“ S E E I N GSIA M E R I C A ”
A photographic essay
by John Patrick Naughton

The migration and immigration of peoples is an ancient and well-told story, whether you begin in Liberia, as DNA tests would suggest, or look to the French Huguenots landing in England in the 17th century, or to the Irish who swelled New York’s Harbor in the 19th century. Most remarkable are the ethnically and religiously diverse people set on one common goal: America.

In the time that it has taken you to view this web site a family has left Borneo for a new way of life in Jakarta, two men from North Korea have crossed a river into China, a Mexican family has begun their walk across the Arizona desert, a child in search of his parents has jumped a freight train in Honduras and an American soldier has been returned to his native country for burial. This is an epic story of people in transit.

“Seeing America,” began as a natural outgrowth of photographs I took on September 11, 2001. I wanted to know how immigrants feel about the current White House administration. I wanted to know how they see the American people. Most importantly I wanted to know how they view America in this historic moment.

Since that time some of my immigrant friends have applied for citizenship in other countries; some have left New York State and others have left America all together. In over forty interviews I have learned that life has not been easy for them. America has been both a dream and a disappointment. Yet their strength and perseverance remains an inspiration.

There is no greater a compliment that one people can give another than to share in their dream of democratic ideals—even if those ideals are under siege. Would Americans do the same—sacrifice so much for something they knew so little about? History tells us they would. But history has changed. And how we see America has changed as well.
And how we see America has changhanhaned—JPN

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“It’s very present in my mind, I was a political prisoner. There was a military coup in Chile in 1973, I was arrested in 1974, the government considered me to be an enemy. I was released in 1976 thanks to visas given to Chilean political prisoners by the United States and many organizations involved in human rights. The last moments, I was taken from the prison in a car with four agents for the international police and they put me on a airplane for New York—where I was received by an agency— international rescue committee who was responsible for Chilean refugees. My status in coming here was legal, I was a political refugee.”

“All the time for peace and love for all humankind. They have the love to invite people into this country, so we as priests have to pray for them, and pray for the country. Children, to change how small kids carry guns here and there—it’s not good. Parents have to pray for their children and guide them, tell them not to do bad things. Starting from home to school, children must behave. In Nigeria, violence. Violence I do not want, here it is so peaceful. You eat well, you sleep well and you wake well. I love America.”

“The country (Guyana) was getting difficult to live there, the cost of living was high, food items were very expensive—you had to stand in line in the hot sun to buy a loaf of bread or a pound of butter. It was very, very difficult in the early eighties. The day I left Guyana, my mother was happy and she was sad. The happy part was that her daughter is leaving the country. The sad part is that her daughter is no longer there.”

“Education. I think Americans are seriously under educated—not only about their own society—but the rest of the world and that I think causes a lot of problems. For example, there is no teaching of geography generally as a separate subject in American High Schools—the teaching of history is incredibly U.S. centric. It does not look at history from multiple perspectives which I think is what you need to do. For such a large, diverse country it can be very provincial. People are willfully ignorant about so many things and that has to do with how they are educated.”

“When we came here, we had a two-bedroom apartment and compared to Hong Kong it was huge. We had hot water, in Hong Kong we didn’t have hot water—every third day we had water—there was a water rationing at that time. Here we had electricity, TV—all that stuff that we never had in Hong Kong. We had a refrigerator, an unlimited amount of food—in Hong Kong you have to buy what you eat every day because we had no refrigerator, no storage, a minimum amount of food. It was a big change. It was for the better.”

“Directly the perception African Americans have towards Africans—their failure to understand their roots. They are not willing to accept us as one of them. I would work hard to change that, I can’t blanket all of the African Americans—some think we are aliens from some planet. I feel sad that they have forgotten their roots. The homeland is Africa; do not be ashamed of how you got here or the history.”

“Change...it would have to be tolerance. More understanding of other cultures. New York is the ultimate melting pot. There is every culture represented here through dance, food and clothing. In terms of truly understanding people, their countries and religions—tolerance and understanding will only help others to understand immigrants better. It will also help the second and third generations of immigrants and their children who grow up in this country.”

“When I first came here, I met friends of my family—it was very good. I want to talk about food, the food. The food here was not like in my country. In my country the food is very natural—good taste and everything. When I came here, I had no friends, no job, no house. Later I found an apartment for rent, then a job. I was a waiter for six months, so it’s not so bad. I changed my profession. Now I am a barber—I like my job.”

“It was a pleasant day, May the 28, 1989—the weather was very good so a lot of people came to my house to say good-bye. Then the buses came and we put our suitcases inside, then we went to the terminal. Our way to New York was through several countries, Belarus, Poland, Austria—where we would stay in Vienna for three weeks and then to Italy. In Italy we would stay in a small town called “ La Displi “ for three months, and then we would come here.
My first impression... I was scared. When I first saw the subway, I was scared—it was a scary place. Our subways are very nice, beautiful, in Minsk, Moscow and Leningrad. It was not only scary, it was new.”

“If I could change something in American culture, it would be their relation to money. It seems only money matters. When you meet someone—other girls, or if I meet a guy, they first would say something to justify his or her money—how much he has and I hate that. I would also change their way of eating; American people should take more time to eat properly and correctly. I can’t stand seeing somebody drinking a coke early in the morning. I would make them take what the French people call, “ Le Temps de Vivre,” time to appreciate things like the pleasure to share a drink at a coffee shop. I would also change their way of looking at the outside world, it seems like they are only interested in what is going on in their country—they should not be so self-centered.”

“Life in Poland was different, now it’s being
commercialized. It’s like a river, a lot of things, from different points of view. Family life combined with education for the children, in the family and in the schools. Basically, the quality of our life is based on what young people are learning—how they are learning to live. As you see from the papers or the TV, it’s not that great. It needs to be changed, somehow. Bureaucracy and bribery, that’s what I would change—in Poland like the States—bureaucracy and bribery.”

Douglas Hamilton (above, seated): “America almost lived up to my expectations of what I perceived America to be—paved with gold. Still, from a child’s point of view the lights as you come in at night—the lights were beautiful. It was a fantasy, still beautiful, in my mind the streets were paved with gold. Everything was perfect. You learn, as you get older that things are not the way they seem, but from the perspective now—they are better than how I had it—the opportunities are better.”