A Cultural Welcome Wagon?

It was 1970 and I remember that when we moved from the foreign country of California to the town in Oregon where I would grow up, we were visited by some ladies from the local “Welcome Wagon.” They brought a nice fruit basket, some words of welcome, and some advice as to good places to shop, doctors, dentists, and other professionals that were in the area. Apparently, the “Welcome Wagon” has been around since 1928 as their website explains, 

Welcome Wagon was founded in 1928 by an insightful marketing man in Memphis, Tennessee, Thomas Briggs. Mr. Briggs was inspired by stories of early Conestoga “welcome wagons” that would meet and greet westward travelers, providing fresh food and water for the journey. He created Welcome Wagon to embody this same spirit of warm hospitality and welcome. He hired "hostesses", women who were friendly and knowledgeable about their neighborhood, to personally deliver baskets of gifts supplied by local businesses to new homeowners. Over a cup of coffee, hostesses would tell new home buyers about local civic and cultural activities in the community while handing out gifts and coupons from local businesses. This hostess network expanded across the country until, aside from Briggs and just a handful of males, Welcome Wagon became one of the first all-woman companies in the US.

This business plan for this group found that by giving public service-type information, their representatives could move into giving coupons and plugging local businesses. It really was all about the money.

What if we, as Christian ambassadors could set aside the commercialized approaches of merchants and mega-churches always looking for market share and program growth and provide a different, more relational, and culturally helpful kind of welcome?

In my last post, I included a quote from Soon Ang, and Linn Van Dyne’s Handbook of Cultural Intelligence: Theory, Measurement, and Applications that emphasized the importance of training immigrants in the rudimentary elements of the culture of the country to which they are moving. I will repeat the last part of it here, “Immigrant cultures need to change, and people must become culturally intelligent or stay in the margins of society. People who are culturally intelligent zero in on aspects of culture that are different and respond appropriately.”

This issue was brought home to me again as I was asking a friend of mine about her own experience as a refugee from Laos in UN-run camps in Thailand and then in regards to her coming to the US in the 80s. I asked her what could have been done better and I was surprised when she said the same thing as the Handbook of Cultural Intelligence. She said it would have been better to have someone explain some of the aspects and expectations of our culture before arriving here when all the lessons come the hard way. In addition, no one explained that she could have attended high school when she came. She got a job and taught herself English working in a 7-11. She was one of the feisty ones that seem to be able to succeed despite the odds. 

Part of the problem is we tend to have cultural myopia and think everyone thinks like we do and should behave the way that we do in our native culture. What seems strange to them may be normal to us and vice versa. We need to be able to talk through the potential points of friction before it starts a fire; seeking mutual understanding instead of sitting back and complaining.

What if we were intentional about not just teaching ESL classes, but actually engaging culturally with immigrants, teaching them our cultural “dance” so that they will not be sentenced to “stay in the margins of society” like economic and political wallflowers. At the same time, it would be helpful for us to learn about their culture as well, thus mutually benefiting each other. Revisiting the "Welcome Wagon" idea, what if we also shared the lay of the land, letting newcomers know where "locals" hang out--the best places to shop, eat, and get your car fixed--without any financial kickbacks? It might actually become a wonderful neighborhood!

Finally, there has been much written in criticism of America as a “melting pot” and how it tends to homogenize cultures into one bland bowl of porridge. I prefer to think of it as a pot of soup or stew where the flavor is enhanced and made richer by the inclusion and blending of many other cultural influences. However, for this to happen well, we must do better at welcoming the stranger that stands at our door and be involved allowing them to become a friend, or perhaps family.

A Generational Jihad of Blame

[This post is an assigned response to a September 2014 post by Paul Louis Metzger entitled Who Is to Blame for the “Jihad Generation”? His original post was in response to the increasingly radicalized nature of Islamic youth populations in Europe and North America and such phenomena as ISIS/ISIL and how we should respond.]

Who is to blame? Interestingly, my first thought is why start with the concept of blame? I am not sold on the value of affixing blame, pointing the finger at others, for actually solving the problem. While it can be beneficial to confess our own failures, working to pin blame on another is a rather negative and polarizing negotiating approach. If Dr. Metzger’s point is to use Britain’s purported failure to engage young 1^st & 2^nd generation immigrants to prompt us to look inside our own hearts and society for the cause of this phenomenon then I can see the point. But why ask “who is to blame” instead of considering how we may have failed?

