Envision someone moving to a new country where most of the morals, standards, and principles contradict those in which they were raised. Now imagine raising a family in this new environment. What values should they instill in their children? Would it be better to raise them as if they were back in their homeland? Would it be more beneficial for the children’s sake to completely disregard their old ways and replace them with the values taught in the new country? Is it possible to incorporate both ways into how they raise them? Tongan immigrants from Tonga who move to the United States experience this firsthand. Their children, first generation Tongan-Americans, are therefore raised in traditional Tongan households in a Westernized society. Perhaps more than any other ethnic group, Tongan-Americans face conflicting challenges growing up in America due to religious affiliation, the pressure to assimilate, and strict Tongan customs.
According to the Tonga's government census of 2006, about 97% of Tonga's population is Christian affiliated (“Population Census 2006”). Tongans are God fearing people who base most of their counsel and teachings on a spiritual scale. Tongan parents teach their children the importance of having faith in God and trusting Him with absolutely everything. In a place where society is not as heavily influenced by Christianity as it is in Tonga, Tongan-Americans find it difficult to ground their choices and judgment solely on faith. Ana Makoni, a youth leader for the Pi'ilani Ward in Kihei, Hawaii, explained that Tongan parents were born and raised in a religiously tied environment where recreational activities on Sundays were forbidden by law and where most of the laws are based on the Ten Commandments (Makoni...
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interested in. Even educated and skilled immigrants have filled these low wage jobs when they first get to the U.S. These immigrants provide crucial and necessary services for the U.S. citizens and therefore should be welcomed by everyone. America now has 23 million foreign-born residents which is 8.4 percent of the population. Los Angeles, California alone has a foreign born population that makes up 40 percent of its total population. Charles S. Clark in his article, The New Immigrants,
A Comparison of Mexican and Tongan Immigrant Groups I chose to write my paper on the comparison and contrast of two immigration groups. I chose them because they are extremely similar once they have arrived in America, and very different culturally. The two groups that I chose are the Mexicans and the Tongans. It is never easy for someone when they arrive in a new country, but it is how you handle yourself while you are there is what counts, so my goal is to show a brief comparison of these
Malo e lelei or Hello, like all cultures, Tongan culture is a way of life and in this case the island life. The Kingdom of Tonga is but a speck on the map, a Polynesian kingdom off the South Pacific Ocean. My cultural identity is defined in a variety of ways, my self-perception, my family background, and the values associated within the larger ethnic group. Where I come from is not known and most people have never heard of such a place, it is untouched and largely undiscovered. But, my culture is
Despite the influx of talent from across the world, Samoans and Tongans have begun to dominate football with superior speed and strength that allows them to play outside the boundaries of past players at their size. The film shows every aspect of the process from the players entering high school to being scouted by college and professional scouts as they capture four years of the four young men’s careers. The fact that the film puts
traded with a neighbor who has something that can complete a basic need. Within the Tongan society there was the breakdown in reciprocity when it came to land issues and other shared items within the community. This eventually forced some people to transmigrate and immigrate to other countries to find ways to secure peaceful retirements. These seekers of another way of life may have started a minor assimilation of the Tongan culture when salaries were generated from their travels and sent back to their
most undesirable, strenuous and dangerous ones. The only American workers that they compete with are the unskilled ones. I intend to explore if immigrants "taking" American jobs, if they are only taking the jobs that Americans don’t want or are they being forced to take certain jobs in specific industries. As seen in Cooper’s article; The Heartland’s Raw Deal: How Meatpacking is Creating a New Immigrant Underclass, we see how companies have taken advantage and exploited the workers willing to work
big issue concerning the world today. Hispanics today form the fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States. An example of how many illegal immigrants migrate to the U.S. is found in the book Voyages by Cathy Small; she explains that many Tongan immigrants migrated in the year 1976. Out of 1,993 Tongan’s, Olunga had grown approximately 2%, so by all means that at least 40% of its population had migrated between the years 1956 and 1976. By 1970 the inhabitants’ population growth was already
of paper ... ...propaganda that is blasted everywhere they create a place for themselves in America and achieve their American Dream. Communities, stores, schools, and places of worship have become part of both their culture and the American culture. Future immigrants have neighborhoods that make them feel more at ease due to the diversity that immigrants bring. In conclusion the impact that America has had on immigrant individuals and families is an array of experiences and changes that have
Story of a Romanian Immigrant Immigrating to the United States in not a simple process. Millions immigrate to America but many millions more are denied a visa or forced to cross the border illegally because of the limited number of applicants that the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, now a department of Homeland Security, provides as well as the extremely stringent process that is imposed upon migrating applicants. Even getting a simple tourist visa can be a tiring ordeal and