The immigration debate is inescapable.

CNN.  Jay Leno.  Talk Radio.   The Dinner Table.  Even around the water cooler at your job.

We are in the middle of an immigration debate that will no doubt have a long-lasting impact on our culture, economy, and politics of the 21st century.  On the surface, this debate simply poses questions about who can enter this country and, once here, whose stay will be sanctioned. 

However, we shouldn’t miss the real opportunity to engage in dialogue with each other as stakeholders – irrespective of our status as immigrant, U.S. citizen, or guest worker -  who have a vested interest in the vitality of American communities and who seek to stake a claim about how we truly define this place where the "melting pot" is the ideal but seldom the reality.

Interested in some food for thought? Ponder this: 

• Many Americans are shocked at the power and momentum with which the firestorm surrounding the debate over United States immigration reform has ensued.  Yet those who have followed the history of first- and second-generation immigrants of various origins and nationalities should not be surprised.

• Second-generation immigrants in the United States have long struggled with what it means to embrace one’s parent culture, heritage and homeland while attempting to integrate into a new society.  American society has historically struggled with a phobia of immigrant influence on the "American" way of life.  How do we understand what' s new about this debate? What does the past have to teach us?

• Immigration reform is nothing new.  Changes in immigration law 40 years ago led to an influx of immigrants from Caribbean, Asian, and Latin American countries.  How will impending United States immigration reform impact future generations?

• The current debate, with its questions of who has the right to stay and who must go, opens the channels for an even deeper dialogue, namely:  Who are we really as Americans?  Are we fearful that the current state of our “melting pot” will leave very few who will claim to be simply American without hyphens? What does this state of fear mean about Americans' willingness to embrace practices of diversity and equity in the United States?

• What does this debate mean for native-born communities of color?  A lot.  African Americans, for example, must enter the current debate on immigration. African Americans often make the mistake of thinking that immigration is simply a “Latino-community” issue and not one that demands the attention of  black leaders and cultural pundits.  The reality is that, although Mexico and other Latin American countries send the most immigrants to the U.S., Afro-Caribbean islands are also part of the immigration influx.  This has a significant impact on black culture and politics in the United States.

• Further, blacks and Latinos often experience parallel issues spurred by structural racism and lack of access to quality education, health care, and affordable housing.  These are critical issues in American communities on which they can and have historically found common ground to collaborate.

What can cultural history offer to the current immigration debate? Check out Constructing Black Selves for a fresh and engaging perspective on immigrant communities since WWII. Constructing Black Selves: Caribbean American Narratives and the Second Generation demonstrates the significant cultural impact that immigrants and their children have historically had on the vibrancy of U.S. culture and politics, using the works of Harry Belafonte, Paule Marshall, and others as examples.