The Browning of America

http://www.theroot.com/blogs/latino-births/browning-america

The article that I found about this topic is from The Root. Based on this website, recent U.S census shows that white births are no longer a majority in the United States. Therefore the notion of "the browning of America" has come about. To be honest, this topic is a bit insulting on behalf of those who are of colored skin. With the browing of America, there is the notion of fear amongst the Anglo Saxon race who are afraid the increase of the brown population would have a negative affect on them. Also, there are a bunch of assumptions about these "brown people" that are true but only to an extent and can't be reflected on each individual. One of them being that each "brown person" would be more likely to vote democratic because they do not believe in "American" values. Concerning this issue, the article says,

"Writing for Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, "Roger" said of the new figures, "It is not a good thing. The immigrants do not share American values, so it is a good bet that they will not be voting Republican when they start voting in large numbers."

On examiner.com, "Political Buzz" columnist Ryan Witt was more blunt: "Simply put, Republicans will find it impossible to win any national election in the future if the current percentages stay the same."

This raises questions such as, "who's to determine what American values are?" and "How is one able to determine weather or not these immigrants will be voting Democrat or Republic?"

Chapter 16: The 1980s & Beyond

Chapter 16 of the text focuses on different ways the U.S government tried to gain control over immigration patterns in the United States. Prior to this set of "reforms", the earlier set sought to reverse existing American immigration policy. During this second set of "reforms", the goverment simply sought to modify existing policies. During this time, there was a notion that U.S should gain or regain control of the country's borders. In addition to that, gain control over the economy, welfare and drugs in  America.

During the early 1980's, Senator Alan Simpson and Democrat Romano L. Mazzoli, came up with bills that proposed to raise the numerical limits. The bill also sought to decrease the number of immigrants by placing all relatives within the quotas. Thirdly, the bill would also have abolished the fifith preference, therefore inhibiting the chain migration of recent immigrants. The bill never passed but after years of debate, an immigration act, known as The Immigration Reform Act of 1986, was passed. The act contained four major provisions:

1. Amnesty
2. Requirements that employers verify the eligibility of all newly hired employees
3. Provision of seemigly "tough" sanctions
4. Special provisions to make it easier for growers to import foreign agricultural workers

In order for an individual to be considered for amnesty, an illegal alien had to apply formally to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The process for amnesty was a long one and if an individual did not meet a certain step, then the amnesty relapses and he or she will be an illegal alien, once again. The idea of amnesty was based on good intention was ultimately had fallouts such as new nativism, criminals and the inability for people to see their families for longer periods of time. On page 396 of the text (third paragraph), it states, "The foolish notion that the various provisions of the law would combine to solve the problem of illegal aliens is already apparent to almost everyone except high officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service."

Reading about the different attempts to solve the "problem" of immigration is interesting because it makes a person wonder if there is at all a solution to please both sides of the party. I, personally feel that there is not. The issue of immigration is so complex that I feel, by "solving" one aspect of it, it weakens another aspect. There's also the whole notion of racism and discrimination. One of the things I remember reading in the text that I found very interesting is found on page 401. It talks about how there are relatively large amounts of Irish people who are illegal immigrants to the United States. I feel that when people think of "illegal immigrants", people automatically think about Latinos, which I find to be unfair. I understand that the U.S governement was, and still is, trying to gain control over their borders as well as the economy, but it makes me wonder, what gives these officials the right to deny a certain group of people from entering the country? In the end, Americans are people who at one point sought to create a better life for themselves and their families.

Chapter 15: Caribbeans, Central Americans, & Soviet Jews

Chapter 15 of the text focuses on groups that have emigrated to America from the Caribbean, Central America and the Soviet Union. What many of these groups have in common is that they seem to have founded their own communities along the east side, including New York and Florida. These are also groups that found refugee in America because of corruption that took place in the countries they lived in. The text focues on Cubans, Dominicans, Haitians, Central Americans and Soviet Jews.

One of the groups that I found interesting were the Cubans. Thomas Jefferson thought that Cuba would eventually become a part of America. Prior to the American Civil War, there were schemes for annexation of Cuba concocted by southern politicians. In 1898, Cuba became indpendent but was an American protectorate. This lasted for six years. During this period, Cubans were able to come and leave the United States. In the 1950s, Cuba was still going through major political unrest and this sent even more Cubans to the United States. What I found interesting about this section on Cubans is that even if these Cubans emigrated from the same country, they are still divided based on skin color, white Cuban Americans and black Cubans. Page 375 of the book states in the middle of the second paragraph, "Black Cuban refugees have reported housing and other discrimination in the Miami area, including discriminination in predominantly Cuban areas and from Cuban American landlords." Reading this was interesting because it's easy to assume that groups that emigrate from the same areas would try to "stick together". That is obviously not the case here, provided the fact that Cubans had been divided or classified based on their skin color. Not only that, but Cubans were even discriminated by other Cubans. There were white Cubans who faced poverty in the United States, but that was usually due to the fact that the individual was elderly or if the indviduals lived in households headed by woman.

