Hunger Of Memory By Richard Rodriquez

Furthermore, in most cases, it may seem the United States has a system in which immigrants are not given the chance to form a bright future. In the novel, “Antonio soon found himself settling for jobs that were clearly beneath him. He stood under the baking sun at the on-ramp to the Santa Monica Freeway, selling oranges for two dollars a bag: a dollar fifty for the guy from the produce market, fifty cents for him,” (Tobar, 53). Many of the immigrants that live in the U.S. have little power that allows them to succeed. Some races have benefitted from it more than others. The Cubans, for instance, have had it much easier than most immigrants who have migrated to the United States; whereas, Antonio, a Guatemalan, had trouble finding a stable job that allowed him to sustain himself. In contrast to many other races, many Americans described Cubans as being visitors who represent, “all phases of life and professions, having an excellent level of education… More than half of their families with them, including children brought from Cuba to escape communist indoctrination in the schools,”

In the article “15 Years on the Bottom Rung” written by Anthony DePalma compares the story of a Greek and a Mexican immigrant, seeking better opportunities here in the United States. However, one succeeds and one doesn’t. One commonality is that they both resided in New York. Mr. Zannikos is the Greek immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1953 with 100 dollars to his name. Mr. Zannikos 19, left with no intent to go back to Greece. Once Mr. Zannikos arrived in New York he immediately started working and learning English. While working in a coffee shop the shop was raided by the cops and he was deported. Mr.zannikos snuck back in the United States and married a Puerto Rican from the Bronx, because of this he was able to gain citizenship giving him the opportunity to own his own restaurant “3 Guys”. 3 Guys became very successful in the South Bronx. In contrast, Mr. Peralta is a Mexican immigrant who came to the United States in 1990, whose father sent him because he was the first born and never able to have that opportunity for himself. Mr. Peralta 19, was out of a job for weeks waiting for job openings when he first arrived in New York. Once Mr. Peralta found a job opening he made enough money to pay back his father back, so he went back to Mexico to take care of his family and winds up getting married to Matilda while there. Mr. Peralta returns to New York with his new wife illegally. Living in poverty Mr. Peralta could only accept cheap labor jobs because he was not a documented citizen and didn’t know much English. DePalma explains in his writing why Mr. Peralta was not able to triumph in New York because of ethnicity, marriage, and language.

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

Throughout our history as a nation, we have earned a reputation of undermining the relationships we have had with minorities and of largely neglecting their needs. Our almost hostile nature towards minorities in the United States can largely be seen in the treatment of Mexicans and Mexican American citizens in the times surrounding World War Two. Such hostilities are reflected in our treatment of Mexican Americans in the late 19th after the Civil War and early 20th centuries, the Sleepy Lagoon murder responses, and the Zoot Suit riots. My primary source reveals a feeling of inferiority in the United States by the Mexican American youth due discrimination that they faced, which can be better understood by analyzing the cultural contexts.

Through interviewing my roommate Linda Wang, I have gotten the opportunity of hearing a first-hand account of what it is like being a young immigrant living in the United States. At the age of eight, Linda, along with her father, mother, and aunt, emigrated to America. Linda’s family currently resides in Bayside, Queens and she is a student-athlete on the St. John’s women’s golf team. Linda was kind enough to share her immigration story with me so that I may use it as a manifestation of what life as an immigrant, and the immigration process itself, entails.

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

There are many issues concerning immigration and racism that still plague the United States today. For example, many people are still prejudice against groups of immigrants. Mexicans are often discriminated against. In this essay I will use internet resources, in-class documents, my knowledge of social studies, and

In Joshua Foer’s essay, “The End of Remembering” (found in Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, published 2011) he explores the history and current state of remembering and how technology affects it.

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

Although this article was very influential detailing the thoughts and lives of Mexican migrants through the hardships they face, it only described the one side of the experience where America is like a melting pot. In order to get a full sense of newly immigrated workers, it would have been nice to see them develop a perspective of some of the multicultural aspects of moving to America, highlighting some of the positive

Throughout the history, immigration and the United States are inextricably linked. The United States has promulgated many immigration legislations in the past either to restrict or support the immigration. Immigration is still going on and it is a debatable issue even today. In the interview, Chang-rae Lee says, “I’m interested in people who find themselves in places, either of their choosing or not, and who are forced to decide how best to live there. That feeling of both citizenship and exile, of always being an expatriate-with all the attendant problems and complications and delight”(Garner 2). Chang-rae Lee exposes the inner and outer conflicts the immigrants go through in the United States with

Here in the Rio Grande Valley immigration has become the hit. An immigrant in my own words is someone from a different country that travels to an alternative country permanently for a better life. I belief they are many unlike reasons why people live in their country but cross to another country. Actually, I’m not in immigrant, I’m a US citizen but I have experienced many stories and seen families struggle from this situation. Nevertheless, to my own experience, some people move to the US to find better jobs, but some move to different counties to look forward not only to better their education but their children’s as well. In this research paper I will be pointing out the important factors and expectations of illegal immigrants in the US,

Immigrating to another country could bring a lot of conflicts to families who chose to leave their children’s to look for a better life, but in fact, it could open many opportunities for people who chose to do so. A well know Hispanic movie, named Under the Same Moon delivers a traditional social message, amount people who decide to immigrate to the United States for a better future. The main character name Rosario, faced a dilemma where, she demands herself cleaning a house of a rich woman, and at the same time treaty as a second class citizen in order to sustain her family in Mexico. Despite the fact, that not only Rosario was treaty as a second class citizen, many immigrants who decide to come to the USA face different types of bad treatment

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

Immigration and assimilation is a divisive topic that has been heavily debated in America ever since we became a country. There are two stories that explore the assimilation issue from different viewpoints’; in Mary Pipher’s story; “The Beautiful Laughing Sisters – An Arrival Story”; provides the viewpoint of immigrants leaving a hostile home for America. Elizabeth Wong details her journey to break with her culture and become Americanized in, “The Struggle to be an all American girl.” and (McWhorter, 2010 pp522-529). At debate today is whether immigrants and their families should blend into American culture even if it means breaking with their past. Once cultures intermingle, they are forever changed.