New Americans Immigration and Assimilation

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CHAPTER 9

etween 1820 and 1920, some 40 million people immigrated to the United States. This wave of newcomers, mostly from Europe, transformed American society Bon almost every level: its neighborhoods and parishes and cities, its popular culture, its accent and dialect, its religion, and its cuisine. The United States is now experiencing a second wave of mass immigration, this one beginning in the 1960s and including people not just from Europe but from all over the world. Over the past four decades, well over 20 million newcomers have arrived (not counting undocumented immigrants), a rate that exceeds the pace of the first mass immigration. Since the 1960s, the United States has averaged about a half million newcomers each year, but this number has frequently risen above 750,000 and has been more than 1 million on several occasions (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2003, p. 11). The record for most immigrants in a year was set in 1907, when almost 1.3 million people arrived on these shores. If undocumented immigrants were added to the recent totals, this century-old record might well have been eclipsed several times since the 1960s. Will this new wave of immigrants transform the United States once again? How? Who are these new Americans? Where do they come from and what are they seeking? What do they contribute? What do they cost? Will they assimilate and adopt the ways of the dominant society? What are the implications if assimilation fails? We have been asking questions like these throughout this text, and in this chapter, we will apply them to a variety of immigrant groups that are both newcomers and growing rapidly. We have already covered several large groups that have recently increased in size because of immigration: Mexican Americans in Chapter 7 and Chinese Americans in Chapter 8. In this chapter, we’ll look at some smaller groups, dealing first with some Hispanic and Caribbean groups, then with some groups from Asia and the Pacific Islands, followed by Arab Americans, and, finally, recent emigrants from Africa. In the last section of the chapter, we will examine 232 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 233

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some of the issues that have arisen as the Mexico. Exhibit 9.1 shows a rapid increase United States confronts the challenges of beginning in the 1960s and continuing to the absorbing these millions of newcomers. turn of the century, with an average of about Each of the groups covered in this chapter 200,000 immigrants each year. Generally, has had some members in the United States emigrants from these regions (minus Mexico) for decades, some for more than a century. have been about 10% of all immigrants since However, in all cases, the groups were quite the 1960s. small until the latter third of the 20th century. The sending nations for these immigrants Although they are growing rapidly now (and, are economically less developed, and most all together, account for as much as 50–60% have long-standing relations with the of all immigrants in any one year), all remain United States. We have already discussed relatively small, and none is larger than 1% of (see Chapter 7) the role that Mexico and the population. Nonetheless, some groups will Puerto Rico have historically played as have a greater impact on American culture sources of cheap labor and the ties that led and society in the future, and one—Arab Cubans to immigrate to the United States. Americans—has already become a focus of Each of the other sending nations has been concern and controversy because of the events similarly linked to the United States, the of September 11, 2001, and the ensuing war dominant economic and political power in on terrorism. the region (Portes, 1990, p. 162). Although the majority of these immigrants RECENT EMIGRATION FROM bring educational and occupational qualifica- LATIN AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA, tions that are modest by U.S. standards, they tend to be more educated, more urbanized, AND THE CARIBBEAN TO THE and more skilled than the average citizens of UNITED STATES the nations from which they come. Contrary Emigration from Latin America, the to widely held beliefs, these immigrants do Caribbean, and South America to the United not represent the poorest of the poor, the States has been considerable, even excluding “wretched refuse” of their homelands. They

Exhibit 9.1 Emigration From Central and South America and the Caribbean to the United States, 1940s–2003

100000 90000 80000 70000 60000 50000

Numbers 40000 30000 20000 10000 0

2001 2002 2003 1941-50 1951-60 1961-70 1971-80 1981-90 1991-2000

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2003). Note: Numbers for 1940s–1990s are averages per year for the decade. Numbers for 2001, 2002, and 2003 are actual numbers. 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 234

234 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

tend to be rather ambitious, as evidenced by groups had few members in the United States their willingness to attempt to survive in a before the 1960s, and all have had high rates society that has not been notably hospitable to of immigration over the past four decades. Latinos or people of color in the past. These However, the motivation of the immigrants immigrants are not just fleeing poverty or job- and the immigration experience has varied lessness; many are attempting to pursue their from group to group, as we shall see below. ambitions and seek opportunities for advance- ment that are simply not available in their Four Case Studies country of origin (Portes & Rumbaut, 1996, pp. 10–11). Exhibit 9.3 displays some of the salient This characterization applies to legal and characteristics of three of our case studies unauthorized immigrants alike. In fact, the using data from the 2000 census. These latter may illustrate the point more dramat- data reflect the “newness” of these groups: ically, because the cost of illegally entering Each has a high percentage of foreign-born the United States can be considerable— members, and, predictably with so many much higher than the cost of a legal entry. members in the first generation, proficiency The venture may require years of saving in English is an important issue. Although money or the combined resources of a large Colombians approach national norms in kinship group. Forged papers and other education, the other two groups have costs of being smuggled into the country relatively low levels of human capital (edu- can easily amount to thousands of dollars, a cation), and all are well above national considerable sum in nations in which the norms in terms of poverty. usual wage is a tiny fraction of the U.S. National information on Haitians is not average (Orreniou, 2001, p. 7). Also, the available from the U.S. Census, but inde- passage can be extremely dangerous and pendent studies and other sources of infor- can require a level of courage (or despera- mation indicate that they are roughly tion) not often associated with the undocu- comparable to Dominicans and Salvadorans mented and illegal. Many Mexican would-be and have a high percentage of foreign-born, immigrants have died along the border, and low English proficiency, low levels of many other immigrants have been lost at sea education, and high levels of poverty. For (for example, see “Dominicans Saved From example, one study of the Haitian commu- Sea,” 2004). nity in Florida found that only 30–40% of We should also note that this immigrant parents had completed high school, and stream is quite diverse and includes French, more than 80% of families had incomes British, and Portuguese traditions as well lower than $25,000 per year (Portes & as Spanish. These immigrants come from Rumbaut, 2001). more than 20 nations, including Jamaica, Exhibit 9.4 presents information on Grenada, Belize, Guatemala, Peru, and occupational distribution for the males and Brazil. Some are highly educated profes- females of three groups. Consistent with sionals, whereas others are farmhands, their low levels of education, the men of all political refugees, skilled technicians, or the three groups (particularly Salvadorans) are wives and children of U.S. citizens. underrepresented at the management and Rather than attempting to cover all of these professional (M&P) level (the jobs with the groups, we will select four to serve as case highest levels of prestige and rewards) and studies and consider emigrants from the are overrepresented in service jobs and Dominican Republic, Haiti, El Salvador, and manual labor jobs, usually in the least desir- Colombia. Together, these four groups com- able, secure, and rewarding of these jobs. prise a little less than 10% of all immigrants in Roughly the same pattern holds for the recent years and about 20% of the emigrants females, with Salvadoran women especially from Central and South America and the overrepresented in the service sector (often Caribbean to the United States. These four as poorly paid domestics and nannies). 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 235

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Exhibit 9.2 Map of Central and South America and the Caribbean Showing the Dominican Republic, Haiti, El Salvador, and Colombia

Gulf of Mexico North Atlantic DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Ocean

CENTRAL AMERICA HAITI Caribbean Sea

EL SALVADOR

COLOMBIA

SOUTH AMERICA

Exhibit 9.3 Characteristics of Groups From Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Colombia, and Haiti

Present % of Total % Foreign- % “Poor” Nation Population Population born Englisha % HSb % BAc % Poord

U.S. 281,421,906 — 11.1 8.1 80.4 24.4 9.2 Dominicans 799,768 0.28 68.2 53.7 51.1 10.9 27.6 Salvadorans 708,741 0.25 75.6 61.5 36.1 5.5 18.6 Colombians 496,748 0.18 23.9 50.7 74.5 23.7 14.3 Haitians 548,199e 0.19 NA NA NA NA NA

