I'll start off by asking a question, Are you from a family of immigrants. I’d like to think that the majority of people here are from a family of immigrants. You may or may not have been in tune with the news lately but it seems to me that the word immigrant is starting to have a negative connotation and it is being targeted towards the minorities of this country. Politics aside, I believe that every person regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, social status or sexual orientation is entitled to equal rights and an equal stance in this country. So going back to the word immigrant, why is this starting to have a bad connotation in today's day and age. This is just one of a plethora of examples of the obstacles we face as minorities. The topic we will mainly focus on today is immigration and how my people (and many other minorities) are depicted in the …show more content…
Starting off I know there are people out there that get uncomfortable and for that, we need to come to terms with this subject and not feed more ignorance into this mentality. The word immigrant is being chained to minority groups, the reason why this is happening is that unfortunately some media that is available may not portray these groups truthfully and may include many stereotypes. Boiling this down to one statement, people are afraid of what they don't know. People tend to derive their opinion based on the information they are given. Whether that information is reliable is up for debate, but we know that many minorities are being portrayed negatively especially by major politicians and some media outlets. Fear could be the second connotation on why people are applying the word immigrant in a negative matter.
We live in a nation that has been called the land of opportunities, a nation that was developed on the hands, sweats and hard work of many people. These same people are those who are from here but are poor, or who come here for a better life and migrated from other countries some by force and others by choice. We live in a country that many look at immigrants as if they are different from the rest, what makes them different is how they speak or dress. At the end of it all we are all humans and they should not be considered to be call illegal immigrants. What is so illegal about that is the question to ask, and why it is that one word is the one to define someone’s character of who they are. One piece of paper is what define who we are in this
Latino/a immigrants share similar experiences of anti-immigrant rhetoric just like other immigrant groups. Many Latino/as in America have faced negative comments based on their identity. For example, Rush Limbaugh, a radio host, expounds negative comments toward Latino/as, particularly Mexicans. He claimed that Mexicans are “a renegade, potential[ly] criminal element” that is “unwilling to work” (Media Matters for America, 2/28/06). These malice comments were similar to that of other immigrants. As other immigrant groups of non-English descent started arriving in America, there was an immigrant phobia towards the newcomers. During the mid-1700s, Benjamin Franklin said ...
I have to introduce you to three individuals, not random individuals, but siblings - two brothers and a sister. They may seem just like any other people, but they have a secret that isn’t easily realized unless you know them. They belong here in the sense that they were born here, but their hearts belong to another land. They are the children of immigrants; the first generation to be born in America. It is a unique experience that to others may seem odd or exotic, but for these three is just as normal as learning to ride a bike.
Growing up in a Mexican household where education isn’t a priority or important has been one of my major obstacles that I’ve had to overcome. Although my family’s culture believes that education isn’t necessary their experiences and lifestyles have influence and motivate my choices for my future. I come from a home where I have no role model or someone influential. I have no one to ask for advice for college or anything involve in school. In most homes, older siblings help their younger siblings with their homework or projects but in my house no one was able to provide me with any help. I grew up to be independent and to do anything school related on my own. My parents are both immigrants who didn’t get to finish elementary
Throughout the last few weeks we have talked about dehumanization, oppression, immigration and group dynamics. We have had multiple people and discussions about these topics. I have read many articles, heard speakers, and been taught a lot about these topics but there is always something new that I can learn and always another perspective on the topics.
Immigrants have been a vital part of the U.S. ever since the day the country was founded. But perspectives on immigrants have varied through time and one of the most popular ways of presenting them was through political cartoons. From the 1860s-1910s one of the biggest issues the U.S. was facing was how to properly regulate the flow of immigrants into the country. We also see this tying of Americanness and whiteness, where even certain Europeans weren’t considered full American even though they were white. White Americans wanted more white seeming migrants which would help further establish the American identity as white. The political cartoons show the shifting perspective placed on immigrants, from a universal fear of them, to a more divided
The U.S has a prolonged history of discrimination. In the late 17th century, when America declared as a free country, only the white gentility had the privileged of “freedom” and African American continue their life as slaves for many decades. As the country grows, it became a dream land, a refuge for immigrations fled from their country to seek freedom and pursuit happiness. However, the gene of discriminations stuck deeply in the mind of the early founding fathers; hence their descendents also obtained the hatred toward immigrations who look differently. In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, many immigrants such as the Jews, Chinese and Japanese immigrations came to America with the hope for better life also got exploited, and treated brutally in many ways. Although their contributions to the American were ineligible, their lives were cruel not only because they were treated badly from the government but also from the competition with the white labors for low paying employments.
