Discrimination In American Immigration

Immigration; it has always carried some form of derogatory premise. But haven’t we all been a product of such a predication? Somewhere along in of our lineage, we (yes all of our fellow Americans) come from a genealogical link to an immigrant. The United States has not been coined the “melting pot” for any non-existent reason. People have come from all cultures, nationalities and every corner of the Earth to become an ingredient in this melting pot recipe.
There are those cultures that have had to endure harder trials and tribulations upon reaching this great land of opportunity; but every ethnicity has had to endure some form of discrimination just because they are different from a cultural norm of where they are trying to assimilate.

For the purpose of this essay, I will use the Irish and Italian ethnicities as examples for historical background. I guess I am partial to both of them as my grandparents were immigrants from both. As early as the 1800’s, the Irish found themselves a subject of criticism. They came to America looking for something better after the potato famine, these were hard working people who would become pure tradesmen and help to build industry in the United States. They resided in the tenements and low cost housing in the large industrial cities and societies of the northeast. They were strong in their catholic faith and faced denigration for their beliefs. It was their faith in their religion that held these communities into strong familial ties; and through their generations they have learned that an educated individual is a successful

Urban renewal; was and is a federal run process where an inner-city neighborhood or industrial area is improved and rehabilitated. The revitalization process can include demolishing old or run-down buildings, low income housing or tenements and factories. Then there is the construction of new, up-to-date housing, possibly the inclusion of features such as malls, theaters and arenas. Urban renewal proposes the possibilities of persuading middle class income families to come live in that area. Urban renewal can be part of a redevelopment process. One downfall of the urban renewal process is that with the loss of low income housing, there is very little housing available for those with limited resources. There will be migration into the suburbs for those who have the employment and income, leaving little housing opportunity for others. The fabrications of what was called “projects” were constructed to replace the low income housing; however, the availability of housing was cut dramatically. The urban renewal allowed for more corporate and office positions to be made available, but unfortunately caused the loss of the small family run businesses. As a result of the urban renewal, there was the initiation of mass suburbanization. There were both “push and pull” factors that enabled the inflow of residents into