Los Angeles Valley College Immigrants in the US Discussion

1.Please watch the following Ted Talk video on United States immigration history, sitting at 16 minutes long.

Answer the following questions after watching the following video. Answers may be short and to the point, no long paragraphs necessary for this assignment (unless you want to!).

1) During Krishnankutty’s workshops on American history and contributions, what type of responses do people give when they hear the word “immigrant?”

2) As an immigrant himself, what contribution did John Muir give to the American landscape?

3) From what country did the founder of Tesla and SpaceX immigrate from?

4) In what capacity did most European immigrants come to the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries?

5) What type of experiences did Krishnankutty experience after coming to the United States from India? Positive, negative, or in-between?

6) During the last 20 years, what tragic major event prompted a resurgence of anti-immigrant mentality in the United States?

7) What were Ben Franklin’s thoughts and views on German immigrants coming to the United States? Did he support their arrival, or have another viewpoint?

8) Did other European immigrants, such as the Irish, Italians, Swedes, Russians, and others experience similar anti-immigrant rhetoric during their first migration waves?

9) What Asian group had both an instrumental impact onto American expansion and building, while simultaneously having an 1882 exclusion act bar them from migrating here?

10) Personal Commentary Question: As we see rising rates of immigrants in the United States in the 21st century, we now see high-volume immigrants arriving from “new” countries than from previous decades. What insightful question(s) does Krishnankutty pose to the audience in terms of changing American perspectives about immigrants. Did the Ted Talk influence your perception of immigration

2. Please watch the following video on KKK rallies, a little less than 19 minutes long.

Answer the following questions after watching the following video. Answers may be short and to the point, no long paragraphs necessary for this assignment (unless you want to!).

1) What profession did the grand dragon have during the day?

2) As a kid walking down the street during his cub scouts parade, what did the white crowd do to Mr. Davis?

3) After the secretary got ahold of Roger Kelly, the “Imperial Wizard,” where did they end up meeting for their interview?

4) What tragic event occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, that Mr. Davis comments on?

5) Where would Mr. Davis invite Mr. Kelly to talk and engage in conversation? What guests did Mr. Davis also invite over the years?

6) After they became friends, what events did Mr. Kelly begin inviting Mr. Davis to? This event might seem like the worst place for Mr. Davis to attend.

7) What advice does Mr. Davis give to the audience at the end of the video?

8) Relate this situation of “they hated me even though they didn’t know me” to either something you see in today’s news cycle OR something from personal experience.

9) Relating this to modern-day politics, do you think that this “reaching out to the other side” can be accomplished between Democrats and Republicans to end divisiveness?

10) Personal Commentary Question: Relating this to modern racial relations, do you believe that racism is getting better or worse in the United States as time goes on? Why or why not? Feel free to discuss, either with liberal, moderate, or conservative opinions. Just be respectful.