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Immigration and cultural identity
Immigration and cultural identity
Immigration and cultural identity
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The Role of Self, Obligation and How Much is too Much? Immigration has been a hot topic recently in the media with the Syrian refugees. Especially with Donald Trump’s candid, yet outrageous views on Muslim immigration to the United States. Immigration is the movement of persons from their native country to another for any particular reason. Why do you think immigration is such a controversial topic in society? Is it because we do not like to accept different cultures and their way of life? Alternatively, is it because we would rather help our own country deal with our own domestic issues without factoring in others’ as well? Is it because some of us do not want to deal with the extra competition for jobs, resources, education, etc. Whatever the reason may be immigration is still a sensitive subject and issue today as it was when countries were just beginning to form. But from the immigrant’s point of view, how does one deal with their …show more content…
To expound, having problems with oneself and/or their origin or history can later develop into other issues later on in life, never completely feeling secure within themselves. The book had several other themes as well such as issues with immigration, idolizing; when it is okay and when it becomes a hindrance, sexism and more. The theme of identity reoccurred throughout the book and was more personally suited for Salie. To reiterate, Salie never felt comfortable with herself from the moment she was born. The women in her village rarely included her in conversations. She just did not fit in. As a result, she thinks she can get a sense of security and community in another country. Salie migrating did not solve her issues; she simply moved her problems from one part of the world, to another part. Salie was so focused on trying to run away from her problems, and even herself that she could not truly find her
Identity is defined as being oneself and not acting or being something else. The identity that one forms throughout their life time is a slow and tedious process, each and every event in one’s life whether it’s larger or small scale has an effect on developing ones overall identity. In the play Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth by Drew Hayden Taylor, Janice it caught between two identities and struggles to find a happy medium. Being adopted into a white family at a young age, Janice has become accustom to many of the white traditions and ways. Janice’s native family has recently gotten in touch with her and has put a great deal of pressure on her to regain some of the native culture she was born into. With pressure building Janice begins to question her identity and begins to show signs that she wants nothing to do with her native roots. Drew Hayden Taylor does an excellent job in this play showing how stereotypes and pre-conceived notions affect ones identity and their relationships within society. Each character within the play shows how their identity has been shaped through the relationships they have acquired throughout their lives; Tonto’s identity is heavily influenced by his father and best friend Rodney, Barb is influenced by the customs and traditional ways of her mother, and Janice after being adopted at a young age has formed an identity revolving around that of her adopted parents but she faces a great deal of pressure from her native birth family.
Immigration is a large aspect of American history. In the book Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez, we are able to see the struggles of one Hispanic boy immigrating to the United States from Mexico. Many of the people in the community that Francisco lived in didn’t really accept Hispanic people. It was really depressing that he would make friends, go over to their house and their parents wouldn’t let him come over again, simply because he was Hispanic. In Diversity Matters the text states, “Unique stresses created by the process of immigration to another country and discrimination faced in the new country can create psychological distress for many immigrants” (Spradlin 126). During this time in America, there was still a lot of discrimination going on not only with Hispanics, but other minority races like African Americans. This really goes to show how far our country has come over the years. There is still a long way to go, but I think that if people are more educated and aware of the discrimination people face on a daily basis they will be more open-minded. The United States is becoming more open to diversity, but first we will look at the struggles of one Hispanic boy growing up here illegally in Breaking Through.
Gisele Pineau’s novel Exile According to Julia is all about a sense of belonging, of home. As this novel demonstrates, home is not always a place: sometimes it is a person. For the young narrator of this story home is embodied in her grandmother Julia (affectionately called Man Ya). This is a story of immigration, exile, alienation, and of discovery of home and self. The novel details Man Ya’s ‘exile’ from her home in Guadalupe to Paris to live with the narrator and her family. Depressed and constantly longing for home, Man Ya eventually returns to Guadalupe leaving the narrator and family bereft. After her departure, the narrator continuously writes to Man Ya as years go by. She never responds. Eventually the family returns to Guadalupe to be with Man Ya. The novel ends with Julia sharing her Guadalupe with her grandchildren, climbing trees, gardening, and laughing. The time that the narrator spent with her grandmother had a profound impact on her life. Julia was her teacher, her connection to her Caribbean ancestry, and her home.
Immigration, the act of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. Throughout the United States’ history, immigrants faced various challenges and especially after 1880. Most immigrants moved to achieve the American dream of having a better life and pursuing their dreams. But, this experience as they moved, was different for every immigrant. Some lives improved while others did not. Immigrants such as Catholics, Italians, and the Chinese were not welcomed into America in the late 19th century and early 20th century because of their differences in beliefs and cultures.
Immigration has a great impact on first generation immigrants. Studies show that acculturation and assimilation have wide-ranging effects on the groups involved, but mostly on the immigrants' lives. There are positive and negative attributes. Attributes that are due to the issues associated with integrating cultures, and broadly related to the greater issue of immigration. The issues and discrimination towards first generation immigrants cause them to have limitations throughout their lifetime, in the country that they have moved to. Furthermore, the Hispanic and Latino community have lived through this problem for so long. They are always the group to be affected by it because they lose a sense of self and are never really accepted by the dominant or other group involved. This is a big issue that requires more attention and efforts to come up with a solution.