 

My second thought is that if, as Metzger’s Islamic friend suggests, jihad “is the internal struggle within oneself to battle and overcome evil” then why is prompting such spiritual struggle blameworthy in the first place? Either the rise of jihad is negative with blame attached or positive with credit attached. If it is neither positive nor negative then we can attach a little apathy and say “Who cares?” The problem with the practice of jihad, and usually with blame as well, is that it tends to be directed externally, demonizing others instead of the evil working on our own hearts. It’s just easier that way…but it is not helpful. We have been doing it almost since the beginning, starting with Adam blaming Eve and Eve blaming the snake (Gen 3:12-13).

I can sympathize with the quoted statement that “young Muslims in inner-city Britain have been left disenfranchised by politics and let down by imams and other community leaders.” This is the case in many places of the world, especially in areas containing a high number of culturally distant immigrants. Refugee parents may have had good reasons for coming to Britain, the US or Canada, etc. but their kids may not have fully felt the pain that prompted such a move. They often have only felt disappointment at the inability of Western culture and economics to ultimately bring the sense of satisfaction and belonging that they seek. One issue here in America is the indoctrination of immigrants into a life of dependency on government and private sponsorship instead of working closely with immigrants to help them navigate their way out of the system.

Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that there is help available to the destitute refugee-type immigrant. But their drive to achieve and succeed can quickly be ruined by well-meaning charity and a less-than-well-meaning cultural environment in the ghettos where they often have to settle. We need to consider how we as a society can be more invitational and relational to the sojourners in our midst.

Dr. Metzger also quoted an Independent article that “addresses the need for Muslim leaders to connect better with youths to make sure they are well-adapted in their Western cultural contexts.” This agrees with something I read in the Handbook of Cultural Intelligence that suggested that this acculturation process should start before the person ever emigrates. In our pluralistic, politically-correct, tolerance-oriented behavior are we actually marginalizing immigrants by not teaching them our culture? Soon Ang and Linn Van Dyne, suggest that we are doing just that, and caution,

"When there is a large cultural distance, it is necessary to train immigrants to understand the consequences of their immigration, and to become somewhat culturally intelligent. In my opinion, it is irresponsible to give permanent visas to people who do not understand the local culture. It is also undesirable to use the "leave them alone" policy in "respecting" immigrant cultures. Immigrant cultures need to change, and people must become culturally intelligent or stay in the margins of society. People who are culturally intelligent zero in on aspects of culture that are different and respond appropriately."^[1]

Reconciliation must be sought. It might take longer than we would like and it may require us to humble ourselves walking slowly back the way we came to learn a different approach, but ignoring it will leave casualties in a growing minefield of anger and resentment.

When people prepare to immigrate, they really need to prepare themselves in advance for the cultural expectations, temptations, and disappointments that they will experience. It is almost like an iteration of Proverbs 20:21 “An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end.”  

So am I blaming the immigrants? No, I am not, but we would be doing them a service to help prepare them before they come as well as coming alongside to befriend and coach them once they are here. I have read a number of studies that show that most foreign university students studying in the US will never be invited into an American home for a meal, or a holiday, during their stay here. If that is the case then they will probably leave without any positive relational ties to the West, and that sense of exclusion and distance may spell trouble for us in the long run since they are the next leaders of their countries.

Here are a few of the ideas that I think might be helpful to communicate to cultural guests and to ourselves as well:

·       No place is perfect no matter what it looks like on TV.

·       No people are without flaws and engagement will require intentionality, patience, and forgiveness.

·       While no one should be kept down, don’t expect everything to be handed to you. It takes work to get a leg up.

·       Much of what you observe will seem strange or even wrong according to your culture of origin, don’t hesitate to ask for cultural clarification.

·       No one should expect someone else to have to carry their load for them.

·       No one should be kept at arm’s length and ghettoized by the dominant culture, but no one will be successful without learning the culture of the land where they live and work (or want to work).

Part of breaking out of the cultural ghetto is building trust. Someone has to go first. Instead of joining in the generational jihad of blame that hinders true engagement, perhaps we can just pause to consider how well are we doing in our efforts directed at breaking down barriers of mistrust and make any adjustments that are necessary. [This applies to members of both the dominant and the minority cultures.]

 

Then, if you have a table, set another place and invite someone in.

---

[1] Soon Ang, and Linn Van Dyne, eds. Handbook of Cultural Intelligence: Theory, Measurement, and Applications (Armank, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2008), xii.