In my experience, I consider the city of Rowland Heights as an ethnic space within Southern California because it corresponds with my interpretation of an ethnic space. To elaborate, an ethnic space is an area, such as a city or town, that has a prevalent culture reflecting the prevalent group of people within that area. During my adolescence, I lived in the city of La Puente, which is primarily Hispanic/Latino, however, as I aged, I began to attend school within Rowland Heights, which is primarily Asian. Having said that, when I experienced the transition into Rowland Heights, there was an unfamiliarity of the environment and therefore, from my perspective, the cultural ambience of the city came across as exceedingly prominent. For this reason, …show more content…
Prior to reading the course materials concerning ethnic space, I initially sought to predict possible descriptions for an ethnic space, by incorporating class discussions and themes into my thought processes. As a result, I contemplated that perhaps, the definition closely resembles either an area with one main ethnic group, or conversely, an area filled with many diverse ethnic groups. Subsequently, I read the essays regarding ethnic space, in order to infer the meaning of an ethnic space. In particular, the essay by Robert J. Rodino provided considerable insight on the subject of ethnic enclaves. According to Rodino, an ethnic enclave occurs when a particular ethnic group of people live amid the dominant ethnic group (Rodino 94). Even though this definition carries a political connotation, it still provided a degree insight to my understanding. However, when Rodino used the term “ethnic community,” in the context of an ethnic enclave, I recognized the relationship between the two (Rodino 100). That being said, an ethnic community, or space, is a component of an ethnic enclave. The idea of an ethnic community resonated with me to appropriately express an ethnic space. Therefore, I decided to incorporate that into my interpretation of an ethnic space, along with my personal experiences. All things considered, an ethnic space is when a city displays a prominent cultural ambience, due to the prevalent ethnic group within that area. Similarly, due to my contrasting cultural experiences, Rowland Heights displays this prominent cultural environment, due to the prevalent ethnic group of the city. On the whole, these factors contribute to the ways in which Rowland Heights appropriately exemplifies this classification of an ethnic
Ethnicities wanted to be with their own race. This began the movement of the development of ethnic neighborhoods. Although many et...
This nation was relatively stable in the eyes of immigrants though under constant political and economic change. Immigration soon became an outlet by which this nation could thrive yet there was difficulty in the task on conformity. Ethnic groups including Mexicans and Chinese were judged by notions of race, cultural adaptations and neighborhood. Mary Lui’s “The Chinatown Trunk Mystery” and Michael Innis-Jimenez’s “Steel Barrio”, provides a basis by which one may trace the importance of a neighborhood in the immigrant experience explaining the way in which neighborhoods were created, how these lines were crossed and notions of race factored into separating these
RACE: SMOKE AND MIRRORS The study of race and its social formation in the article "Racial Formations" by Michael Omi and Howard Winant challenge our socially accepted concepts of "race", race being defined as the social categorization of black, white, yellow and red people. Race plays a pivotal role in society because it has a overwhelming influence on an individuals life choices and outcome. Society has historically placed positive and negative stereotypes on different races. Whites are presented and in many cases perceived as the standard of civility and beauty. People of color are conveniently grouped together as disingenuous to American patriotism in addition to being subjected to perpetuating stereotypes such as being lazy, criminal, and deviant to general society.
...ewish enclave to a predominantly Mexican community” (Sanchez, 2004, p. 640) due to the fact that the “Jewish community of Los Angeles as a whole was transformed by the demographic changes, clearly becoming “white” in the racial hierarchy of the region both geographically and politically” (Sanchez, 2004, p. 640). The place of the Jewish community changed along with their identity. Once they became “white” they no longer were restricted to living in Boyle Heights. In Los Angeles, it is clear through what happened to this one group of people that one’s metaphorical place in society, meant to be one’s racial and class status in what Sanchez refers to as a hierarchy, has a direct link to one’s literal or geographical place in the city. The ongoing divisions within society caused by stratification have become the basis of the meaning of place in contemporary Los Angeles.
Before the reader can identify the issue and formulate an opinion, he/she must understand the credibility of the authors. The first author of the book is Douglas S. Massey. He currently serves as the professor of sociology at Princeton University and as the assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an expert in immigration, specifically in residential segregation of black citizens within local communities. The second author of the book is Nancy A. Denton. She currently serves as the director of urban and regional research and as the associate director of social and demographic analysis at the Lewis Mumford Center in Albany, New York. She specializes in immigration, specifically in the families of immigrants and their impact on residential areas.
