Immigration stories beyond Ellis Island

For the assimilation romantics in the post below, here's a bundle of joy courtesy of those who love history for what it really was, rather than for its sweetened Walt Disney version. Transnational migration was, and continues to be, a tough decision for many; one that is often equally influenced by others' decisions on how people should live, work, and govern themselves. The story of immigration, as Francis X. Clines tells it here, is not all flowery and cute:

And what about the ignored immigrant sagas of slaves brought in chains from Africa? Native Americans who arrived in pre-history and were forced to emigrate out of the path of settlers? And Mexicans and Hawaiians pressed into citizenship through war and annexation? Not to mention hordes of illegal immigrants still arriving with no fanfare.

The column discusses the creation of the Peopling of America Center, which will re-focus American history around the little-known, and often tragic, stories of those who made it grow, as much as the heralded Ellis Island migrants once did. That's what this country needs.