For decades, Africans from various nations have been emigrating and immigrating to America. Unlike those in earlier centuries that were forced to the United States due to slavery, “these Africans came to the U.S. to some degree, voluntarily, being only compelled by unrelenting economic crisis, political turmoil and the deleterious effects of natural disasters” (Nyang). Nigerians in particular have been doing so for reasons ranging from education, to employment, to marriage. To do so, they must go through various embassies in order to obtain a visa to enter America. Once they arrive in America, how well they are received tends to depend upon their skin color and place of origin. Although America is seen as the “melting pot” of the world, for Nigerians, it has proven to be the exact opposite.
Despite immigrating to the United States since the twentieth century, Nigerians still find it difficult to blend in American society. Since the 1800’s, the United States has experienced an influx of immigrants from all over the globe. These immigrants, including the Irish, Italian, Japanese, and German were almost always received by those already residing in the states, or took time to be received, yet Nigerians tend to struggle with this acceptance. First generation Nigerian American Liza Ogunsade says that after coming to the United States in the 1980’s, she found it difficult to blend into her school milieu, stating, “I got beat up for serious by pre-school kids because...I had the accent.”
Stereotypes have acted as a tool in hindering the assimilation of Nigerians. The media often portrays Nigerians as poor, uneducated, and destitute people that cannot do things themselves. During television commercials, Americans are often exposed to a pe...
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The movie 'Ethnic Notions' describes different ways in which African-Americans were presented during the 19th and 20th centuries. It traces and presents the evolution of the rooted stereotypes which have created prejudice towards African-Americans. This documentary movie is narrated to take the spectator back to the antebellum roots of African-American stereotypical names such as boy, girl, auntie, uncle, Sprinkling Sambo, Mammy Yams, the Salt and Pepper Shakers, etc. It does so by presenting us with multiple dehumanized characters and cartons portraying African-Americans as carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, savage Brutes, and wide-eyed Pickaninnies. These representations of African-Americans roll across the screen in popular songs, children's rhymes, household artifacts and advertisements. These various ways to depict the African ?American society through countless decades rooted stereotypes in the American society. I think that many of these still prevail in the contemporary society, decades after the civil rights movement occurred.
Brinkerhoff, David B., Rose Weitz, Suzanne T. Ortega. Essentials of Sociology Ninth Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative provides insight into cultural assimilation and the difficulties such assimilation. The writer embraces several Western traits and ideals yet guards his African virtues jealously. In doing so however, he finds himself somewhere in between a full European and a displaced African. This problem of cultural identity Equiano struggled with is still present in modern American society. The modern day African-American appears to also be in the process of deciding the between two competing cultures and often being left somewhere in middle becoming a victim of cultural identity just like Olaudah Equiano some 250 years ago.
Immigration has existed around the world for centuries, decades, and included hundreds of cultures. Tired of poverty, a lack of opportunities, unequal treatment, political corruption, and lacking any choice, many decided to emigrate from their country of birth to seek new opportunities and a new and better life in another country, to settle a future for their families, to work hard and earn a place in life. As the nation of the opportunities, land of the dreams, and because of its foundation of a better, more equal world for all, the United States of America has been a point of hope for many of those people. A lot of nationals around the world have ended their research for a place to call home in the United States of America. By analyzing primary sources and the secondary sources to back up the information, one could find out about what Chinese, Italians, Swedish, and Vietnamese immigrants have experienced in the United States in different time periods from 1865 to 1990.
“Immigration: Long Term Trends and America's Future Arrival Rates, Integration Patterns, and Impact on an Aging Society.” Immigration Policy Center (2008): 1-4
Many people in America want to assimilate to the U.S. because they think that being American is a better option. People such as the Italians in the 1870s tried to assimilate in order to become an American to not become an enemy in the U.S. Also, the Mexicans today are constantly coming to the U.S. to have a better life because they know being American is the best solution for their problems at home. What assimilation mean is when a person leaves one’s own culture to join a different culture the person wants to be. For the purpose of this essay, an American is a person who has commitment to succeed in what one wants, able to speak english, to love the pop culture in the U.S. at the time one is living such as the hit songs, games, T.V. shows, etc. but not to other cultures, and be a citizen in America. People throughout history must assimilate to become a true American
Immigrants must overcome many barriers to succeed in America. First, migrants frequently must learn a new language. Inability to communicate is a critical barrier for accessing the health care system (Urrutia-Rojas, Marshall, Trevino, Lurie, & Minguia-Bayona, 2006). Second, the processes of work and schooling for themselves and their families can be daunting. Lastly, immigrants use the established social network of longer duration residents for reference and knowledge (Nandi, Galea, Lopez, Nandi, Strongarone, & Ompad, 2008). For purposes of this report, there are three different types of immigrant: legal, undocumented, and refugees or persons seeking asylum. All three types of residents want to succeed and achieve their personal dream.
Kessner, Thomas and Betty Boyd Caroli, “Today’s Immigrants, Their Stories.” Kiniry and Rose 343-346. Print.
During the mass immigration era of America, an abundant number of people traveled to the urban industrial society of the United States in aspiration to seek job opportunities and better lives than the ones they left behind. These groups included the Poles, Italians, Chinese, Mexicans, Japanese, East European Jews, and the African- Americans. However, one of these groups mentioned was distinctly different from the rest: the African-Americans. They were already American citizens, who migrated to the northern American cities to free themselves from segregation, oppression, and harsh conditions they experienced in the South and obtain equal rights and opportunities. Although the African-Americans' ambitions were exceedingly high, there were strong barriers that kept them from reaching their goals of Americanization. The historical legacy of slavery acted as a barrier, and left the African-Americans with fewer civil rights than all other Americans and immigrants. To understand the meaning of "civil rights," it can be defined as "the rights belonging to an individual by virtue of citizenship especially the fundamental freedoms including civil liberties, due process, equal protection of the laws, and freedom from discrimination" (Dictionary.com). African-Americans were similar to the new comers from abroad in that they both experienced change and adjustment when entering urban American, but due to the legacy of slavery and the impact it had on the African-Americans' civil rights, the African-Americans migration experience was clearly different than other immigration experiences.
For some people, fitting in is a natural thing, but for others it was a different story. Immigrants often had a hard time blending in with Americans because of their clothing, the way they spoke, and the way they approached people. When reading the experiences of an immigrant’s child, you will find out that some fit in because of how independent they are while others do not fit in because they follow the wishes of their parents. In the book Living In Two Worlds, it appears that for Aisha it came natural to fit in with Americans, it was as if she was a natural born teenager. She “was dressed like any American girl of her age- large gold earrings, baggy jeans, and an oversized sweatshirt” (Kosof 19-20). Her father hated the fact that he brought her to America and that he was the reason she had received an American influence in ...
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Schaefer, R.T. (2009). Sociology: a brief introduction, 8th edition. New York, New York, USA: McGraw-Hill.
First of all, I want to explain what the immigrants are. By “Immigration Assist” website, Immigrants are people who have citizenship in one country; however, they go to another country to establish a permanent residence.
While the outside world considered Nigeria to be a united and monolithic entity, even the British colonial administration was wary of the reality of Nigerian politics; the nation was not so much a “country” as it was more than three hundred different groups coalesced into one.4 5 These tribes were divided between three main spheres of influence: the Yoruba, the Igbo, and the Hausa. Historically, their interests were often opposed, and their cultures did not come into regular contact with one another until the British occupation. In spite of the differences British administration a...
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