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d). a. Percent of group with “ability to speak English less than ‘very well.’” b. Percent high school graduates. c. Percent college graduates. d. Percent of families below the poverty line. e. U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-c). 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 236

236 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

Exhibit 9.4a Major Occupational Groupings: Males

30 Percent

0 M&P Service Sales Manual

US DR ES Col

Exhibit 9.4b Major Occupational Grouping: Females

Percent 20

0 M&P Service Sales Manual

US DR ES Col

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d). 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 237

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Of these three groups, Colombians come concentrated in the service sector as day closest to the national norms, again reflect- laborers (men) or domestics (women). ing their higher levels of human capital. Dominicans maintain strong ties with home Although these groups share some charac- and are a major source of income and sup- teristics, they are also quite different from port for the families left behind. each other. The biggest difference is between In terms of acculturation and integration, Haitians, who come from a French tradition Dominicans are roughly similar to Mexican and speak Creole (a dialect of French), and the Americans and Puerto Ricans, although other groups, all three of which are Hispanic. some studies suggest that they are possibly The groups also differ in their “racial” charac- the most impoverished immigrant group teristics, with Haitians and Dominicans more (see, for example, Camarota, 2002). African in appearance, Colombians more A high percentage of Dominicans are European, and Salvadorans more Indian. The undocumented, and many spend consider- groups tend to settle in different places. Three able money and take considerable risks to of the groups (Dominicans, Haitians, and get to the United States. If these less visible Colombians) are clustered along the East members of the community were included Coast, particularly in New York, New Jersey, in the official, government-generated statis- and Florida, whereas Salvadorans are more tics used in Exhibits 9.3 and 9.4, it is very concentrated on the West Coast (U.S. likely that the portrait of poverty and low Department of Homeland Security, 2003). levels of education and job skills would be Finally, the groups differ in the conditions even more dramatic. of their entry or their “contact situation,” a difference that, as we have seen, is quite Haitians consequential. Haitians and Salvadorans are more likely to be political refugees fleeing bru- Haiti is the poorest country in the Western tal civil wars and political repression, whereas Hemisphere, and most of the population Dominicans and Colombians are more likely relies on small-scale subsistence agriculture to be motivated by economics and the employ- for survival. Estimates are that 80% of the ment possibilities offered in the United States. population lives below the poverty line and We will consider each of these groups briefly that less than one-third of adults hold formal and explore some of these differences further. jobs. Only about half the population is literate, and Haitians average less than 3 years of formal education (http://www.nationmas Dominicans ter.com/country/ha/Economy). The Dominican Republic shares the Haitian immigration was virtually nonex- Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti. istent until the 1970s and 1980s, when thou- The island economy is still largely agricul- sands began to flee the brutal political tural, although the tourist industry has grown repression of the Duvalier dictatorship, in recent years. Unemployment and poverty which—counting both father (“Papa Doc”) are major problems, and Dominicans average and son (“Baby Doc”)—lasted until the mid- less than 5 years of education (http://www 1980s. In stark contrast to the treatment .nationmaster.com/country/dr/Economy). of Cuban immigrants (see Chapter 7), the Immigration is motivated largely by United States government defined Haitians economics, and Dominicans compete for as economic refugees ineligible for asylum, jobs with Puerto Ricans, other immigrant and an intense campaign has been conducted groups, and native-born workers with lower to keep Haitians out of the United States. levels of education and job skills. Although Thousands have been returned to Haiti, Dominicans are limited in their job options some to face political persecution, prison, by the language barrier, they are somewhat and even death; others have been incarcer- advantaged by their willingness to work ated in the United States. In the view of some, for lower wages, and they are especially “during the 1970s and 1980s, no other 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 238

238 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

immigrant group suffered more from U.S. underemployment. About 80% of the popu- government prejudice and discrimination lation is literate, and the average number of than Haitians” (Stepick, Stepick, Eugene, years of school completed is a little more than Teed, & Labissiere, 2001, p. 236). 5 (http://www.nationmaster.com/country/es/). What accounts for this cold, negative El Salvador, like many sending nations, has reception? Some reasons are not hard to a difficult time providing sufficient employ- identify. Haitians bring low levels of human ment opportunities for its population, and capital and education. This creates concerns much of the pressure to emigrate is economic. about their ability to support themselves in However, El Salvador also suffered through a the United States and also means that they vicious civil war in the 1980s, and many of the have relatively few resources with which Salvadorans in the United States today are to defend their self-interest. In addition, actually political refugees. The United States, Haitians speak a language (Creole) that is under the administration of President Ronald spoken by almost no one else. This sharply Reagan, refused to grant political refugee sta- limits the networks and alliances available tus to Salvadorans, and many were returned to the group. Perhaps the most important to El Salvador. This federal policy resulted reason for the rejection, however, is that in high numbers of undocumented immi- Haitians are black and must cope with the grants and also stimulated a sanctuary move- centuries-old traditions of rejection, racism, ment, led by American clergy, that helped and prejudice that are such an intimate part Salvadoran immigrants, both undocumented of American culture (Stepick et al., 2001). and legal, to stay in the United States. As was One important study of Haitians in South the case with Dominicans, if the undocu- Florida found that this combination of fac- mented emigrants from El Salvador were tors—their hostile reception, their poverty and included in official government statistics, the lack of education, and their racial back- picture of poverty would become even more ground—combined to lead the Haitian second extreme. generation (the children of the immigrants) to a relatively low level of academic achievement Colombians and a tendency to identify with the African American community. “Haitians are becom- Colombia is somewhat more developed ing American but in a specifically black ethnic than most other Central and South American fashion” (Stepick et al., 2001, p. 261). The nations but has suffered from more than ultimate path of Haitian assimilation will 40 years of internal turmoil, civil war, and unfold in the future, but these tendencies— government corruption. The nation is a particularly their low levels of academic major center for the production and distribu- achievement—suggest that few of the second tion of drugs to the world in general and the generation are likely to move into the middle United States in particular, and the drug class (Stepick et al., 2001, p. 261). This trajec- industry and profits are complexly inter- tory would be consistent with the predictions twined with domestic strife. As reflected in of the segmented assimilation model (see Exhibit 9.3, Colombian Americans are closer Chapter 2 and later in this chapter). to national norms of education and income than other Latino groups, and recent immigrants are a mixture of less skilled laborers Salvadorans and well-educated professionals seeking to El Salvador, like Haiti and the Dominican further their careers. Colombians are resi- Republic, is a relatively poor nation with a dentially concentrated in urban areas, espe- high percentage of the population relying cially in Florida and the Northeast, and often on subsistence agriculture for survival. It is settle in areas close to other Latino neighbor- estimated that about 50% of the popula- hoods. Of course, the huge majority of tion is below poverty level, and there are Colombian Americans are law abiding and major problems with unemployment and not connected with the drug trade, but still, 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 239

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Exhibit 9.5 Emigration From India, Vietnam, Philippines, and South Korea to the United States, 1940s–2003

180000

160000

140000

120000

100000

80000 Numbers

60000

40000

20000

2001 2002 2003 1941-50 1951-60 1961-70 1971-80 1981-90 1991-2000

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2003).

