakespeare can point to more positive representations of race and gender and a less discriminatory future.

“Shakespeare is a great vehicle to link the past with the future because, even today in the 21st century, he is the No. 1 produced playwright,” notes Thompson, who advocates for diversifying casts. While people may expect that casting is much more diverse today than in the past, she says, “It’s not true at all. People are just noticing it for the first time.”

That said, Thompson takes satisfaction in societal shifts and a growing focus on issues of race: “The questions that I’m asking have moved into the center, and that’s an incredibly gratifying position.”

Finally, Andrew Maynard, professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society, discusses technological innovation and the potential risks and benefits of an increasingly high-tech future.

Here’s how Maynard, director of ASU’s Risk Innovation Lab, summarizes his vision: “I would like to see dialogues where you actually bring in the people that desperately need to see new approaches enabling them to live much better lives. Then let’s begin to work out what are the solution pathways there, whether that involves new technologies, whether that involves old technologies, or whether that involves social innovation rather than technological innovation.”

Find more episodes at thoughthuddle.com. Next episode coming soon: Aliens.

Top photo by iStock

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Exploring what it means to be an American

September 19, 2019

Journalist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas describes his experience as a undocumented citizen at ASU Barrett lecture

Living as an undocumented immigrant in America exacts a painful price personally and for the country, according to Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist and filmmaker.

Vargas, who was born in the Philippines and came to California as a 12-year-old, described the toll at a lecture on Thursday night titled “Define American: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” He is the 2019 Flinn Foundation Centennial Lecturer in Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University. He spent the day Thursday with Barrett students and gave his talk that night at the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Vargas discovered that he wasn’t here legally when he went to get a driver’s license at age 16 and the clerk in the motor vehicle office realized that his green card was fake. Vargas, who lived with his grandparents, confronted his grandfather, who told him: “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“The plan was that I would work at the flea market as a janitor and marry a woman who was a U.S. citizen and become American,” he said.

“I told my grandfather, ‘I can’t do that. I’m gay.’

“I told him that one lie was enough.”

His book, “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen,” published last year, is based on his most painful experiences.

“I came up with 23 and they’re about lying, passing or hiding,” he said.

He described lying about not wanting to travel to Mexico for a good friend’s wedding when actually he couldn’t risk being detained while returning to the United States.

“So you lie and you try to pass,” he said, describing how he tried to get rid of his Filipino accent by studying Bill Moyers and Tupac Shakur.

“From the age of 16 to 30, I was hiding in plain sight.”

Vargas said he called Immigration and Customs Enforcement himself.

“I said, ‘Hi, I haven’t heard from you. Are you going to deport me?’ And they said, ‘We don’t comment on individual cases.’ It’s not that I’m hiding from my government. I think they’re hiding from me.”

He said the biggest loss was his relationship with his mother, who’s been waiting 15 years to immigrate to the United States.

“We lost a lot. Not that I don’t thank my mother for making that sacrifice, but I wonder if that sacrifice was worth it. I think I would have preferred my mom.”

Vargas described how he “came out,” in 2011, by writing a column in the New York Times revealing his immigration status, against the advice of all of his immigration lawyers. Beforehand, he prepared himself for every possibility, such as being detained or deported. Because employers are not allowed to hire undocumented immigrants, he quit his job at the Huffington Post. He paid off his credit card bills.

But the result has been unexpected.

“You can’t hire me, but I can hire you,” he said. “So undocumented immigrants can start businesses and hire people.” He started a nonprofit called Define American and a production company.

“So this whole situation forced me to be something I never thought I’d be and that’s an entrepreneur.”

pile of books titled "Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen"

Jose Antonio Vargas' new book, "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen," is on sale following his "Define American: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant" keynote at the 2019 Flinn Foundation Centennial Lecture. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

After writing the book, Vargas traveled the country and said that the most common question he’s been asked is, “Why not just make yourself legal?”

“Because I’m a masochist and this is so much more fun,” he joked. He lamented that even many journalists don’t realize that there is no process for undocumented immigrants to “become legal.”

“They ask me why I’m mooching off society. I wrote a book and I’ve paid so much in taxes I should be a Republican.”

He said that people who are working in America without legal documentation paid $23.6 billion in taxes in 2015.

Vargas said that he’s heard many politicians proclaim that immigrants should only be allowed to stay if they earn it.

He then asked the audience to raise their hands if they’re American citizens.

“What have you done to earn it?”

Top photo: Jose Antonio Vargas delivers his "Define American: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant" keynote at the 2019 Flinn Foundation Centennial Lecture, hosted by Barrett, The Honors College, in the Tempe Center for the Arts on Sept. 19. Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and a vocal advocate for the human rights of immigrants. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

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