This issue of discrimination and unfairness was also present among the Haitians. Haiti was a country of poverty. The text even described it as a "desperate" country. A statistic that struck me is found on page 378 (second paragraph), "The World Bank estimated a few years ago that, in the mountainous countryside where most of the people live, nine out of ten Haitians live below what it calls the 'absolute poverty level' of $135 a year, or $.37 a day." Just like the Cubans, Haitians suffered from misrule. Although, unlike the Cubans, Haitians weren't really welcomed in the United States. On page 379 of the text (second paragraph) it states, "Unlike the Cuabns, who are welcomed as refugees from the communism, the Haitians were unwanted refugees from hunger." The text explains that if the United States government were to automatically accept the claims of asylum seekers, then it could be assumed that anyone could enter American territory without uderging screening in countries of first asylum. Although, many argue that the U.S applies their rules selectively and that the Haitians were discriminated because of their skin color.

Chapter 14: The New Asian Immigrants

Chapter 14 focuses on Asian groups such as the Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Asian Indians, Koreans and the Vietnamese. The group that struck my interest the most would be the Filipinos. Not only is it because I'm able to relate to it due to the fact that I am of Filipino ancestry, but because it's interesting to see what events led up to the current status of Filipinos in America. The chapter talks about how there were three distinct increments of Filipinos coming to America. The first being in 1898. During this increment, students came from the Philippines, settling in the midwest and the east. The second incrememnet took place in the 1920's and the early 1930's. During this increment, many farm workers came, settling mostly in Hawaii and California. The third increment which took place from 1965 and is still in effect as of current. During this increment, educated Filipinos and would-be entrepeneurs find their way to America.

Majority of the Filipinos that immigrated were known to be Roman Catholic. On page 356 of the text, the last sentence of the first paragraph states, "Majority of each increment, like most Filipinos, have been Roman Catholics, but religion does not seem to play a major institutional role in the lives of most Filipino Americans." Because of the way I was raised and from personal experiences, I find that statement to be false. I grew up in communities with large rates of the Filipino population present. A great number of the people I know or have come across, that are of Filipino descent, have some sort of affiliation with a church. Although there are many individuals who are not religious, their families have some sort of connection to a church or are rooted in religion somehow. Religion also plays a large role in Filipino customs and traditions.

Another thing that I found interesting was the anti Filipino movement that took place prior to WWII. A good deal of violence was directed toward this group and it was a movement similar to that of the Chinese and Japanese. They were seen as savages and because they worked "for nothing" they were seen as a problem because they basically took jobs from the white people. This goes back to the notion of the ethnic escalator and the fear of the dwindling of the Anglo Saxon dominance. The sad truth is that such prejudice stil exists today. There's even a gap between Filipinos Americans and Filipino immigrants. Many Filipinos that are born in America view themselves as American and therefore of "higher class". With this comes the labeling of those immigrating from the Philippines to be "FOB" (Fresh off the boat).

Chapter 17: Immigration in an Age of Globalization

Before reaching this chapter, the book has covered the fact that American immigration (before 1986) has mostly demonstrated continutity. Although, there have been changes in attitudes toward immigration, therefore resulting in changes in immigration law and regulations.This chapter focuses on more current ideas and views on immigration, in this age of globilzation. Immigration has continued to grow within the past years; between the years 1981-2000, would be the heaviest period in immigration history. The chapter mentions the increase of refugees and asylees. Also, there are no more just legal immigrants, but there are "nonimmigrant" immigrants. These are people who enter the country on various kinds of visas that don't entitle them to apply for permanenet resident status.

While reading this chapter and taking into consideration the information presented in previous chapters, one realizes how complex the concept of immigration is. Toward the end of the chapter, the text talks about how being able to control the country's borders could be impossible.

Beside that, one section that I found particularly interesting is found on page 413, beginning with the second paragraph:

"What all these data tell us is that generalizations about the socioeconomic status of contemporary immigrants, when lumped together, are largely meaningless and misleading. Only when we are able to particularize and focus on individual groups, and on classes within those groups, is it possible to speak with any degree of precision."

This is speaking in regards to each group's experience in America. I find it interesting because it makes me think, perhaps by focusing on each ethnic group by itself, there could be a better understanding on immigration and how to handle the issue of immigration in the future.

My Family's Traditional Filipino Thanksgiving

As far as I'm concerned, my family basically celebrates Thanksgiving the same way other non-Filipino families do. For our family, Thanksgiving is a day when our families - aunties, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers - come together to spend quality time together. Besides giving thanks, the main attraction would be the food. I feel that there is a more sentimental value this time around, in prepping and cooking the meal together.

Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in the Philippines; Christmas would be as close as it gets to Thanksgiving. So, of course depending on the family's preference, a lot of Filipino families embrace the fact that they are in America and try out non-Filipino customs.

Although, I did find this article online:

http://asianjournalusa.com/americas-thanksgiving-and-the-philippines-national-heroes-day-two-holida-p3692-141.htm

Oral History Report

Here is my 3-4 minute presentation of my findings.