they must deal with the pervasive stereotype Pacific Island immigrants are low-skilled, that pictures Colombians as gangsters and less educated, and undocumented. Thus, drug smugglers (not unlike the Mafia stereo- this stream of immigrants, like Chinese type encountered by Italian Americans). Americans, is bipolar and includes a healthy representation of people from both the top CONTEMPORARY EMIGRATION and the bottom of the occupational and edu- FROM ASIA AND THE PACIFIC cational hierarchies. Of course, other factors besides mere ISLANDS TO THE UNITED STATES economics attract these immigrants to the Emigration from Asia and the Pacific Islands United States. The U.S. has maintained mili- to the United States has been considerable tary bases throughout the region (including since the 1960s, averaging close to 300,000 South Korea and the Philippines) since the per year and running about 30–35% of all end of World War II, and many Asian and immigrants. As was the case with Hispanic Pacific Islander immigrants are the spouses and Caribbean immigrants, the sending of American soldiers. Also, U.S. involvement nations are considerably less developed than in the war in Southeast Asia in the 1960s the United States, and the primary motivation and 1970s created interpersonal ties and for most of these immigrants is economic. governmental programs that drew refugees However, the Asian and Pacific Island immi- from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. grant stream also includes a large contingent As before, rather than attempting to cover of highly educated professionals seeking all the separate groups in this category, we opportunities to practice their careers and will concentrate on four case studies and expand their skills. Whereas these more elite consider emigrant groups from India, immigrants contribute to the image of “Asian Vietnam, South Korea, and the Philippines. success” (see Chapter 8), other Asian and Together, these four groups comprise about 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 240

240 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

Exhibit 9.6 Map of Asia, Showing India, Vietnam, South Korea, and the Philippines

Arctic Ocean

North Pacific Ocean

NORTH KOREA ASIA

SOUTH KOREA

PHILIPPINES INDIA

VIETNAM

Indian Ocean

Exhibit 9.7 Characteristics of Four Groups

Nation of % of Total % Foreign- % “Poor” Origin Number Population born Englisha % HSb % BAc % Poord

U.S. 281,421,906 — 11.1 8.1 80.4 24.4 9.2 Indian 1,855,590 0.7 27.1 23.0 85.4 60.9 7.5 Filipino 2,385,216 0.9 55.8 20.5 87.4 41.7 5.4 Korean 1,226,825 0.4 69.9 46.0 86.4 43.1 13.0 Vietnamese 1,212,465 0.4 73.5 60.5 62.0 19.5 14.3

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d).

half of all emigrants from Asia and the all four groups are small and that they Pacific Islands, and Exhibit 9.5 displays include a high percentage of foreign-born their volume of immigration. members. In contrast with Hispanic and Caribbean immigrants, however, note that two of the groups (Indians and Filipinos) Four Case Studies have much lower percentages of members Exhibit 9.7 repeats Exhibit 9.3 for the not fluent in English, three groups actually four Asian and Pacific Islander groups, again exceed national norms for education (e.g., using data from the 2000 census. Note that Indians have 2½ times the national norm for 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 241

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Exhibit 9.8a Major Occupational Groupings of Indians, Vietnamese, Filipinos, and Koreans (Males)

Percent 30

0 M&P Service Sales Manual

US Indians Filipinos Korean Vietnamese

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d).

college-educated members), and two are well As we have done so often, we must note below national norms for poverty. Although the diversity across these four groups. First, Vietnamese Americans rank lower on mea- we can repeat the point made in Chapter 8 sures of education and poverty, the picture that the category “Asian and Pacific Islander presented by this table underscores the idea Americans” is an arbitrary designation that many of the immigrants from these four imposed on peoples who actually have little groups are well prepared to compete in the in common and who come from nations that American job market. vary in language, culture, religion, “racial” Exhibits 9.8a and 9.8b reinforce the characteristics, and scores of other ways. impression that many Asian and Pacific More specifically, these four groups are quite Islander groups bring high levels of human different from each other. Perhaps the most capital. Indian and South Korean males are striking contrast is between Indians, many of overrepresented in the highest occupational whom are highly educated and skilled, and group and underrepresented among manual Vietnamese Americans, who have a socioe- laborers. Indian and Filipino women are conomic profile that more closely resembles also overrepresented in the highest occupa- non-Asian racial minorities in the United tional grouping, but Vietnamese women are States and who challenge the stereotype of overrepresented in the lowest. Otherwise, Asian success. the occupational distribution of both gen- Part of the difference between these two ders is roughly similar to national norms. groups relates to their contact situations and 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 242

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Exhibit 9.8b Major Occupational Groupings of Indians, Vietnamese, Filipinos, and Koreans (Females)

30 Percent

0 M&P Service Sales Manual

US Indians Filipinos Korean Vietnamese

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d).

can be illuminated by applying the Blauner Indians hypothesis. Indian immigrants are at the India is the second most populous nation “immigrant” end of Blauner’s continuum. in the world, and its population of more They bring strong educational credentials and than 1 billion people incorporates a wide are well equipped to compete for favorable variety of different languages (India has 19 positions in the U.S. occupational hierarchy. official languages, including English); reli- The Vietnamese, in sharp contrast, began their gions; and ethnic groups. Overall, the level American experience as a refugee group flee- of education is fairly low. The population ing the turmoil of war. Although they don’t fit averages about 5 years of formal schooling, Blauner’s “conquered or colonized” category, and only about 50% of females and 70% most Vietnamese Americans had to adapt to of males are literate. However, about 10% American society with few resources and few of the population does reach the post- contacts with an established immigrant com- secondary level of education, which means munity. The consequences of these vastly dif- that there are roughly 100 million (10% ferent contact situations are suggested by the of 1 billion) well-educated Indians looking data in Exhibits 9.8a and 9.8b. for careers commensurate with their creden- These groups also vary in their settlement tials. Because of the relative lack of devel- patterns. Most are concentrated along the opment of the Indian economy, many West Coast, but Indians are roughly equally members of this educated elite must search distributed on both the east and west coasts, for career opportunities abroad, and not and the Vietnamese have a sizable presence just in the United States. in Texas, in part related to the fishing indus- It is also important to note that English is try along the Gulf Coast. the language of India’s educated class, a 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 243

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Exhibit 9.9 Distribution of Income for Whites and Asian Indians, 1999

200,000+ 150,000-199,999 125,000-149,999 100,000-124,999 75,000-99,999 60,000-74,999 50,000-59,999 45,000-49,999 40,000-44,999 35,000-39,999 30,000-34,999 Income Categories 25,000-29,999 20,000-24,999 15,000-19,999 10,000-14,999 <10,000

15 10 5 0 5 10 15 20 Percent of Total Population

Whites Asian Indian

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d).

legacy of India’s long colonization by the some insight into the reasons for this move- British. Thus, Indian immigrants tend to be ment. Other emigrants from India to the not only well educated but also English- United States are more oriented to commerce speaking (hence, the low percentage of and small business, and there is a sizable members with “poor English” in Exhibit 9.7). Indian ethnic enclave in many cities (Kitano Emigration from India to the United & Daniels, 1995, pp. 96–111; Sheth, 1995, States was low until the mid-1960s, and pp. 169–198). the group was quite small at that time. The The image of relative affluence for this group more than quadrupled in size select stream of immigrants is reinforced by between 1980 and 2000, and Indians are Exhibit 9.9. Indians are underrepresented in now the third-largest Asian American group the lowest income categories and overrepre- today (behind Chinese and Filipinos). sented in the highest, a pattern that con- As is reflected in Exhibits 9.7, 9.8a, and trasts sharply with other “racial” minorities 9.8b, Indian immigrants tend to be a select, and with the bipolar distribution of Chinese highly educated and skilled group. According Americans. to the 2000 census, Indians are very overrepresented in some of the most prestigious South Koreans occupations, including computer engineering, physicians, and college faculty (U.S. Bureau Emigration from South Korea to the of the Census, n.d.-d). Indian immigrants are United States began at the turn of the 19th part of a worldwide movement of educated century, when laborers were recruited to peoples from less developed countries to help fill the void in the job market left by more developed countries. One need not pon- the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. This group der the differences in career opportunities, was extremely small until the 1950s, when technology, and compensation for long to get the rate of immigration rose because of 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 244