My grandmother has a certain look in her eyes when something is troubling her: she stares off in a random direction with a wistful, slightly bemused expression on her face, as if she sees something the rest of us can’t see, knows something that we don’t know. It is in these moments, and these moments alone, that she seems distant from us, like a quiet observer watching from afar, her body present but her mind and heart in a place only she can visit. She never says it, but I know, and deep inside, I think they do as well. She wants to be a part of our world. She wants us to be a part of hers. But we don’t belong. Not anymore. Not my brothers—I don’t think they ever did. Maybe I did—once, a long time ago, but I can’t remember anymore. I love my grandmother. She knows that. I know she does, even if I’m never able to convey it adequately to her in words.
Currently, today in the world that we live in, immigration is a very popular topic of discuss. Immigration has been occurring for a great deal of time and is still taking place today. In the past there were many problems with incoming strangers entering our country and bringing with them different customs. With unfamiliar attributes being presented to the nation in such a way, caused conflict between the native as well as the aliens. Some complications that were presented a century ago are still being dealt with now, and the others are no long occurring during this era.Immigration does not only include one ethnicity; It includes every enthicity that is coming from a country to settle down in our country from their native country. A msn by the name of Jacob Rii did several interviews on immigrants that were entering the country during the 1890s. During his interviews he discovered the many problems that the immigrants were facing and introducing into the United States.
There is so much controversy about immigration in the United States. There are many perspectives about how Immigration is seen by White Americans. Some are more extreme than others. Even though the Unites States was founded by diversity and on the inclusion of immigrants, stereotypes presented by society drives White Americans to go to the extreme of deporting immigrants. The stereotypes that propel this idea of deportation are immigrants on welfare, crime done by immigrants, and how immigrants affect jobs. These stereotypes can be promoted from many different parts of society ranging from media outlets to the upper government of the United States.
This has caused a strong negative connotation to form around the word “immigrant”, especially those that are unauthorized, regardless of whether they are peaceful or violent. It has also greatly increased internalized racism which has not only caused issues with the natives of the countries, but with the immigrants themselves. Many times, these immigrants, who are often refugees, face ridiculous amounts of discrimination, hate, and even genocide. One example, albeit extreme, is the Holocaust. The Jewish people immigrated into Germany, some authorized, some not, but they were faced with racism to an extreme not commonly seen, all due to the German government, and Hitler, being upset about them being in their country, among other things. For a more current example, one could look at our current society, and the treatment of illegal immigrants in the United States. TV personality and self proclaimed politician Donald Trump has vehemently expressed his dislike for illegal immigrants, and has proclaimed he will deport them all if he is elected. These situations provide a different side of the question. Rather than focused on the problems immigrants “create”, it focuses on the problems immigrants face, which is definitely not exaggerated due to the countless issues they
At a young age, my teachers and parents taught me to believe that I could do and accomplish anything that I set my mind to. I grew up thinking that I was unstoppable and that the only limit to my achievements was the sky. However, during my second year in high school, I began to realize that I was not as unstoppable as I had thought. I began to experience the consequences of my parent’s decision of bringing me to the United States illegally. Among those consequences were, not being able to apply for a job, obtain a driver’s license or take advantage of the dual enrollment program at my high school, simply because I did not possess a social security number. I remember thinking that all of my hard work was in vain and that I was not going to
Immigrants have always been an important part of United States’ population. Each year, there are hundreds of thousands of immigrants, from all around the world, including legal and illegal, come into the United States for job opportunities, new life, or the American Dream. “Immigrants have contributed significantly to the development of the United States. During the Lincoln administration, immigrants were actually encouraged to come to America, as they were considered valuable to the development of the country.” (Soylu & Buchanan, 2013). They believe that the US will give them more freedom, protection, and opportunities, which sometimes it becomes the major issues for immigrants. That’s why “the U.S. population is becoming more racially and
Hello, I am Anel Bektas, we may already know each other really well, but here we go. To begin, my parents are Bosnian immigrants who came to the United States after the war in Bosnia in the year 1993. My parents names are Mirsad and Almedina Bektas. Four years later, they had my older brother Amer, who to this day is nineteen. Another four years had passed and they had the best child of all, which is definitely me. Then another four years later they had my little brother Armin, who to this day is ten. As you can see my parents liked having kids every four years. I enjoy playing a lot of sports, especially soccer, but I also enjoy playing and watching basketball. Furthermore, my why or ultimate passion is to make my family proud and pursue my
Good evening my fellow Americans. I stand here today to talk a very serious topic. The American dream. America, my great America we are unfortunately falling apart.