To be an American has a big picture that can be described in many ways. Personally, to be an American is to achieve everything; however, the person next to may have a different opinion about it. History, America has been attracting immigrants from different parts of the world to live the full freedom and opportunity. To be an American means much more than living in the United States is to be able to expand the beliefs ones have. That is why people view the American Dream. The American Dream is an idea on were a perfect freedom is given to all people no matter social group or race. Many people have a definition of their mind on what is an American Dream. American are viewed as a person who can do the unlimited things. People freedoms and discoveries
Her realization that she is not alone in her oppression brings her a sense of freedom. It validates her emerging thoughts of wanting to rise up and shine a light on injustice. Her worries about not wanting to grow up because of the harsh life that awaits her is a common thought among others besides the people in her community. As she makes friends with other Indians in other communities she realizes the common bonds they share, even down to the most basic such as what they eat, which comforts her and allows her to empathize with them.
Immigration has been a topic that has caused multiple discussions on why people migrate from one country to another, also how it affects both the migraters and the lands they go. Immigration is the movement from one location to another to live there permanently. This topic has been usually been associated with sociology to better explain how it affects people, cultures and societies. Sociology has three forms of thinking that are used to describe and analyze this topic. There are three forms of thinking that are used to tell and describe immigration to society; structural functionalist, symbolic interactionist, and conflict theory. Each of these theories uses different forms of thinking and rationality to describe and explain socio topics.
Within his writing, Nam Le achieves autonomy by expressing authentic traits through the presence of the novel’s characters. In Le’s novel The Boat, the author introduces key behaviors and personas within the first story of the narrative. Though he could approach culture from a Vietnamese perspective, the writer offers a transnational impression throughout the story. By including various characters in numerous roles, Nam Le appropriately applies and articulates the title of his first story, “Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice,” which focuses on the ideas of lineage, identity, and inspiration.
Immigration can be dated back as early as the 1700 's. North America as well as other continents have some form of immigration whether its legal or illegal. The united states for example has the largest amount of immigration due to opportunities that many want for themselves and their families. Because the amount of immigrants grew rapidly the U.S. began enforcing an immigration policy. This policy states that the “reunification of families admitting immigrants with skills that are valuable to the U.S. economy, protecting refugees, and promoting diversity.” (immigrationpolicy) The policy does not include people who illegally enter the U.S. border, but the policy does not stop people from wanting freedom from their oppressed country. These actions cause the country to take a firmer stand on the policy, the solution to the growing problem was to deport as many immigrants as possible through programs such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As time goes on the ICE lowers the number of immigrants, finding any reason to deport an individual even if the act committed was minor. The actions ICE makes causes outrage in diverse communities in American which leads to activists searching for answers to why their loved ones are being accused and deported. The people who come to the U.S. to live a honest lives, do the get deported as well. This question also brings up another, what are the reasons an immigrant (legal or illegal) should be deported? Answered by scholarly, peer-reviewed and popular articles they provide the necessary information that addresses immigration policies.
Who is an immigrant? An immigrant is a person who has a citizenship in one country but enters another country to set up as a permanent resident. Sometimes countries are suffering greatly from lack of leadership, internal strife or war, and a collapsed economy. This is the case in Somalia, as well as in Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Syrian people are moving to Europe in order to find a peaceful home. Mexican immigrants come to the US looking for jobs. The people then move to new countries where they don’t speak the national language. In America, when the immigrants come, there are many difficulties: cultural differences regarding time and scheduling, transportation issues, and language difficulties.
Immigration is the process by which people move from their countries of origin and settle in new countries either as citizens or permanent residents. Most migration occurs from less developed or unstable nations to developed or stable countries. Individuals immigrate for a variety of reasons: for better economic opportunities in the new states, to be closer to friends and family, to escape political persecution and unrest.
One of the most critical questions which face the United States is what the immigrants role will be, what kind of influence they will have on the traditional American culture. Many children of immigrants have been raised bilingual and bicultural but most of them did not hold on to their ancestors’ culture. Cultural pluralism which is the principle whereby people from different ethnic background and culture can live together peacefully, is more endorsed than it was in the twenty first century. People in the United States are very precise in describing racial and ethnic groups and they try to be politically correct.
Being an immigrant myself, there are many problems that an immigrant faces that comes with immigration to another country. This may include economic problems, family problems, education, issues of discrimination, sense of belonging, and many more. Immigration has an impact on the immigrants such as economic impact, the impact of immigration on children and youth, and education. Based on interviews in a survey from a book, statistics from the government, and from the person that was personally interviewed, the impacts of immigration can be further discussed.
Immigration is a controversial topic that features conflicting opinions on a global scale. This is because skeptics believe that immigrants are taking away the original culture and traditions of individual societies, whereas, those supporting immigration believe that immigrants in fact enrich the culture of the host countries and provide great benefits to the country overall. This ongoing debate regarding immigration has led to the increased difficulty in gaining national citizenship in some countries, such as Saudi Arabia. Other countries, however, welcome immigrants as they believe foreigners are valuable to society. Immigration around the world should be encouraged as immigrants increase diversity, add to the amount of skills and labor opportunities available to the countries they move to, and improve the economy.