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refugees and “war brides” after the Korean As is the case for other groups that have War. Immigration did not become substan- pursued this course, the enclave allows tial, however, until the 1960s. The size of Korean Americans to avoid the discrimina- the group increased fivefold in the 1970s tion and racism of the larger society while and tripled between 1980 and 2000 but is surviving in an economic niche in which lack still less than 0.5% of the total population. of English fluency is not a particular prob- Recent emigrants from South Korea con- lem. However, the enclave has its perils and sist mostly of families and include many its costs. For one thing, the success of Korean highly educated people. Although differences enterprises depends heavily on the mutual in culture, language, and race make South assistance and financial support of other Koreans visible targets of discrimination, the Koreans and the willingness of family high percentage of Christians among them members to work long hours for little or no (almost half of South Koreans are Christian— pay. These resources would be weakened or http://www.nationmaster.com/country/ks/ destroyed by acculturation, integration, and Religion) may help them appear more accept- the resultant decline in ethnic solidarity. able to the dominant group. Certainly, Only by maintaining a distance from the Christian church parishes play a number of dominant culture and its pervasive appeal important roles for the Korean American can the infrastructure survive. community, offering assistance to newcomers Furthermore, the economic niches in which and the less fortunate, serving as a focal point Mom-and-Pop green groceries and other for networks of mutual assistance, and gener- small businesses can survive are often ally assisting in the myriad chores that immi- in deteriorated neighborhoods populated grant communities have often performed largely by other minority groups. There has (Kitano & Daniels, 2001, p. 123). been a good deal of hostility and resentment Korean American immigrants have formed expressed against Korean shop owners by an enclave, and the group is heavily involved African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and other in small businesses and retail stores, particu- urbanized minority groups. For example, anti- larly fruit and vegetable retail stores or green Korean sentiments were widely expressed in groceries. According to one study, Koreans the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed the had the second highest percentage of self- acquittal of the policemen who had been employment among immigrant groups charged in the beating of Rodney King. (Greeks were the highest), with about 24% of Korean-owned businesses were some of the group in this occupational category (Kritz the first to be looted and burned, and when & Gurak, 2005, p. 36). Another data source, asked why, one participant in the looting also based on the 2000 census, shows that said simply, “Because we hate ’em. Every- Koreans have the highest rate of business body hates them” (Cho, 1993, p. 199). Thus, ownership among 11 different minority part of the price of survival for many groups (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2002), Korean merchants is to place themselves including other enclave minorities. Japanese in positions in which antagonism and Americans had the second highest rate (108 conflict with other minority groups is businesses per 1,000 population), Chinese common (Kitano & Daniels, 1995, pp. 112– Americans were third (104 per 1,000 popula- 129; Light & Bonacich, 1988; Min, 1995, tion), and Cuban Americans were fourth (101 pp. 199–231; see also Hurh, 1998). per 1,000 population). In contrast, racial minority groups with strong histories of colo- Filipino Americans nization and exclusion were at the bottom of the rankings: African Americans (24 busi- Ties between the United States and the nesses per 1,000) and Puerto Ricans (21 per Philippines were established in 1898 when 1,000) (see also Pollard & O’Hare, 1999, Spain ceded the territory after its defeat in p. 39; Kim, Hurh, & Fernandez, 1989; Logan the Spanish-American War, and the United et al., 1994; Min, 1995, pp. 208–212). States maintained a strong military presence 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 245

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Exhibit 9.10 Arab Americans, 1990 and 2000 (Totals and Largest Ancestry Groups)

1990 2000

% of all Arab % of all Arab % Growth: Group Number Americans Number Americans 1990–2000

Arab Americans 860,354 — 1,189,731 — 38 Largest ancestry groups Lebanese 394,180 45.8 440,279 37.0 12 Syrian 129,606 15.1 142,897 12.0 10 Egyptian 78,574 9.1 142,832 12.0 82 Palestinian 48,019 5.6 72,112 6.1 50 Jordanian 20,656 2.4 39,734 3.3 92 Moroccan 19,089 2.2 38,923 3.3 104 Iraqi 23,212 2.7 37,714 3.2 63

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (2003a).

Exhibit 9.11 Characteristics of Arab Americans and Eight Sub-Groups

Nation of % of U.S. % Foreign- % “Poor” Origin Population born Englisha % HSb % BAc % Poord

U.S. — 11.1 8.1 80.4 24.4 9.2 Arab 0.40% 40.9 18.8 86.2 42.0 10.9 Lebanese 0.16% 22.4 9.0 89.0 41.3 6.4 Arabic 0.07% 49.8 27.3 78.5 33.7 18.9 Syrian 0.05% 23.7 11.8 86.7 37.7 6.5 Egyptian 0.05% 64.5 26.2 93.8 63.3 11.6 Palestinian 0.03% 49.7 21.7 83.0 40.2 13.1 Jordanian 0.01% 63.7 27.9 84.2 37.3 13.4 Moroccan 0.01% 57.5 24.8 85.9 33.0 12.6 Iraqi 0.01% 71.9 39.2 71.8 35.9 19.9

there until very recently. The nation has been Today, Filipinos are the second largest heavily influenced by American culture, and Asian American group, but their numbers English remains one of two official lan- became sizable only in the past few decades. guages. Thus, as reflected in Exhibit 9.7, There were fewer than 1,000 Filipinos in Filipino immigrants are often conversant in the United States in 1910, and by 1960, the English, at least as a second language. group still numbered fewer than 200,000. 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 246

246 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

Most of the recent growth has come from and members of the region’s educational and increased post-1965 immigration. The occupational elite. Later groups of refugees group more than doubled in size between tended to be less well educated and more 1980 and 2000. impoverished. Many Vietnamese waited in Many of the earliest immigrants were agri- refugee camps for months or years before cultural workers recruited for the sugar plan- being admitted to the United States, and they tations of Hawaii and the fields of the West often arrived with few resources or social Coast. Because the Philippines became a U.S. networks to ease their transition to the territory in 1898, Filipinos could enter with- new society (Kitano & Daniels, 1995, out regard to immigration quotas until 1935, pp. 151–152). The Vietnamese are the largest when the nation became independent. of the Asian refugee groups, and contrary to The most recent wave of immigrants Asian American success stories and notions is diversified and, like Chinese Americans, of model minorities, they have incomes Filipino Americans are bipolar in their and educational levels comparable to colo- educational and occupational profiles. nized minority groups (see Exhibits 9.7, 9.8a, Many recent immigrants have entered under and 9.8b). the family preference provisions of the U.S. immigration policy. These immigrants are ARAB AMERICANS often poor and compete for jobs in the low- wage secondary labor market (Kitano & Emigration from the Middle East and the Daniels, 1995, p. 94). More than half of all Arab world to the United States began in the Filipino immigrants since 1965, however, 19th century but has never been particularly have been professionals, especially those in large. The earliest immigrants tended to be health and medical fields. Many female emi- merchants and traders, and the Arab grants from the Philippines were nurses American community has always been con- actively recruited by U.S. hospitals to fill structed around an ethnic small-business gaps in the labor force (Amott & Matthaei, enclave. 1991, p. 245). Thus, the Filipino American The Arab American community has community includes some members in the grown rapidly over the past several decades higher-wage primary labor market and but still remains a tiny percentage of the others who are competing for work in total population. Exhibit 9.10 displays the low-wage secondary sector (Agbayani- information on group size and growth rates Siewart & Revilla, 1995, pp. 134–168; broken down by ancestry group. These data Espiritu, 1996; Kitano & Daniels, 1995, are from the U.S. Census and may very pp. 83–94; Mangiafico, 1988; Posadas, 1999). well underestimate the actual size of the group. For example, one source estimates total group size at more than 3 million Vietnamese (see http://www.allied-media.com/Arab- A flow of refugees from Vietnam began in American/Arab%20american%20Demogra the 1960s as a direct result of the war in phics.htm) Southeast Asia. The war began in Vietnam As displayed in Exhibits 9.11, 9.12a, and but expanded when the United States 9.12b, the Arab American community ranks attacked communist forces in Cambodia and relatively high in English ability, income, and Laos. Social life was disrupted, and people occupation. In the 2000 census, 81% of were displaced throughout the region. In Arab Americans reported that they were flu- 1975, when Saigon (the South Vietnamese ent in English, and Arab Americans exceeded capital) fell and the U.S. military withdrew, national norms in terms of high school and many Vietnamese and other Southeast college graduates. In fact, every subgroup Asians who had collaborated with the United within the Arab American community States and its allies fled in fear for their lives. exceeded national norms in terms of percent- This group included high-ranking officials age of college graduates by a considerable 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 247

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Exhibit 9.12a Major Occupational Groupings, Arab Americans (Males)

20 Percent

0 M&P Service Sales Manual

U.S. Arabs

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d).

