Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone
Many immigrants come to the United States in pursuit of opportunity, however they struggle to adopt the dominant culture’s language, which limits the job opportunities available to them. Historically, immigrants assimilated by having to learn dominant language, but this challenge led them to create ethnic enclaves that make them feel more welcomed. Many enclaves in the United States, for example the Latino population in San Francisco’s Mission District, give a sense of comfort and nostalgia of home because people from that community have similarities to their homeland. Newcomers do not need to step out of their enclave because they have all the support they need in their communities. Although many immigrants come to the United States in hope of opportunity, they are limited to achieving and moving forward because of their ethnic enclaves. Because these enclaves do not allow them to expand into different cultures, they are limited both socially and economically.
Within ethnic communities, there are a huge number of people who face language barriers that prevents them from seeking employment outside of their ethnic community. People within these ethnic enclaves do not feel the need to learn the dominant language, because the majority of the population with their community speaks the same language as they do. Places like San Francisco’s China town has established their own enclave that includes everything from grocery shops to hospitals. This
This English barrier in regards to employment is also benefited by the ethnic residential concentration within Cabramatta. Fellow community members can provide job opportunities that suit migrant or non-English speaking workers in workplaces that also speak that language, including local shops and warehouses. See Figure 3 below- the delivery driver in this photo speaks Vietnamese and has poor English skills. He works for his Vietnamese cousin and delivers to Vietnamese store holders. This reveals that the ethnic residential concentration in Cabramatta has created a job opportunity where there otherwise may have not have been in other areas for someone with such poor English skills.
The United States has been a host to a wide diaspora of people. Immigrants have had to transition from their familiar land to a new-fashioned foreign land that they must consider home. They bring with them the essence of their initial homeland such as customs, traditions and beliefs that inadvertently change the dynamics of culture within the United States. As a result the United States is an extremely culturally diverse nation. The continual changes or accretions that Americans encounter have always been a controversial topic depending on the experiences of individuals and communities that have immigrant populations. This essay will critically explore
Simply put, America is the land of opportunity. In the past, immigrants have left most of their family, memories, and familiarities with their homeland in search of a better life in America, where jobs were easy to find and the economy was booming. These immigrants formed almost the entire American population, a demographic anomaly in which people from nationalities separated by land and sea; these people come from countries separated by expansive distances can live within the same neighborhood. Both Anna Quindlen with her essay “A Quilt of a Country” and John F. Kennedy with his essay “The Immigrant Contribution” have documented the story of these immigrants and
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream. It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most
Several communities are known for having residents from a specific ethnic group. Oscar Casares delves deeper behind this topic in his essay, “Crossing the Border without Losing your Past,” where he discusses how vital it is for an individual to hold onto the roots of their ancestors as well as practicing its rich culture and traditions. Due to prominent similarities in culture, language, life style, and cuisine, many individuals from a certain race live in a community with others of their kind, hence the gathering of neighborhoods in unison. Thus, Casares states, “In my hometown, Brownsville, Tex., almost everyone I know is Mexicano: neighbors, teachers, principals, … rich and poor, short and tall, fat and
A big part of the problem is that they do not get enough experience speaking or writing in their parents’ native language (Population Council). However the bigger part of the problem is most immigrants’ method of parenting. Chinese immigrants’ way of raising their children to speak and write both Chinese and English fluently has proven that it is possible to raise the next generations to be bilingual. According to a study by Eddie Kuo, over 90 percent of the studied Chinese-American families mainly spoke Chinese at home, proving that Chinese are the only immigrants who truly hold on to their language everywhere they go. That is why Chinese is the most common language around the world, before Hindu and English (Ethnologue). It is such a big advantage to know multiple languages; bilingual people always have higher chances of getting hired, especially if they are in the community in which that their languages are commonly used. Other ethnic groups should really learn from the Chinese and preserve their native language.
Immigrants- illegal or not, do not have the first claim to ownership of common stock or common land. Immigration isn’t necessary for the benefit of the host nation’s economy. In any case, one might prefer lower living standards rather than higher living standards in exchange for greater distance from others. Moreover, no multicultural society has ever lasted very long. In fact, diverse neighborhoods report less social cohesion than neighborhoods with a less diversity.
