Project Prepare

I. The Making of AmericaII. Stream I ImmigrantsIII. Stream II ImmigrantsIV. The Great MigrationV. Stream III: Current ImmigrantsVI. Undocumented/Illegal Immigrants

• Questions, comments, random thoughts…How are you doing?

Quiz1. You meet a guy at a party. He tells you that immigrants should not be allowed to come to America because their families never learn English. You have just done a sociology reading and know that:

A. He’s right. Most children of immigrants never speak English at homeB. He’s wrong since the vast majority (between 60% and 90%) of the kids of immigrants speak only English in the home.C. He’s right since most immigrant children can not speak any language at homeD. He’s wrong, since a small number (between 10 and 25%) of the children of immigrants speak only English at home

Quiz2. You meet a woman at a party who says that the number of immigrants entering the US illegally just keeps growing and growing, reaching record levels in 2008. You have just finished reading the Thompson article and know:

A. She is wrong. Illegal immigration was down in 2008B. She’s right, illegal immigration reached record levels in

2008.C. She’s wrong, since the flow of illegal immigration to the

US has stopped.D. All of the above.

A very diverse nation///Members of different racial and ethnic groups became Americans in different ways…

Becoming American…Many different ways…Conquest…Examples?Native Americans, HispanOS, Puerto Ricans, Native Hawaiians.

Voluntary Migration …Examples?Early English, Irish, Poles, Mexicans, Kenyans…

Push-factors discourage remaining in home nation

Pull-factors that attract migrant to new nation

Involuntary Migration …Examples?African Americans

Making of America: Pre-Columbus Map…>600 tribes

Native American Land Today

The Making of America

Native Americans conquered and displaced by White Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASP)

In 1790 over 3/4 of white population had its origins in British Isles

The rest from Northern Europe99% Protestant

Populating the USStream I, 1820-1880

Northern Europe immigrtants (Primarily Irish and German)Asian immigrants (Chinese & Japanese)Involuntary migrants…African slaves

Stream II, 1880-1925Massive Southern and Eastern Europe immigration (Italian, Jews, Poles, Russians, etc)Small Latin American immigration

The Great Migration, 1915-1960Internal Migration of Blacks from South to North

Stream III, 1965-presentMassive Latin American and Asian immigration

Immigration

Strongly Agree

Somewhat Agree

Somewhat Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Go the Poster that You Think Reflects Your Ideas About the Question

Immigration is bad for American society

Immigration…Who Benefits and Who is threatened…

Who Benefits?Immigrants…gain opportunityEmployers…gain labor or cheaper laborConsumers…gain through lower pricesGeneral Pro Immigrant groups…the American way to provide opportunity and hope to downtrodden

Who suffers or is threatened?“Native” workers…more competition in labor market leading to displacement or lower wages

• From Black dockworkers to Microsoft Engineers to Janitors

Native Residents who fear newcomers will “ruin” America

Conflict form the start…1751Immigration has always been controversial

“Why should the Palatine (German) boors be suffered to swarm into our settlements, and ,by herding together, establish their language and manners, to the exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us, instead of our Anglifying them…” – Benjamin Franklin

Fears that new group will not assimilatesubordinate group members are transformed from outsiders into full members of a group or society

Story repeats itself…1851Immigration has always been controversial

“Why should the Irish and Chinese boors be suffered to swarm into our settlements, and ,by herding together, establish their language and manners, to the exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Irishize/Chinisize us, instead of our Anglifying them…”

The Irish and Chinese were disliked not just because of fears they could not fit in…but because of something else too…Let’s turn to Zolberg…

Immigration

1. According to the Zolberg article, immigration can be seen from an economic perspective. Seen from this perspective, what is immigration? What does it do to the price of labor?

The ChineseViewed as“Inferior” Race… “Yellow Peril”

“Were the Chinese to amalgamate at all with our people, it would be the lowest, most vile and degraded of our race, and the result of that amalgamation would be a hybrid of the most despicable , a mongrel of the most detestable that has ever afflicted the earth…”

• California Legislator, 1870s

Undercut Wages of Native WorkersMostly male immigrants who came to work, make money and go back…

Anti-Chinese Violence

Sweeps Across West.