Exhibit 9.12b Major Occupational Groupings, Arab Americans (Females)

25 Percent 20

0 M&P Service Sales Manual

U.S. Arabs

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d). 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 248

248 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

Exhibit 9.13 Regional Distribution of Arab Americans

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (2000a).

margin. Similarly, the group as a whole and and also vary in religion. Although Islam is most of the sub-groups compare favorably to the dominant religion, many Arab immi- national norms in terms of poverty. grant groups are Christian. Data on occupational patterns in Exhibit Residentially, Arab Americans are highly 9.13 show an overrepresentation in the urbanized, and almost 50% live in just five highest occupational group for men and states (California, New Jersey, New York, women. Consistent with their enclave orien- Florida, and Michigan). This settlement tation, Arab American men are overrepre- pattern is not too different from the other sented in sales and underrepresented in recent immigrant groups except for the occupations involving manual labor. Arab heavy concentration in Michigan, especially American women are also heavily involved in the Detroit area. Arab Americans account in sales but in proportion to U.S. women in for 1.2% of the total population of general. One study, using 1990 census data Michigan, a far higher representation than and a survey mailed to a national sample of in any other state. Arab Americans make Arab American women in 2000, found that up 30% of the population of Dearborn, immigrant Arab American women have a Michigan, making it the most Arab city in very low rate of employment, the lowest of the nation. (On the other hand, the greatest any immigrant group. The author’s analysis single concentration is in New York City, of these data strongly suggests that this pat- which has a population of about 70,000 tern is due to traditional gender roles and Arab Americans.) These settlement patterns family norms regarding the proper role of reflect chains of migration, some set up women (Read, 2004). decades ago. Exhibit 9.13 shows the Arab Americans are diverse and vary regional distribution of the group and along a number of dimensions. They bring clearly displays the clusters in the Northeast, different national traditions and cultures Michigan, Florida, and Southern California. 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 249

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September 11 and Arab Americans the country. Also, the USA Patriot Act, passed in 2001 to enhance the tools available There has always been at least a faint to law enforcement to combat terrorism, strain of prejudice directed at Middle allows for long-term detention of suspects, a Easterners in American culture (e.g., see the wider scope for searches and surveillance, low position of Turks in the earliest social dis- and other policies that many (not just Arab tance scales; most Americans probably are Americans) are concerned will encourage not aware of the fact that Turks and Arabs violations of due process and suspension of are different groups). These vague feelings basic civil liberties. have intensified in recent decades as relations Thus, although the Arab American com- with various Middle Eastern nations and munity is small in size, it has assumed a groups worsened. For example, in 1979, the prominent place in the attention of the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, was attacked nation. The huge majority of the members of and occupied, and more than 50 Americans the community denounce and reject terror- were held as hostages for more than a year. ism and violence, but, like Colombians and The attack stimulated a massive reaction Italians, they are victimized by a strong in the United States in which anti-Arab feel- stereotype that is, at least occasionally, ings figured prominently. Continuing anti- applied uncritically and without qualifica- American activities across the Middle East tion. Relations between Arab Americans and have been countered with a backlash of the larger society are certainly among the resentment and growing intolerance. tensest and most problematic of any minor- These earlier events pale in comparison, of ity group, and given the continuing wars in course, to the events of September 11, 2001. Iraq and Afghanistan and the threat of fur- Americans responded to the attacks on the ther terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda or other World Trade Center and the Pentagon by groups, they will not abate any time soon. Arab terrorists with an array of emotions that included bewilderment; shock; anger; patriotism; deep sorrow for the victims and EMIGRANTS FROM AFRICA their families; and—perhaps predictably in TO THE UNITED STATES the intensity of the moment—intensified prejudicial rejection of Middle Easterners, Our final group of New Americans consists Arabs, Muslims, and any group that seemed of emigrants from Africa. As displayed in even vaguely associated with the perpetrators Exhibit 9.14, emigration from Africa to the of the attacks. In the nine weeks following United States has been quite small over the September 11, more than 700 violent attacks past 50 years. However, there was the usual were reported to the Arab-American Anti- increase after the 1960s, and Africans have Discrimination Committee, followed by comprised about 5% of all immigrants in the another 165 violent incidents in the first nine past few years. months of 2002. In this same time period, Exhibit 9.15 shows the total number of there were more than 80 incidents in which sub-Saharan Africans in the United States Arab Americans were removed from aircraft in 1990 and 2000, along with four of the after boarding because of their ethnicity; largest subgroups. The number of Africans more than 800 cases of employment discrim- more than doubled over the decade, and ination; and “numerous instances of denial this rapid growth suggests that these groups of service, discriminatory service, and hous- may have a greater impact on U.S. society in ing discrimination” (Ibish, 2003, p. 7). the future. Anti-Arab passions may have cooled Exhibit 9.16 provides an overall view of somewhat since the multiple traumas of all African immigrants along with the four September 11, but the Arab American com- largest sub-groups. The category “African” munity faces a number of issues and prob- is extremely broad and encompasses desti- lems including profiling at airport security tute black refugees from African civil wars checks and greater restrictions on entering and relatively affluent white South Africans. 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 250

250 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

Exhibit 9.14 Emigration From Africa, 1940s–2003

60000

50000

40000

30000 Numbers

20000

10000

2001 2002 2003 1941-50 1951-60 1961-70 1971-80 1981-90 1991-2000

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2003).

Exhibit 9.15 African Immigrant Groups

Sub-Saharan Africans, 1990 506,188 Sub-Saharan Africans, 2000 1,183,316 Nigerians 164,691 Ethiopians 86,918 Cape Verdeans 77,103 Ghanians 49,944

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d).

In the remainder of this section, we will excepting Cape Verdeans) compare favor- focus on the four sub-groups rather than this ably with national norms in terms of educa- very broad category. tion and poverty levels. These characteristics Clearly, although they may be growing, mark these groups as relatively elite and these four groups are tiny minorities with no affluent immigrants, more like Arabs and one nationality group reaching as much as Indians, not refugees or laborers like one tenth of one percent of the total popula- Haitians and Vietnamese. tion. Three of the four groups (the exception The impression of relatively high status being Cape Verdeans) have a high represen- for emigrants from Africa is reinforced in tation of first-generation members, and all Exhibit 9.17. The men of two of the groups report relatively high levels of English (Ghanians and Nigerians) tend to be overrep- fluency. Also, three of the four (again resented at the highest occupational levels, 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 251

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whereas Ethiopian men are proportionally The women of these groups are consider- represented in all four occupational classes. ably more varied in their occupational pro- Only Cape Verdeans occupy relatively low files than the men. Among other patterns, we positions in the workforce. They are under- can see that Nigerian women, like the men, represented in the professions and manage- are overrepresented in the professions and ment and overrepresented among service management and quite underrepresented workers and manual laborers. among manual laborers and that Cape

Exhibit 9.16 Characteristics of Africans and Four Sub-Groups

Nation of % of Total % Foreign- % “Poor” Origin Number Population born Englisha % HSb % BAc % Poord

U.S. 281,421,906 — 11.1 8.1 80.4 24.4 9.2 Africanse 1,183,316 0.42 15.7 5.7 75.8 18.7 21.2 Nigerian 164,691 0.08 63.2 10.0 93.3 59.4 10.5 Ethiopian 86,918 0.04 77.0 34.8 81.8 27.7 14.7 Cape Verdean 77,103 0.04 32.4 23.2 65.2 13.9 16.2 Ghanian 49,944 0.02 79.1 18.2 88.1 32.8 7.7

Exhibit 9.17a Major Occupational Groupings, Four African Groups (Males)

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0 M&P Service Sales Manual

US Cape Verdean Ethiopian Ghanian Nigerian

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d). 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 252

252 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

Exhibit 9.17b Major Occupational Groupings, Four African Groups (Females)

0 M&P Service Sales Manual

US Cape Verdean Ethiopian Ghanian Nigerian

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (n.d.-d).

