Immigrants face a great deal of hardship on coming to America. Many of these immigrants were on uneducated and fell into the trap of Robber Barons. During the Great Migration (1880-1921) about 56% of the immigrants migrated to the United States not knowing what to expect. Therefore, when coming to America many of the defenseless immigrants had to pay a price. “The shipping industry guarantee good profit, but they had to send their children which caused their family to be separated, this was because these immigrants did not have enough money to have them and their children going together” ( Morgan Prezi).
After the Civil War, our country was battered and beaten, but it rebuilt itself over time and spread its policies, as well as manufacturing practices, throughout our country. Early in the 20th century, members of our nation started to look at some of these practices and policies and began to question their merit and whether they assisted our population or not. Many people were involved in the progressive movement in America from the presidents to a slew of popular authors and photographers. The one thing that they had in common was that they saw problems with how various industries in our nation performed that they knew needed to be fixed. They did not always agree on everything, such as immigration, but they always had the nation’s best interest at heart.
Moving to a new country with a completely different culture than your own is very challenging to families. Adapting to a new culture and trying to raise kids with the new culture but still have them know about the other culture is extremely difficult. Moving to a new place forces people to eat new food, learn new sayings, and get a new and maybe different job just to fit in. It also doesn’t help that a lot of families are poor and have to start from scratch and try to make enough money. In “ Daughter of Invention,” the author shows that adapting to a different culture is challenging and is hard on families.
Both during and after moving to a new country, immigrants face many hardships. The process of obtaining citizenships is difficult in itself, but even when citizenship is earned there are still challenges. One major difficulty some immigrants may face is dealing with xenophobia. Immigrants who experience xenophobic prejudice can find adjustment to a new life very difficult. In contrast, those who are treated with kindness and as equal citizens find assimilating to a new culture easier.
Gabriella Roman It’s hard to believe that in America, a country founded by immigrants, new-comers are still struggling to integrate successfully into American society. My parents, like many other immigrants, were faced with a number of struggles upon arriving in America: a new language, new culture, and new endeavors, [on top of finding work]. Growing up in this environment, I became aware of how weak English skills can serve as a barrier to separate immigrants from American society. The immediate struggle immigrants face is to provide for their families- have to juggle integrating into american society (learning language, etc.) while having a steady income impact that poor language skills can have on an individual’s adapting to a new [community].
The Vietnam War in the late 1970s lead many of refugees including children attempting to attain better living condition relative to those in war-torn Vietnam. Escaping from a war torn nation and arriving to America meant getting accustomed to the much different western culture, while simultaneously facing the challenge of retaining your traditions. Le Thi Diem Thuy presents the story, “The Gangster We Are All Looking For,” to demonstrate her struggle as a migrant. Thuy discusses through her first- hand experiences the arduous struggle that was assimilating into American culture.
“Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.” - Cesar Chavez. Mr. Chavez explains that even though immigrants have to leave much behind, they can become part of their new country and still keep some of their own culture. Many immigrants have to deal with the issues of other cultures disrespecting and calling them names and sometimes even getting harassed by others. Mexican immigrants are a big percentage of the United States’ population.
Immigration Over the course of the last couple hundred years, many immigrants have moved to America in hope to find life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When they reach America they find out that they don’t fit in as easy as they thought they would. In many cases, immigrant children often feel they must lose their cultural identity in order to be an American: because they have to learn to be white and fit in, because it’s a country that gives people chances, and because if they want to be successful they have to learn English.
As immigrants want to assimilate to the American society, obstacles emerge that hinder this process. These obstacles stemming from immigration has an effect on the attitudes of Americans. Immigrants coming to the U.S. face a potential language barrier, which may cause problems when acquiring healthcare. Immigrants, such as those from Asia, also come from different backgrounds with different cultural values. As a result of these obstacles, tension can rise between both Americans and immigrants themselves.
This core lecture explained the endurance and hardships of immigrants coming to the United States. Different cultures migrating to the United States envision it as a state of “opportunities.” Their native state may have poor living conditions, low economy, and issues within the community. It is unsuitable for them to live, so they migrate to the United States to seek for improved economy and wellbeing. Once they migrate, they encounter many barriers to the new society they are exposed to.
“ I speak not of myself but for those without voice.. Those who have fought for their rights.. Their rights to live in peace, their rights to be treated with dignity, their rights to equality of opportunity, their rights to be educated.” ~ Malala Yousafzai. Sometimes people judge others without knowing how they truly are.
America has come such a long way to be known as the Melting Pot. The reason behind this is that America is extremely diverse and has many different people. Many of immigrants, both legal and illegal, from around the world, are migrating to here, in California. For some, this is an advantage. Economically, this means there are more consumers- more people to take advantage of the opportunities and resources that this state has to offer.