The Irish are ruining the country…“a mongrel mass of ignorance and crime and superstition, as utterly unfit for its duties, as they were for the common courtesies and decencies of civilized life.”

Inferior peoples in the world: “a lower form in the great school of Providence- negroes, Indians, Mexicans, Irish and the like.”

“The Irish were imaged as apelike and a ‘race of savages,’ at the same level of intelligence as blacks. Pursuing the ‘lower’ rather than the ‘higher’ pleasure, seeking ‘vicious excitement’ and ‘gratification merely animal’…

Anti-Chinese & Anti Irish Sentiment

Story Repeats Itself…1901Deciding how many immigrants to let into a nation has always been a controversial matter

“Why should the Italian boors be suffered to swarm into our settlements, and ,by herding together, establish their language and manners, to the exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Italianize us, instead of our Anglifying them…”

Many Americans feared the Southern and Eastern Europeans would not become “good”Americans…note next slide

The immigrants are ruining the country“The American nation was founded by and developed by the Nordic race, but if a few more million members of the Alpine, Mediterranean and Semitic races (Italians, Jews etc.) are poured among us, the result will inevitably be a hybrid race of people as worthless and futile as the good for nothing mongrels of Central America and southeastern Europe.”

Kenneth Roberts, prominent Journalist.”p. 92 Feagin

Criminality as “inherent in the Italian race”…“dangerous contemptible, inferior, and disloyal.”

Jews as cunning and deviousSaid to account for ½ crime in NYC…

Poles as stupid… “How many Poles does it take…”

The immigrants are ruining the country…?

In cities like Milwaukee, Chicago & Minneapolis, the foreign born & their children made up more than ¾ of the population… take a second and think about that

A full 1/3 of country was foreign born, or had one parent who was…Whole neighborhoods speaking different languages, foreign language papers, schools, radio…

Reaction leads to end of mass immigrationfrom Europe

Long Hiatus from Immigration…

Immigration Declines Sharply

1890, Blacks in America

The Great Migration North: Why the 1920’s & 1940s jump?

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s

Great Migration and PA

1930: 70% of Pennsylvania’s Black Population was born somewhere else

19% Virginia

13% South Carolina

11% Georgia

Jim Crow: Segregation Laws

Nurses: No person or corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in which negro men are placed. Alabama

Buses: All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races. Alabama

Pool and Billiard Rooms: It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other at any game of pool or billiards. Alabama

Education: The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately. Florida

Barbers: No colored barber shall serve as a barber [to] white women or girls. Georgia

Protecting White Wages

Dual Job Ladders

W h ite s H ire d o ff th e S tre e t

U n sk ille d M a n u fac tu ring$ 1 .4 5 h r

S k ille d T ra d es$ 2 .0 0 h r

M a na ge m e nt$ 3 .00

B la cks H ire d o f th e S tre e t

B la cks S an ita tio n , C a fe te ria.7 5 ce n ts h r

U n sk ille d M a n u fac tu ring< ------T e m p o ra ry F ill In s

$ 1 .1 0 h r

X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X

Immigration to the US: Patterns?

Post 1965 Immigration1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act

new that lead to a large increase in immigrationFocused on family reunification and skills

How does this work? It’s complicated.In 2004 there were 675,000 visas available for people to become permanent residents

• 480,000 are for the family members of American citizens and existing legal residents

• 140,000 are based on employment• 70,000 were set aside for humanitarian reasons• 50,000 “diversity” visas available by lottery for people in countries that have

sent fewer than 50,000 to US in last 5 years

Story Repeats…2001Deciding how many immigrants to let into a nation has always been a controversial matter

“Why should the Mexican boors be suffered to swarm into our settlements, and ,by herding together, establish their language and manners, to the exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Mexicanize us, instead of our Anglifying them…”

