At 15th Annual National Book Festival, A Vibrant Latino Presence
*More than 200,000 attendees where Latino writers figured prominently among the nations best writers. VL
By Patricia Guadalupe, NBC News
WASHINGTON, DC — It’s an oft-heard assertion particularly of late in the throes of discussions about immigration, especially when talking about undocumented immigrants: Yes, my family came here but they played by the rules and that’s different.
But what were the rules when they arrived?
[pullquote]Immigration was just one of dozens of topics featured at this year’s gathering, which took up the entirety of the city’s convention center in downtown Washington — two enormous buildings the size of 35 football fields …[/pullquote]That’s a key premise of a new book, A Nation of Nations: The Great American Immigration Story, which tells how immigration has changed in the last half century thru the eyes of a handful of immigrant families in suburban Washington, D.C., and written by National Public Radio correspondent Tom Gjelten.
“…The rules were if you were white, you were welcomed. They came from Norway and they didn’t have to request a visa, they just got on a boat and came. They were considered to be a superior culture. The rules were totally rigged in their favor,” Gjelten said.
Gjelten[‘s] … comments were part of a panel discussion moderated by award-winning journalist and author Ray Suárez and held before a packed auditorium at the 15th Annual National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. by the Library of Congress.
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[Photo by Patricia Guadalupe]
