Americaness: Loading…

Moussa Sakouk

Year after year, immigrants make the difficult decision to leave their homes and families to live in the United States with dreams of creating better lives for themselves. The phrase “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” is inspiring. Many immigrants see these words as pillars to build a future upon. The promises outlined in the Declaration of Independence are hopeful, but the emotional cost of assimilation is severe. Immigrants are often forced to reinvent their lives to be accepted and avoid segregation. In this process, immigrants surrender aspects of their own culture in order to co-exist.

Americaness: Loading… is derived from a personal immigration experience. It is a visual representation of American and Moroccan cultures clashing with one another—to the point where one culture slowly erases the other. Often, when moving to a new country, immigrants are encouraged through social and cultural practices and/or political machinations, to adopt the culture, values, and social behaviors of the host nation. Over time, immigrant communities shed the culture that is embedded in their native language, values, rituals, and religion. [1] The result is a lack of discernible cultural differences within community members of the host country.

One solution to the problem is helping natives of the dominant culture understand the challenges immigrants go through, as well as being empathetic to the struggle of adapting to a new country. By recognizing an immigrant’s journey which consists of isolation, lack of resources, and minimal community support, natives of the host country can create a collective openness towards immigrants. Americaness: Loading… reinforces the process of authentic community engagement, where all members of the community have the potential to transform the immigrant experience into a positive and meaningful transition. [2]

[1] Anheier, Helmut, and Mark Juergensmeyer. "Encyclopedia of Global Studies." 2012. (Vol. 1, pp. 93-93). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781452218557.n31

[2] Lee, Joanne. "The Problem with Cultural Assimilation." Healthy Places by Design. Last modified September 12, 2018. https://healthyplacesbydesign.org/the-problem-with-cultural-assimilation/.