I first met several people who are on this listserv ten years ago when I spoke at the Reinventing Design Education conference in Perth. In my talk (http://www.gunnarswanson.com/writing/IllegalAlien.pdf), I compared designers in the university to illegal aliens, faced with choices between collecting their pay and remaining a foreign underclass, fully assimilating to the new country (and, in the process, losing much of themselves), or inventing a way of being (in the Southern California version of this analogy) simultaneously both Mexican and American and also neither. The last choice requires more work, more uncertainty, and still leaves some loss inevitable. It also means, inevitably, that the new culture will change, becoming richer and more interesting.
Some of the bitterness that is the subtext of parts of this discussion is familiar to anyone who lives in a place where immigrants are a major population. I would [still clinging to my analogy] argue that the American model of multiculturalism is far from perfect (and has often not been handled well) but the German model is a clear failure. The assimilationist view is unworkable and naïve and plans to build a border wall are delusional.
As we learned in my native California and as those of you in England have discovered, a little acceptance will, if nothing else, really improve the food.
Gunnar
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