Verdean women have an occupational pro- elsewhere, and there are now more Cape file very similar to the men of their group. Verdeans living abroad than on the islands How can we explain these patterns? First (http://www.nationmaster.com/country/cv). of all, Nigeria and Ghana are former British These immigrants bring relatively low levels colonies, so the high level of English fluency of human capital and are more likely to find in these groups is not surprising. All four employment in service industries or in man- nations suffer from economic underdevel- ual labor. opment, and most African immigrants are motivated by a search for work and suste- SUMMARY: MODES OF nance, with emigrants from Nigeria, Ghana, INCORPORATION and Ethiopia competing for positions in the higher reaches of the job structure. As the case studies included in this chapter Cape Verde is the exception to the pat- (as well as those in Chapters 8 and 9) demon- tern of English-speaking African immi- strate, recent immigrant groups can occupy grants with relatively high levels of human very different positions in U.S. society. One capital. Cape Verde is a tiny island nation way to address this diversity of relationships off the west coast of Africa. It was colonized is to look at the contact situation, especially by the Portuguese in the 15th century and the characteristics the groups bring with has been an important port for commercial them (their race and religion, the human cap- shipping since that time. This maritime link ital with which they arrive) and the reaction to the larger world is part of what con- of the larger society. There seem to be three nected Cape Verde to the United States. main modes of incorporation for immigrants Although the nation is politically stable, in the U.S.: entrance through the primary or droughts and other economic difficulties secondary labor markets (see Chapter 4) or have motivated many to seek their fortunes the ethnic enclave. We will consider each 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 253

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pathway separately and relate it to the sector are less desirable and command groups discussed in this chapter. lower pay, little security, and few (if any) benefits and are often seasonal or in the underground or informal economy. This Immigrants and the labor market includes domestic work, con- Primary Labor Market struction, the garment industry, gardening The primary labor market consists of and landscaping, and some forms of crimi- more desirable jobs with greater security, nal or deviant activity such as drugs and higher pay, and benefits, and the immigrants prostitution. These workers are commonly entering this sector tend to be highly edu- paid “off the books,” and their working cated, skilled professionals and businesspeo- conditions are unregulated by government ple. Members of this group are generally authorities or labor unions. Many immi- fluent in English, and many were educated at grant workers in the garment industry, for U.S. universities. They are highly integrated example, work in “sweatshop” conditions into the global urban-industrial economy, reminiscent of 19th-century conditions. and in many cases, they are employees of The employers who control these jobs multinational corporations transferred here often prefer to hire undocumented immi- by their companies. These immigrants are grants because they are easier to control and affluent, urbane, and dramatically different less likely to complain to the authorities from the peasant laborers so common in the about abuse and mistreatment. The groups past (e.g., from Ireland and Italy) and in the with high percentages of members in the sec- present (e.g., from the Dominican Republic ondary labor market include Dominicans, and Mexico). The groups with high percent- Haitians, Salvadorans, Vietnamese, and the ages of members entering the primary labor less skilled and less educated kinfolk of the market include Arab, Colombian, Indian, higher-status immigrants. and Filipino immigrants. Because they tend to be affluent and enter a growing sector of the labor force, immigrants Immigrants and Ethnic Enclaves with professional backgrounds tend to attract As we have seen, some immigrant less notice and fewer racist reactions than their groups—especially those that can bring more unskilled counterparts. Although they financial capital and business experience— come closer to Blauner’s pure immigrant have established ethnic enclaves. Some group than most other minority groups we members of these groups enter U.S. society have considered, racism can still complicate as entrepreneurs—owners of small retail their assimilation. Anecdotal evidence of dis- shops and other businesses—while their less crimination for these high-status immigrants is skilled and educated co-ethnics serve as a common. In a New York Times article about source of cheap labor to staff the ethnic anti-Asian prejudice, for example, Tun-Hsu enterprises. The enclave provides contacts, McCoy, who immigrated more than 30 years financial and other services, and social sup- ago and holds a PhD in physics, is quoted as port for the new immigrants of all social saying, “Every Asian can tell you that we have classes. Of the groups covered in this chap- all encountered subconscious discrimination. ter, Arabs, Koreans, and Asian Indians have People don’t equate an Asian face with being been particularly likely to follow this path. an American” (Polner, 1993, p. 1).

Summary Immigrants and the This classification suggests some of the Secondary Labor Market variety of relationships between the new This mode of incorporation is more Americans and the larger society. The stream typical for immigrants with lower levels of of immigrants entering the United States is education and fewer job skills. Jobs in this extremely diverse and includes people ranging 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 254

254 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

from the most sophisticated and urbane to the Chinese and Japanese (Chapter 8), and the most desperate and despairing. The vari- in Chapter 10, we will cover the (ultimately ety is suggested by considering a list of occu- successful) efforts to stop European immi- pations in which recent immigrants are gration in the 19th and early 20th centuries. overrepresented. For men, the list includes Here we will look at attitudes and reactions biologists and other natural scientists, taxi to the contemporary immigrants. drivers, farm laborers, and waiters. For First, although Americans have a lot of women, the list includes chemists, statisti- reservations about immigration, it seems cians, produce packers, laundry workers, and that attitudes are somewhat more open now domestic workers (Kritz & Gurak, 2005). than in the past. Exhibit 9.18 shows some results of surveys administered to nationally representative samples for four different IMMIGRATION: ISSUES AND years between 1996 and 2004 (National CONTROVERSIES Public Radio, 2004). The high point of resistance in this How Welcoming Are Americans? period was in 2001, when nearly 60% of One factor that affects the fate of immi- the respondents agreed that immigration grant groups is the attitude of the larger should be decreased. The most recent society and, particularly, the groups in the results show that support for decreasing larger society that have the most influence immigration has dropped to about 40%, a with governmental policymakers. Overall, particularly interesting decline given the reac- we can say that native-born Americans tions to the terrorist attacks of September 11 (even those with immigrant parents) have summarized earlier. never been particularly open to newcomers, What concerns do Americans have about and the history of this nation is replete with immigration? One common set of concerns movements to reduce immigration drasti- revolves around economics. About half of the cally or even eliminate it completely. respondents to the 2004 survey were con- We have already mentioned some of the cerned that immigrants might take jobs from anti-immigration movements directed native-born workers, and almost two thirds against Mexicans (Chapter 7) and against (62%) were concerned that immigrants do

Exhibit 9.18 Percent Stating That Immigration Should Be Decreased

Percent 30

0 1996 2001 2003 2004

SOURCE: From Immigration in America: Survey Overview. October 6, 2004 by NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School. Reprinted with permission. 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 255

