In the United States, we want to believe we will never become a country of refugees.

People might like to think a war is done when a cease fire is signed, but for most people who lived through a war it goes on for decades.

Immigrants, as troubling as they are to some people, are an integral part of what the American Dream is supposed to be. They're understandable to a considerable number of Americans.

Writers from the majority can assume their audiences know what they're talking about - they don't have to explain things, whereas minority writers are expected to.

Immigrants who voluntarily come to a country have already made a decision to assimilate to one degree or another. Probably not completely, but they've committed to the place, and they know that they need to make certain kinds of concessions. They change themselves in some way to fit in. They're looking forward as much as they're still looking backward.

No one wants for their child to become a refugee. It's an awful experience.

Hollywood in many ways serves as the unofficial ministry of propaganda for the United States.