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and
When most people think about immigration to the United States, they think of the U.S. as being the “land of opportunity,” where they will be able to make all of their dreams come true. For some people, immigration made their lives richer and more fulfilled. This however, was not always the case. A place that is supposed to be a “Golden Land” (Marcus 116) did not always welcome people with open arms. Even after people became legal citizens of the United States, often times the natural born Americans did not treat the immigrants as equals but rather as outsiders who were beneath them in some way. In some situations, people’s lives were made worse by coming to the “land of opportunity.” Often times people were living no better than they
The United States of America is considered a melting pot of heritages and nationalities from all around the world. There is no official language, and no one culture all citizens abide by. Despite the fact that everyone in this country is different from one another, there is still a constant uniform citizen that has a more favorable position. This citizen is white, English-speaking, and somehow always in the front of the public sphere. In the recent years, there has been an increasingly dominant Latino presence in America. Their strength in numbers challenges there being a poster American citizen, and that that citizen will remain white. When working to assimilate to America’s “culture,” Lations seem to believe that there is one America, within which people speak a singular language and experience one culture. The pressure to assimilate stems from the white citizens of the country feeling threatened when there is a new culture and language, which they do not understand. As a result they feel personally threatened by the people who can speak both Spanish and English, and their response response involves marginalization and the obvious exclusion of Latino groups in the United States. There is a phenomenon, cultural citizenship, where Latinos perform their cultural practices to stretch their identity into the states, and practice their right to be authentic members of their community.
Along with its economic classes, American is known for its freedom, its liberty, and the melting pot of ethnicity. This ethnic diversity comes form the immigrant population in the country. However this perfect country is a major falsehood. These untrue ideals of harmony, freedom, success, and equality are deceptive and do not show the struggles that immigrants face when coming to this class dominated country. The immigrants of today do not come from just Europe, but overwhelmingly from Asia and Latin America. “They are driving a demographic shift so rapid that within the lifetimes of today 's teenagers, no one ethnic group – including whites of European descent – will comprise a majority of the nation 's population’ (Colombo, Cullen, Lisle). These immigrants challenge the social myth that everyone has an equal chance in life. They
America’s integration of immigrants will lead to the rise of a new society with a variety of languages, traditions and way of life. As a recent study from Pew University revealed that the children of immigrants, are in general doing better economically than their parents, are more likely to marry and have friends outside their ethnic groups, and are twice as likely to say they consider themselves to be a “typical American.”
However, sometimes those factors influence certain needs of the hierarchy more than others. The love and belongingness level touches on the desire for a person to feel a certain attachment and membership to a place or a community (Nelson & Hiemstra, 2008). In small-town Leadville, Colorado, several challenges and barriers influenced the sense of security and love and belongingness needs of Hispanic immigrants. According to the research of Nelson and Hiemstra (2008), most of the Hispanic population in this town included undocumented individuals that worked long hours and perhaps had not mastered the English language. Even though their jobs were within the community, it did not transcend to being included and being a part of the town. This problem is seen not only in small towns, but all over the United
America is a very diverse country. It holds several races and thousands of diverse culture in one continent. Does anyone ever imagine what struggles immigrants’ face, before settling in this country? There is not one or two struggle but it is a handful of struggle every family has to g through. Even after they have settled down, their past life does not stop to effect their present. Their kids are raised in a cultural background, which impacts their social and school life. Some of the main struggles are adapting to the new culture, language barrier, low confidence level, financial insecurity, and most importantly is different moral values. America is a bright country, where everyone aspires to come because it looks very glamorous. However, to be a part of this glamorous world, people will have to assimilate and change into something they never imagined to be.
In the United States, only about 15-20 percent of Americans consider themselves bilingual, compared to 56 percent of Europeans. Out of those 15-20 percent of Americans, only a handful of them work in a sociable, business-like career, where language and communication is key. According to an article in The Daily Texan, American employers are progressively desiring workers who speak multiple languages, particularly in industries that provide services involving a high degree of human interaction, such as business and healthcare (Franklin par.1). The lack of bilingualism in the US job market and business world is going to cause a setback for companies in the future, but with the help of increased language opportunities, the companies will be able to avoid those complications.