New Americans 255

not pay their fair share of taxes. These con- rolls, and claim more in benefits than they cerns were particularly strong among respon- contribute in taxes? dents who believed that the U.S. economy These issues are complex, and the conclu- was performing only at a fair or poor level. sions of researchers are commonly contradic- Thus, there seems to be a correlation between tory and inconsistent (see Kritz & Gurak, pessimism about the economy and perception 2005, for an overview). Whereas some of immigrants as threats, a relationship that research (especially projects conducted on a recalls earlier material on competition and local level) shows negative impacts, other prejudice (e.g., the Noel hypothesis and the studies (especially those done at the national Robber’s Cave experiment). We will address level) find that immigrants contribute more the grounds for these concerns below. than they cost. For example, a study conducted by the National Opinion Research Views of the Immigrants Council (1997) found that immigrants are a positive addition to the economy. They Interestingly, the survey (National Public add to the labor supply in areas as disparate Radio, 2004) also questioned a sample of as the garment industry, agriculture, domes- immigrants and found that their attitudes tic work, and college faculty (National and views differed sharply from native-born Academy of Sciences, 1997). respondents on a number of dimensions. Other researchers have found that low- For example, the immigrants were more skilled immigrants tend to find jobs in areas likely to see immigration as a positive force of the economy in which few U.S. citizens for the larger society and more likely to say work or in the enclave economies of their that immigrants work hard and pay their own groups, taking jobs that would not have fair share of taxes. existed without the economic activity of their More relevant for the ultimate impact of co-ethnics (Heer, 1996, pp. 190–194; Smith the contemporary wave of immigration, the & Edmonston, 1997). One important recent survey found that only about 30% were study of the economic impact of recent immi- sojourners (i.e., ultimately planning to grants concluded that there is a relatively return to their homeland), a finding that small effect on the wages and employment of suggests that issues of assimilation and native workers, although there does seem to immigration will remain at the forefront of be a negative consequence for earlier immi- U.S. concerns for many decades. grants and for African Americans (Bean & The survey also showed that immigrants Stevens, 2003, pp. 221–223). are very grateful for economic opportunities Another concern is the strain that immi- available in the United States, with 84% grants place on taxes and services such as agreeing that there are more opportunities schools and welfare programs. Again, these to get ahead here than in their country of issues are complex and far from settled, but origin. On the other hand, the immigrants contrary to the concerns of many Americans, were ambivalent about United States culture some research projects suggest that immi- and values. For example, nearly half (47%) grants (especially legal immigrants working in said that the family was stronger in their the mainstream economy) cost less than they homeland than in the United States, and contribute. Taxes are automatically deducted only 28% saw U.S. society as having from their paychecks, and their use of such stronger moral values than their homeland. services as unemployment compensation, Medicare, food stamps, Aid to Families with Costs and Benefits Dependent Children, and Social Security is actually lower than their proportional contri- Surveys show that Americans are espe- butions. Although undocumented immigrants cially concerned about the economic impact can have very negative impacts on localities, of immigration. Is this concern justified? their use of services is generally limited by Do immigrants take jobs, swell the welfare their vulnerable legal status (Marcelli & Heer, 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 256

256 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

1998; Simon, 1989). Bean and Stevens (2003, experience similar success? Will their sons pp. 66–93), in their recent study, find that and daughters and grandsons and grand- immigrants are not overrepresented on the daughters rise in the occupational structure to welfare rolls. Rather, the key determinant of a position of parity with the dominant group? welfare use is refugee status, and groups such Will the cultures and languages of these as Haitians, Salvadorans, and Vietnamese— groups gradually fade and disappear? who arrive without resources and, by defini- Final answers to these questions must tion, are in need of assistance on all await future developments. In the mean- levels—are the most likely to be on the welfare time, there is considerable debate on these rolls. issues. Some analysts argue that assimila- Final conclusions about the impact and tion will be segmented and that the success costs of immigration must await further story of the white ethnic groups will not be research. For now, we can say that the fears repeated. Others find that the traditional and concerns, although not unfounded, may perspective on assimilation—particularly be confounded with and exaggerated by prej- the model of assimilation developed by udice and racism directed at newcomers and Milton Gordon—continues to be a useful strangers. The current opposition to immi- and accurate framework for understanding gration may be a reaction to who as much as the experience of contemporary immi- to how many or how expensive. grants. We will review some of the most Finally, we can repeat the finding of many important and influential arguments from studies (e.g., Bean & Stevens, 2003) that each side of this debate and, finally, attempt immigration is generally a positive force in to come to some conclusions about the the economy and that, as has been true for future of assimilation. decades, immigrants, legal and illegal, continue to find work with Anglo employers and The Case for Segmented Assimilation niches in American society in which they can survive. The networks that have delivered Sociologist Douglas Massey (1995) cheap immigrant labor for the low-wage sec- presents a particularly compelling argument ondary job market continue to operate, and in favor of the segmented assimilation frequently, the primary beneficiaries of this perspective. He argues that there are three long-established system are not the immi- crucial differences between the European grants (although they are grateful for the assimilation experience of the past and the opportunities), but employers, who benefit contemporary period that call the tradi- from a cheaper, more easily exploited work- tional perspective into question. First, the force, and American consumers, who benefit flow of emigrants from Europe to the from lower prices in the marketplace. United States slowed to a mere trickle after the 1920s because of restrictive legislation, Is Contemporary the worldwide depression of the 1930s, and World War II. Immigration in the 1930s, Assimilation Segmented? for example, was less than 10% of the flow In Chapter 2, we reviewed some of the pat- of the early 1920s. Thus, as the children and terns of acculturation and integration that grandchildren of the emigrants from Europe typified the adjustment of Europeans who Americanized and grew to adulthood in the immigrated to the United States before the 1930s and 1940s, few new immigrants fresh 1930s. Although the process of adjustment from the old country replaced them in the was anything but smooth or simple, these ethnic neighborhoods. European cultural groups eventually Americanized and achieved traditions and languages weakened rapidly levels of education and affluence compara- with the passing of the first generation and ble to national norms (as we shall see the Americanization of their descendants. in Chapter 10). Will contemporary emigrants For contemporary immigration, in con- from Latin America and the Caribbean trast, the networks and the demand for 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 257

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cheap labor are so strong that it is unlikely permanent membership in a growing under- that there will be a similar hiatus in the flow class population and continuing marginal- of people. Immigration has become contin- ization and powerlessness. uous, argues Massey, and as some contemporary immigrants (or their descendants) The Case Against Americanize and rise to affluence and suc- Segmented Assimilation cess, new arrivals will replace them and continuously revitalize the ethnic cultures Several recent studies have resurrected and languages. the somewhat tattered body of traditional Second, the speed and ease of modern assimilation theories. These studies argue transportation and communication will that contemporary assimilation will ulti- help to maintain cultural and linguistic mately follow the same course followed by diversity. A century ago, emigrants from European immigrant groups 100 years ago Europe could maintain contact with the old and as described in Gordon’s theory (see country only by mail, and most had no real- Chapter 2). For example, two recent studies istic expectation of ever returning. Most (Bean & Stevens, 2003, and Alba & Nee, modern immigrants, in contrast, can return 2003) find that most contemporary immi- to their homes in a day or less and can use grant groups are acculturating and integrat- telephones, television, e-mail, and the ing at the “normal” three-generation pace. Internet to stay in intimate contact with the Those groups (notably Mexicans) that families and friends they left behind. appear to be lagging behind this pace may According to one recent survey (National take as many as four to five generations, but Public Radio, 2004), a little more than 40% their descendants will eventually find their of immigrants return to their homeland at way to the primary job market and the cul- least every year or two, and some (6%) tural mainstream. return every few months. Thus, the cultures Studies of language acculturation show of modern immigrants can be kept vital and that English-language proficiency grows whole in ways that were not available (and with time of residence and generation (Bean not even imagined) 100 years ago. & Stevens, 2003, p. 168). We discussed Third, and perhaps most important, con- these patterns in Chapter 2 (see Exhibits 2.4 temporary immigrants face an economy and and 2.5). In terms of structural integration, a labor market that are vastly different from contemporary immigrant groups are nar- those faced by European immigrants of the rowing the income gap over time, although 19th and early 20th century. The latter many groups (e.g., Dominicans, Mexicans, group generally rose in the class system as Haitians, and Vietnamese) are handicapped the economy shifted from manufacturing to by very low levels of human capital at service (see Exhibit 4.3). Today, rates of the start (Bean & Stevens, 2003, p. 142). upward mobility have decreased, and just Exhibits 9.19a and 9.19b illustrate this pro- when the importance of education has cess with respect to wage differentials increased, the schools available to the chil- between Mexican males and females of dren of immigrants have fallen into neglect various generations and levels of education. (Massey, 1995, pp. 645–646). Looking first at “All workers,” Mexican For the emigrants from Europe a century males who are recent immigrants earn a ago, assimilation meant a gradual rise to little less than half of what white males middle-class respectability and suburban earn. The differential is lower for more comfort, even if it took four or five genera- recent immigrants, lower still for Mexicans tions to accomplish. Assimilation today, males of the second and third generation, according to Massey, is segmented, and a and lowest for the more educated members large percentage of the descendants of con- of those generations. For females, the wage temporary immigrants—especially many of differential also shrinks as the generations the Hispanic groups and Haitians—face pass and level of education increases. 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 258

