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2016 Midterm2
(assignment) Sample Student Midterm2 Answers Part 1: Essays on New World Immigrants |
LITR 4340
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Christina Maria Sapp
Uniqueness of Being Caught Between Immigrant and Minority
For us to better understand New World
Immigrants’ unique threshold in the United States,
we must first master the understanding of old world immigrants and minorities
because they are the basic building blocks of the United States society. Once we
have that down, it will give us a better idea of a New World Immigrants’
perspective. An Old World Immigrant voluntarily leaves their homeland for good.
They are happy to leave and learn how to assimilate to the U.S. dominant
culture. An example is in Anchee Min’s story The Cooked Seed
where
she voluntarily moves to Chicago in hopes of a better life by attending an art
school leaving China for good. This story can also be seen as a model minority
and an immigrant narrative because Asian Americans fit the stereotype on people
who accel. Unlike the Old World Immigrants, minorities are brought over
involuntarily or by force. There’s no voluntary participation and assimilation.
They resist assimilation and are color coded because of physical appearance.
African Americans are an example of minorities who were brought to America
forcefully. They didn’t find hope and prosperity like the voluntary immigrants
did.
They were instead met with being confined to slavery
and discrimination. A minority example can be seen in Equiano’s poem The
Interesting Narrative “It was my fate to be attacked, and to be carried off.
My sister and I were separated.” In this quote, it clearly shows that Equiano
was brought by force.
New
World Immigrants are in a very unique place because they come from the western
hemisphere instead of the old world and come in multiple colors ranging from
white to black. They are considered immigrants because transnational. Migration
is already in their background and they are part of more than one country. They
also have a minority complex since the United States is so close to these new
world countries. They can go back and forth between their home country so
they’re slower to assimilate versus the old world immigrant. This can also
create a resistance to assimilation. The U.S. has also enforced imperialism
(process of a country extending their power through military force) on a lot of
these new world countries, messed with them and turned their countries upside
down. Because of the U.S. enforcing its territory on these countries, this puts
the immigrants in the minority category. Imperialism and the minority category
can be seen in Nicholasa Mohr’s story The English Lesson when Diego Torres is
explaining how the United States has extended their power in his home country.
Now that we have learned about the basis of why New World Immigrants are
seen as immigrants and minorities, here are some other reasons why this
immigrant is unique as far as ethnic identity is concerned. Many New World
countries have Mestizos which have European (immigrant) and non-European
(minority) heritage. A Spanish man from Spain who is considered an immigrant and
Indian mother who is considered a minority is a perfect example. This started
back in the late 1400s into the 1500s when Spanish conquistadors under
Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes arrived in the new world and created
relations with the locals. Many New World Immigrants are Hispanic\Latino.
Hispanic or Latino is a term used to identify a Spanish-American or Latin
American group. Some examples of these groups are people from Mexico, Puerto
Rico, Colombia, Dominican Republic and so forth. Hispanic\Latino isn’t a racial
group but an ethnic group identified by language, religion and geography.
Somebody identifying as persons of Hispanic origin may be of European, African
or American Indian descent. There’s also Afro-Caribbeans’ who look like African
Americans but aren’t native to the new world.
The
largest Hispanic/Latino group, the Mexican Americans, can be viewed as
immigrants because they left their homeland to move somewhere else better. Many
left Mexico because of chaos, revolutions or a debt crisis. Because of all these
conflicts, some were put out of work or they didn’t feel safe in their country
anymore. Just like the immigrant story, many citizens sacrificed everything and
risked getting killed so they could have a better life. In Reyna Grande’s story
The Distance Between Us, the immigrant story is seen in the following
quote “I am glad I did not know about the thousands of immigrants who had died
before my crossing and who have been dying ever since”. Another example of an
immigrant in Gary Soto’s poem Mexicans Begin Jogging “I worked in fleck
(small patch of light) of rubber with a flame until the border patrol opened”.
During World War II, the U.S. needed cheap labor so they encouraged people from
Mexico to come over and help fill the vacant jobs while soldiers were away
fighting. Mexican Americans haven’t had much trouble with assimilation because
of their European and Indian identity. This double identity and easy
assimilation, places them in the category of the immigrant. Unfortunately
because of the dangerous journey, many Mexican Americans are labeled as “border
people” because they have to cross over the Mexico border to get to the United
States. Sometimes they swim across a river or run from authorities.
Mexican Americans’ can also be seen as a minority as well as an immigrant. Much
of the minority complex began with the Mexican-American war where Mexican
territory was in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The
U.S. took over all this territory by force. Just like the other Hispanic
countries, the U.S. came over and messed with them. The title “border people”
also places them in the minority category because they have to run across the
Mexico border to get to the U.S. Once they are in the U.S., they have no rights.
