Currently, we are in the process of developing an exhibition that seeks to dispel common stereotypes and misconceptions of immigrant populations. Our exhibit, Connecting Communities, will open at the Arab American National Museum on October 1, 2009. This project began with approximately 12 college students from metropolitan Detroit interviewing 12 immigrants representing four ethnic communities in three different geographical locations. The communities included eastern European, southeast Asian, Hispanic and Arab American immigrants residing in Dearborn, southwest Detroit and Hamtramck. Students were trained through a series of courses on contemporary immigration, oral history, artifact collection, and exhibition development. Once the coursework was completed, the students paired off to conduct their interviews. Afterward, the AANM staff began developing the exhibition content, which is still in progress.

Earlier today I became aware of an interesting new report published by the Immigration Policy Center. Titled New Americans in the Great Lake State, this article sheds light on the political and economic impact of the three immigrant communities that will be featured in our exhibit. According to the report:

Immigrants account for large and growing shares of the economy and the electorate in Michigan. Immigrants make up more than 6% of the state's population, and nearly 47% of them are naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. "New Americans"-immigrants and the children of immigrants-account 5.2% of all registered voters in the state. Latinos account for nearly 5% of all Michiganians and wield more than $8.8 billion in consumer purchasing power. At last count, the sales and receipts of businesses owned by Latinos and Asians totaled more than $8 billion. Michigan is also home to the largest proportion of Arab Americans, who generate an estimated $544 million in state tax revenue each year. Immigrant workers and entrepreneurs are integral to Michigan's economy and tax base-and they are an electoral force with which every politician must reckon.

I am pleased that this report was published so close to the opening of our exhibit. It serves as yet another resource to help illustrate the positive impact that immigrant communities are having on our society. It's important to have factual resources to help counter the irrational vilification of recent immigrants.

We have been compiling several similar resources to use as supplemental materials in our exhibit (point your browser here to read the economic impact study conducted by Wayne State University on the Hispanic community in southwest Detroit). In fact, we have purchased the reproduction rights to a New York Times interactive map from the Remade in America series, which will be featured as interactive in the exhibit. I presume we will have these resources available in the museum's library and resource center. Further, we will most likely host links to many resources on the exhibition web page.

While all these reports and statistics are important, they do little to humanize the experience of immigrants. Speaking to this, our interpretative approach to this exhibit was to utilize the personal narrative, or vignette. In short, we hope to elicit empathy and understanding through the stories and experiences of immigrants, as told by them.

Please do join us on October 1 at the exhibition opening.

Labels: Immigration, Temporary Exhibits