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Historical memory is the basis for all civilization. And there, where historical memory has been interrupted in the history of the human race, have followed the so-called Dark Ages. We give a great deal of attention to innovation, but still, it proceeds from memory of a historical nature. There can be no doubt that our subject constitutes a subject for very serious discussion; inasmuch as the integration of this national group to the English-speaking lands of the New Worlds has been one of the most striking features of the history of modern Greeks, and has been for over a hundred years. It has been an integral factor in the political, economic and social evolution of modern Greek society, the modern Greek state, as well as the modern Greeks living outside the boundaries of the Greek state. Thus, the very history of modern Greece has been profoundly affected by this massive immigration for over one-half of the chronological existence of the modern Greek state. Though this salient fact would, in and of itself, be sufficient to warrant serious and long term scholarly research, the immigration of the Greeks to Canada, Australia and the United States has been a part of a much larger phenomenon of worldwide immigration that brought, eventually, a bewildering array of ethnic groups from Africa, Asia and Europe to the New Worlds; and so, Greek immigration is part of a modern, cosmic phenomenon. The study of the Greek case thus helps us to understand not only the history and culture of Greece, but also of Australia, Canada, the United States and indeed, of much of the world.
The study of immigration has become increasingly a subject of scholarly interest with such relevance that governmental circles in the New World have given considerable attention - not to say money - not only to immigrants as such, but also to their quantification, to their socialization in the new homelands, and to their cultures. This is most advanced in Australia and Canada, with their official multicultural policies. Such policies do not exist in the United States. The Civil Rights movements of the black community and the novel of Mr. Haley unleashed the "Roots" movement, which originating with the valiant efforts of the black community to...