Companies can exploit them, they get taken advantage of by others and have to
work low paying jobs that can be degrading. In Mexican culture “Virgin of
Guadalupe” is a cultural origin story because it blends European-Catholic
(originating from Spain) and Indian-traditional elements (Aztec). This story
originated in 1531 after conflict had subsided and peace was starting to come
about the land.
In
many Mexican American families, traditional culture is still very important and
that is why many Mexican American families remain close and gender roles still
play out. Gender roles are another
example of a minority complex. The men are the providers and the women know
their place. In Nash Candelaria’s story El Patron, Senor Martinez says to
his daughter, “Why don’t you go to the kitchen with the other women”. This tells
us right away that gender roles are very much alive. Also in traditional
cultures, family held sons up on a pedestal since the men are the providers. The
importance of men in a traditional culture can again be seen in Nash
Candelaria’s story “El Patron” when the narrator states about Senor Martinez
“Tito was his pride and joy. His only son after four daughters”. The story goes
on to say that Senor Martinez was very doubtful that he would ever have a son.
He expected his son to follow in his footsteps but when Tito did his own thing,
this angered his father because in traditional cultures, the children are
expected to follow in their parent’s footsteps.
Other
Hispanic\Latino New World Immigrants are similar to that of the Mexican
Immigrants because of their immigrant and minority narrative. Just like the
Mexican Americans, people from the other Hispanic countries are considered
immigrants. Their transnational background and European and Indian background
plays a major role. The immigrant identity can be seen in Judith Ortiz Cofer’s
Silent Dancing story when her father is asked “You Cuban?” after seeing
the name on his uniform and the dad responded that he’s Puerto Rican. Being
asked if he was Cuban was looked at as a good thing because Cuba says they’re
the most European out of all the Hispanic countries. The immigrant identity can
also be seen in in Oscar Hijuelos’ story Visitors when the narrator says
that Dona Maria couldn’t get over leaving Spain for Cuba and tells Hector
“Remember, you’re Spanish first and then Cuban”. Transnational migration can be
seen in this sentence because Hector is part of more than one country and
heritage. Because Hector has assimilated into American culture, he has forgotten
a lot about Cuba and has to try to remember.
The experience of imperialism from the United States places these
immigrants in the minority category because of force from the U.S. Because they
are different shades of color, they are labeled or marked. Many are also
exploited and taken advantage of when they arrive in the U.S. I knew a guy from
the Dominican Republic who looks African American but calls himself an
immigrant. His Spanish is much better than his English and has an accent. He
doesn’t have papers so it puts him in a disadvantage. He has a college degree in
architecture but has to work two minimum wage jobs to support himself. Even
though he’s an immigrant, he is treated as a minority. Many assume when they
first see him that he’s African American. When many immigrants leave their
country, they have to choose between assimilation and resistance. You either
have to join in to blend in with the dominant culture or fight against the
oppressors or be your own person. Culture is so prevalent in many Hispanic
countries and gender roles still are a large play.
Afro-Caribbean New World Immigrants are similar and different from New
World Immigrants of Hispanic\Latino ethnicity because of their origins in the
new world and their appearance. Afro-Caribbean immigrants come from countries
like Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados and so forth. These Afro Caribbean’s are like
immigrants because of European influence like the other new world countries did
as well. Like in Hispanic\Latino countries, Afro-Caribbean’s move back and forth
between their home country and the USA because home is not as far away like with
the old world immigrants. This creates a minority complex and they can still
have a connection to the old country and become a bi-cultural status. One factor
that makes this immigrant a minority is its similarities to African Americans is
their first contact with the new world through the involuntary contact of slave
ships creating a dearth of economic opportunity. Afro-Caribbean’s and African
Americans have a different history but they both have the color code put on them
because of their skin color. Afro-Caribbean are a mixture of two stories: the
immigrant and the minority. Sometimes they run into conflict with African
Americans because they don’t understand why African American don’t act like
immigrants and African American think Afro-Caribbean’s are bossy. These
immigrants are from a predominantly black country so they will see things in a
different light versus African Americans. Minority discrimination can be seen in
Edwidge Danticat’s story Children of the Sea on page 104 where the narrator
explains how Haitians get treated like dogs or sub-human in the Bahamas even
though they have the same African fathers. Even though they look alike and have
the same music, they still get discriminated because they grew up in a different
country. Example of the minority narrative can be seen in Claude McKay’s poem
The White City in line 4 “I bear it nobly as I live my part”. He is saying
that living in this city he loyally puts up with living as a minority in a white
city because of his color code.
In general, New World Immigrants have both traits of the immigrant and
the minority. As an immigrant, they sacrifice and risk their lives. However, not
wanting to let go of their culture makes them minorities.
There’s a uniqueness both labels and
being your own person