Turn on the news…

Post 1965 ImmigrationImmigration picks up significantly

Primarily Hispanic & Asian

Push: Economic dislocation…povertyThe Largest contiguous border between developing and developed world…

War, Revolution, Repression…Vietnamese, Cuban, Guatemala

Pull: economic opportunity…political freedom

Foreign Born People in America now at Record High…Kind of…

Foreign Born at Record High…Kind of…

Foreign Born at Record High Number56 million foreign stock in 2000

• FB plus kids with 2 FB parents

But as percentage of population, still less than Stream 2 (1880-1920)

Present situation complicated by existence of different categories of Immigrants

In 2004 there were 35.7 million foreign bornOverwhelming majority are here legally (71%)

• Majority are Legal residents or naturalized citizens

Legal Immigration 2004…Top Region…Top Country?

Legal Immigration 2004

Beyond Legal Immigrants, there are Undocumented Immigrants

Immigration/Illegal immigration …Who Benefits and Who is threatened…

Who Benefits?Immigrants…gain opportunityEmployers…gain labor or cheaper laborConsumers…gain through lower pricesGeneral Pro Immigrant groups…the American way to provide opportunity and hope to downtrodden

Who suffers or is threatened?“Native” workers…more competition in labor market leading to displacement or lower wages

• From Black dockworkers to Microsoft Engineers to Janitors

Native Residents who fear newcomers will “ruin” America

Illegal Immigration Had been Increasing..1.1 million apprehended in 2004 along the 1,951 mile border…

Up 21% from 2003

But down last year…why?

NYT 9/24/04

Illegal Immigration Had been Increasing..1.1 million apprehended in 2004 along the 1,951 mile border…

Up 21% from 2003

But down last year…why?

Fewer job opportunitiesIncreased enforcement at borders and workplaces

NYT 9/24/04

Outline

1. Assimilationa. Cultural Assimilation vs. Cultural Pluralismb. Symbolic Ethnicity

2. Three Generation Model3. New Immigrants and the Model

No Review questions for next week..but there will be a short quiz (4-5 questions) based on the readings on Tuesday

Review Questions…Make sure you know answers…even if you got them wrong

Voluntary Migration, Involuntary Migration & Conquest Brings People into Contact…

And when people come into contact with a new society, questions of Assimilation emerge…anyone know what this term means?

Assimilation…?

Migration & Conquest Brings People into Contact…

Assimilation…?Newcomers to a society are transformed from outsiders into full members of a group or society

There are different types of assimilation…we’ll focus on Cultural Assimilation today…

Any guesses?

Types of AssimilationCultural assimilation –members of a group gradually

relinquish their own culture and at the same time, acquire that of the dominant group (McLemore, p.22)

Give up the language, dress, songs, food, religion Group A + Group B = Group A

From the start…there was Reaction against calls for Cultural Assimilation

Cultural Pluralismmembers of every American ethnic group should be free to participate in all of society’s major institutions while simultaneously retaining or elaborating their own ethnic heritage and social institutions

Addition of dominant culture to traditional cultureGroup A + Group B= Group A + Group B

• Hyphenated Americans…Italian-American, Irish American, Nigerian American, African American

• Sometimes high degree of cultural pluralism: Native Americans

Reaction to Cultural AssimilationCultural Pluralism

members of every American ethnic group should be free to participate in all of society’s major institutions while simultaneously retaining or elaborating their own ethnic heritage and social institutions (D)

Sometimes groups hold onto initial idenity…but in a causal way

Symbolic ethnicity:Original ethnic heritage is retained, but only becomes important on certain holidays or during certain rituals:

Irish on St. Patrick's day; Italian on Christmas; Chinese at wedding

Questions Abound?

The Brady’s vs. “My Big Fat Greek Family”

Observe the two clips and the families in them…

What symbols do you see in the two clips (dress, music, décor, etc) that signal the family is of a particular group?

Please identify each family as either: culturally assimilated, culturally pluralist or symbolically ethnic. Explain your choice.

