The Browning of America

http://www.essence.com/2012/05/22/preparing-for-the-browning-of-america/

I looked at an article from the magazine, Essence. What this article is talking about is the "browning of America." This term refers to the fact that "minorities" are slowly but surely becoming the majority. According to a recent US census, most babies under the age of 1 were kids of color. Although it may not seem like a big deal, it actually is. We need to be careful because "the USA is being transformed by immigrants who do not share [American] values, and who have high rates of illiteracy, illegitimacy, and gang crime, and they will vote Democrat when the Democrats promise them more food stamps." Wow! Sounds scary, huh? Those darn people of color are ruining the United States and we need to prepare ourselves for what is to come. Aside from ignorant comments such as the one stated above, we are able to know for a fact that the United States is about to face a major change. Where the country always had a majority of white people, that majority may no longer exist. What was once the majority may become the minority. It will be interesting to see how the country reacts to such a change. To me, it does not really seem like a big deal because I am used to being around those of different racial and ethnic backgrounds and it surprises me a little bit that some people are really fearing what is to come. Hopefully this will make our country come together more than ever though. 

Chapter 17

Again, we keep getting closer and closer to more recent immigration topics. One of my favorite parts to read about was the distinction between illegal immigrants and those who merely have visas or something to show as proof of their legality in the United States. I learned that there are actually a whole bunch of different reasons for a foreigner to be here (legally) in the United States. Usually, when we think of illegal immigrants, we just clump them all together. And usually, many people stereotypically think of Mexicans that cross the border without permission from the government. We tend to not think of the Canadians that cross the border from the northern part of the United States or those who travel her from other countries. But anyways, what I learned that was most interesting to me was that the majority of illegal immigrants are those who have actually ran out of visa time! So basically, they came here legally with valid visas from the US government and then the visas expired and yet those once legal immigrants continued to stay in the states which now makes it illegal. This fascinated me because it showed that the majority of illegal immigrants are those that once immigrated here legally. But see, once you settle in the US for a while and then your visa expires, it must be difficult to pick up everything and go. This makes me think that we need to consider some kind of immigration reform. Which is what the last chapter talked about in good detail. We still have not found a successful means of reforming immigration policy, but we obviously have to keep working until we find something that benefits both those who are native to the United States and those who would like to try their luck in this country.

Chapter 16

As we get closer and closer to learning about more recent history, we also seem to be focusing a lot on Immigration Acts. The list that we made in class on Friday was kind of like a really big preview of the Acts and Reformations that were to come. In this chapter, they focused a lot on The Immigration Reform Act of 1986. This was to really crack down a lot on immigration to America because so many people were trying to come over here. For example, an employer could get prison time if they were found out for hiring an illegal immigrant. However, at the same time, some people got it easier so that they could actually have immigrants come and work for them. This is what struck me as odd and just weird. It was kind of contradictory and I was confused as to how this Reform Act went into place. But then I remembered that we are really just trying to benefit ourselves and not so much those who are trying to make a living out here. They also focused on the concept of nativism. And how that means that you don't like foreigners. I think that even currently, as a whole nation, we still have significant  rates of nativism and it is sad but I don't think that will ever really change. I think that it has dropped significantly even since the 80s, but still.. we have a long way to go.

Asian immigration

Reading this section in the book was enlightening for me because it reminds me each different Asian group that immigrated to America has their own story. It helped me to distinguish the cultural differences between the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Filipinos! One of the things that I thought was most interesting was how well the Japanese excelled in the united states when they came over here. They immigrated here and then before you know it, they started to have a higher income than most north Americans. They just came over here and were ready to do work and I thought that was both really inspiring and just really dedicated of them, really. It shows how they took advantage of their situation and were really able to benefit from it! Also, my best friend, Victoria, is Filipino. Her mom is Filipino and her maiden name is Grande. The reason why a lot of filipinos have Spanish surnames is because that thr Philippines were a Spanish colony. And before her mom got pregnant with Victoria in school... She was training to be a nurse.