First, let’s examine what the term ethnic enclave means; it means where community or members of the group ‘retrieves’ the memory and tradition from their past. However, it is a great question whether each ethnic enclave only consist of one ethnicity. It is true that the name of the location shows the level of concentration of its population’s ethnicity: ‘Chinatown’, ‘Little Italy’, and ‘Little Havana’.
In today’s society, it is acknowledgeable to assert that the concepts of race and ethnicity have changed enormously across different countries, cultures, eras, and customs. Even more, they have become less connected and tied with ancestral and familial ties but rather more concerned with superficial physical characteristics. Moreover, a great deal can be discussed the relationship between ethnicity and race. Both race and ethnicity are useful and counterproductive in their ways. To begin, the concept of race is, and its ideas are vital to society because it allows those contemporary nationalist movements which include, racist actions; to become more familiar to members of society. Secondly, it has helped to shape and redefine the meaning of
A baby boy is born in a clinic within an impoverished village in Thailand. The mother, who had no immediate family and was unwed, deceased during childbirth, leaving her son an orphan. The baby was placed in foster care and soon adopted by an American couple. The couple then raises the boy in their home as their own. He grows up in a suburban neighborhood, learns English, attends public school, lives within an entirely American culture, and embraces it. He is aware that he comes from a different familial background and is of a different nationality than his parents, but he has made the choice to identify himself with the ethnicity that he has grown to love. He believes that his ethnic identity entirely up to him. A Thai boy choosing the ethnicity of an American child as his own goes against the widespread belief that ethnicity is in our DNA, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, he is setting the example. Being able to make a meaningful choice in your ethnic identity is something everyone should be allowed to do, no matter the situation. Nobody should be expected or forced to believe in an ethnicity determined by their race or heritage because everyone has their own beliefs. Your personal notions give you the power to decide who you want to be, just like the Thai boy. Ethnicity is the choice everyone can make to be the individual they want to be and the origin of a person’s ethnicity is not inherent or defined by race, it comes from personal beliefs.
It will be argued that both African-Americans and Native-Americans, were able successfully able to develop very urbanized communities that were functionally similar, but culturally and ethnically distinct. The various similarities and differences between the two groups East Bay and LA experience will be addressed, including the motivations of such groups to move to California; how both groups were able to discover collectivism and community; how there was a progression from the first generations to the second; and the overall cultural impacts that such groups left in California.
Erika Lee’s “The ‘Yellow Peril’ and Asian Exclusion in the Americas” goes in depth on the topic of Asian exclusion in the early 1900s. As previously discussed in last week’s presentation, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was the first antiracial law. What we did not discuss was that it was the law that set the trend for anti-racial laws against Asians in other countries as well.
Race and Ethnicity According to Anthropologists Examining the ideas and beliefs within ones own cultural context is central to the study of Anthropology. Issues of Race and Ethnicity dominate the academic discourses of various disciplines including the field of Anthropology. Race and Ethnicity are controversial terms that are defined and used by people in many different ways. This essay shall explore the ways in which Anthropologists make a distinction between race and ethnicity and how these distinctions serve as frames for cross-cultural comparison and analysis. It is important to accurately define these coined terms before one is able to make accurate comparisons and distinctions between them, and their relation to the concept of culture.
Gentrification has been blamed for the displacement of poor communities. However, in a city gentrification has other important characteristics. First, it impacts the demographic of an area in the sense that there is an increase in middle-class income population. Additionally, Randy Shaw notes in his article that demographic shift includes reduction in households’ sizes as well as decline in minorities (Shaw). Most of gentrified areas appear to have whites replacing blacks and other minority
In many ways, today’s Los Angeles can credit Anglo immigrants of the late 1800s and early 1900s as the driving force behind their communal roots. Their imagined reality of a rural city, the process of creating, leaving and fighting for their neighborhood, have left traces in the city. These traces can be seen in the fragmented infrastructure of Los Angeles. They can be seen in the callous, sometimes violent, social interaction within the community. Yet as youth and minority groups continue to socially interact in increased acceptance, Los Angeles will begin to lose some of its fragmented feel. Each generation will continue to unite Los Angeles through shared social interaction and experiences.
Race and ethnicity are two terms that are constantly used in today’s society. Understanding these terms can help people to recognize that color of skin or color of hair does not define a person. These terms connect with history, social interaction, and the overall make up of a person. However America is constantly obsessed with labeling people by the way that they look or the way that they act. America seems to encourage the terms race and ethnicity and continue to divide people into categories. It is interesting to comprehend these terms because they are not going to disappear any time soon. Race and ethnicity are apart of America’s history and will be a part of the future.
Holli, Melvin G. "Race, Ethnicity and Urbanization: Selected Essays." Journal of American Ethnic History 16 (1996): 110-125.