Which Family is an ` American family? Why?

Which Family is a “real” American family?

Answer is something people debate

Some argue that families like the Greek family are a problem and need to give up their cultures to be true Americans

Advocate cultural assimilation

Others argue that the Greek family is what America aboutAdvocate cultural pluralismAmerica as a quilt or mosaic of different groups

Level of Assimilation Varies Among Groups…In particular, racial minorities have not always assimilated in the same fashion as European ethnic groups…Why?

Voluntary vs. involuntary entranceVoluntary usually spurs new groups to assimilateInvoluntary or conquest

• New group may be reluctant to assimilate…Native Americans, Hawaiians• Dominant group may not want new group to assimilate

Until 1964 Blacks were explicitly told they were not welcome to assimilate Intermarriage was illegal; Often blockes form living, working or going

to school with white

Similarity to Dominant Group (cultural and physical)Easier for a Polish immigrant to “blend” than an African American

• Stosh to Joe, change clothes, who can tell…

Assimilation?

Pick a partner…

Find out how their ancestors became Americans (i.e. conquest, voluntary, involuntary)

• How many generations ago? 1, 2, 3, more?

Find out if they identify primarily as American, or as Itialian-Americans, Nigerian American, African American, Mexican American, etc.

Which of the following best describes their family & why: • They are fully culturally assimilated• They are best described as Culturally pluralist • They are best described as Symbolically Ethnic

Assimilation3 Generation Model of Americanization…

1st Generation unable or unwilling to give up many aspects of original culture

Old ways are important to identity…often marry within the group

2nd Generation in between generation. Bi-cultural exposure to old and new world; more friends from dominant culture; more likely to marry out

3rd Generation Mainstream “American” on all counts

Stream 2 Europeans Enter a WASP Dominated Society

Time of Arrival facilitated Social Mobility, even for those with little educationBeing “White” made it easy to go unnoticed & to assimilate

Change name from Stosh to Joe..change clothes and food

Linguistic & Geographic dispersionLong Period with no new immigration

America greatly reduces immigration in the 1920s• Few new Poles, Italians, Jews, etc. come to US

For most, three generation model held…Perhaps with some symbolic ethnicity (cultural pluralism lite)

Assimilation of New ImmigrantsWill Recent Stream 3 immigrants (particularly the large Mexican population) follow the same 3 generation pattern of assimilation as the Europeans?

Some fear they will not…and believe this is bad…

Some fear they will not…and think that is fine…

Some think they probably will…

Three Generation Model and Mexican Immigration

Spatial Concentration is different from past immigrant patterns

May allow for maintenance of old culture and language

Easier back & forth; media from “old country”

Three Generation Model and Language

Language adoption is basically the same

Old people and new immigrants least likely to be fluent

Trend after that is same as in past, though maybe a bit slower

“Alba and Nee report that 90 percent of third-gen-eration youth of Chinese, Filipino, and Korean extraction speak only English at home (p. 225). However, just two-thirds of third-generation Mexican and Cuban youth speak only English at home”(Light 2004: 1)

Hispanics may end up a bilingual group

Europeans and New Immigrants

In the past, time of Arrival facilitated Social Mobility, even for those with little education

Today’s economy not friendly to those with little education

Note next slide

Percent of Population with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher by Origin: 2000

25.8

32.9

44.9

11.2

36.8

25.6

TotalForeignBorn

Europe Asia LatinAmerica

OtherRegions

Native

Source: Current Population Survey, March 2000, PGP-3

(In Percent)(In Percent)

Europeans and New ImmigrantsTime of Arrival facilitated Social Mobility, even for those with little education

Today’s economy not friendly to those with little education

Being “White” made it easy to go unnoticed & to assimilate

Many new immigrants are physically different…can’t change name from Jose to Joe and simply blend in…

So…Will the three generation model hold…we’ll see

The Southwest as a kind of American “Quebec”

Would it bother you if the US became a bi-lingual nation with a region that was heavily Hispanic?

Next…

Race and Ethnicity