The Denver Jewish news., 1919-04-17

to come to them, the school children
are taught 10 urge Amrricanizatior
upon their parents and in many wit'e-
awake communities every inuiiSrhnf
is honored by IL personal visit IN the
Fart of representative Of the city's
educational forces, during which risi'
he is urged TO appreciate his opiior-
tunities and make the best %! then.
Put. after all. does this really reach
Ike heart of the situation. ana, whth
we have at last triumphed and the.
weary pupil is established in an Eng,
.lish class with the prospect of months
and months of patient tutelase aheiit'
can we.rcst on our laurels and bt
il necessary to resort to. sucll meiS-
ures to assimilate our new materia!
The newcomer entered into the com
munity. took his place in the econo-
mic life quickly assumed our mah-
ners and language. and became II
charter member of our national fdm-
lily. But that. one must confess, was
before the days of the Ghetto. the ten
cInent house. the sweat-shop and the
prcsent-day struggle for mere sub
sistencc.
One need not visualize the dingy.
miserable and sordid tenement life
into which the Immigrant is east up
on his arrival here to realize the cN-
;nl, hnnrS
and visions of the new land quickly
give place to dis;llusionment, discon-
tent and disgust. If the Immigrant
Is of the intellectual class, cynicism
end rebellion follow At any rate,
with citizenship still years off and
with the vote as some vague power.
unrelated. after all. to the vital and
immediate problems of poor housing.
job. and the prices Of the necessi-
! ties of life. the Immigrant turns upon
his dreams of citizenship in the land
of freedom and. before knowledge of
our language. customs and laws can
give him the key to his problems. lie
either rrnouncrs them. or losrs inter
est in them and devetes himself to the
irorc relevant problem of his daily
bread and his family.
The social center activities. the
neighborhoou life. the lectures ard
classes and opportunities that ought
to dazzle him. fall upon deaf cars:
lie is busy with practical problems Of
misunderstanding his earnings into
Il hundred and one different ways.
to meet his needs-and every new
effort TO assimilatc him might be ant
other effort at exploitation. True.
ncigl,borhood and. public offers to
serve him. with advice. frets legal ser
vice. job hunting and other practical
activities might gain his sympathy
if he understands them, is not too
busy TO avail himself of them. and
does not scorn charity" But the
mcixlIborhood life is to him alien, and
the miserable conditions about him
are things that can be avoided only
b, escape; there is no idea this hS
! Uniting with his ncighborS something
might le done to change things This
suggests another possibility in Amcri-
c.inization work and one that Seems
, Ia touch the core of the problem vt
lr..ichng the immigrant.
Suppose the immigrant. discouraged
and diseucStc,l with his small, msiiii-
tary rooms. were to discover that his
reighbors were banded together into
u housing committee with some sort
o. model housin. program with II plan
Ter securing better housing laws. with
Il plan. perhaps. to get some organi-
! zation or agency to build a model len
I cmcnt house in that very block ANA
suppose that these ncighbors were 10
! ask for his support. ask him 10 be-
{ come II member of their committee.
;.sk for his suggestions. his name on
II petition, his presence ut meetings.
Would he hesitate long before ende;N-
( oring to learn the Language that would
irtkc ii possible for him TO take part
IN these proceedings: And. when, ns
:. member of this committee. he lea;'h-
ed the value of n ballot to command