258 UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE U.S. TODAY

Exhibit 9.19a Wage Differential of Mexican Workers Relative to White (Males)

100

0 All Workers HS BA

Recent Immigrants Earlier Immigrants Second Generation Third + Generation

Exhibit 9.19b Wage Differential of Mexican Workers Relative to White (Females)

100

0 All Workers HS BA

Recent Immigrants Earlier Immigrants Second Generation Third + Generation

SOURCE: Bean and Stevens (2003, p. 139). 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 259

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However, note that for third-generation, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION college-educated females, the wage differen- Americans are particularly concerned with tial shrinks virtually to zero, indicating undocumented immigrants, and many are complete integration on this variable. frustrated with what they see as ineffective Note how these patterns support the government efforts to curtail this flow of ille- traditional perspective on assimilation. The gal aliens. For example, in a 2004 survey wage gap shrinks by generation and level of (National Public Radio, 2004), 72% of the education, and integration is substantial by respondents said they were “very or somewhat the third generation (although complete only concerned” about this problem, and 66% for one group). This pattern suggests that the agreed that the government was “not tough movement of Mexican immigrants is toward enough” on undocumented immigrants. the economic mainstream, even though they There is no question that the volume do not close the gap completely. Bean and of illegal immigrants is huge. In 2000, it Stevens conclude that this pattern is substan- was estimated that there were 8.5 million tially consistent with the “three-generation people living in United States illegally, more model”: The assimilation trajectory of than double the number in 1992 (Martin Mexican Americans and other recent immi- & Widgren, 2002, p. 13). By 2006, the grant groups is not into the urban poor; the number of illegal immigrants had grown underclass; or the disenfranchised, discon- to an estimated 11 to 12 million (Campo- nected, and marginalized. Assimilation is not Flores, 2006, p. 39). Some undocumented segmented but is substantially repeating the immigrants enter the country on tourist, experiences of the European groups on temporary worker, or student visas and which Gordon based his theory. simply remain in the nation when their visa expires. In 2000 alone, more than 33 Summary million tourists and more than a million How can we reconcile these opposed additional temporary workers and foreign points of view? In large part, this debate con- students entered the United States, and these cerns the nature of the evidence and judg- numbers suggest how difficult it would be to ments about how much weight to give to keep tabs on this source of illegal immi- various facts and trends. On one hand, grants. Others cross the border illegally in Massey’s points about the importance of the the hope of avoiding the border police and postindustrial economy, declining opportuni- finding their way into some niche in the ties for less educated workers, and the American economy. The very fact that neglect that seems typical of inner-city people keep coming suggests that a very schools are very well taken. On the other high percentage of them succeed. hand, it seems that even the least educated A variety of efforts have been made to immigrant groups have been able to curtail and control the flow of illegal immi- find economic niches in which they and their grants. Various states have attempted to families can survive and eke out an existence lower the appeal of the United States by lim- long enough for their children and grandchil- iting benefits and opportunities. The best dren to rise in the structure, a pattern that known of these attempts occurred in 1994 has been at the core of the American immi- when California voters passed Proposition grant experience for almost two centuries. 187, which would have denied educational, Of course, this debate will continue and health, and other services to illegal immi- new evidence and interpretations will grants. The policy was declared unconstitu- appear. Ultimately, however, unless immi- tional, however, and was never implemented. gration stops (which, as Massey points out, Federal efforts to decrease the flow of illegal is extremely unlikely) and the fate of the immigration include proposals to limit wel- descendants of the last immigrant groups is fare benefits for immigrants, increase the size measured, the debate cannot be resolved. of the Border Patrol, and build taller and 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 260

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wider walls along the border with Mexico. employers depend. Who would benefit from Following his re-election in 2004, President closing public schools to the children of Bush proposed a “guest worker” program to illegal immigrants? try to control some of the flow of illegal immigrants. Similar programs have been implemented in the past (see Chapter 7). A RECENT IMMIGRATION IN guest worker has a temporary work permit HISTORICAL CONTEXT and is expected to return to his or her country of origin when the work permit expires. The current wave of immigration to the President Bush’s program would also provide United States is part of a centuries-old pro- means by which undocumented immigrants cess that spans the globe. Underlying this could apply for citizenship. immense and complex population move- The U.S. Congress debated the President’s ment is the powerful force of the continuing proposal and a variety of immigration reform industrial revolution. The United States and laws in the spring of 2006, which evoked other industrialized nations are the centers strong public reactions. Whereas some citizens of growth in the global economy, and immi- lobbied for much stricter border control, grants flow to the areas of greater opportu- others, mobilized in part by Mexican nity. In the 19th century, population moved American civil rights organizations, staged largely from Europe to the western hemi- demonstrations across the nation demanding sphere. Over the past 50 years, the move- equitable treatment and expressing opposition ment has been from south to north. This to the more punitive immigration policies that pattern reflects the simple geography of have been proposed. Some of the demonstra- industrialization and opportunity and the tions attracted very large crowds, including fact that the more developed nations are in 500,000 in Los Angeles and 300,000 in the northern hemisphere. Chicago (Campo-Flores, 2006, p. 38). The United States has been the world’s Although Americans will continue to be dominant economic, political, and cultural concerned about illegal immigrants, it seems power for much of the century and the pre- unlikely that much can be done (within the ferred destination of most immigrants. framework of a democratic, humane society) Newcomers from around the globe continue to curtail the flow of people. The social net- the collective, social nature of past popula- works that deliver immigrants—legal as well tion movements (see Chapter 2). The direc- as illegal—are very well established, and the tion of their travels reflects contemporary demand for cheap labor in the United States global inequalities: Labor continues to flow is simply insatiable. In fact, denying services, from the less developed nations to the more as envisioned in punitive policies such as developed nations. The direction of this Proposition 187, may make illegal immi- flow is not accidental or coincidental. It is grants more attractive as a source of labor determined by the differential rates of by reducing their ability to resist exploita- industrialization and modernization across tion. For example, if the children of illegal the globe. Immigration contributes to the immigrants were not permitted to attend wealth and affluence of the more developed school, they would become more likely to societies and particularly to the dominant join the army of cheap labor on which some groups and elite classes of those societies.

MAIN POINTS

• Since the mid-1960s, immigrants have been coming to the United States at nearly record rates. Some of these immigrant groups have co-ethnics who have been in the U.S. for years (e.g., Mexicans or Chinese), but others are “New Americans,” and we focus on these groups in this chapter. How will this new wave of immigration transform America? Will the immigrants assimilate? How? 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 261

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• Emigrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean are diverse. Some are driven by economic needs, whereas others are political refugees. They are an important source of cheap labor, and many are undocumented. • Emigrants from Asia and the Pacific Islands are diverse and include many highly educated people along with the less skilled, “war brides,” and refugees. Several of these groups have formed economic enclaves. • Arab Americans, like other New Americans, have been growing rapidly in number, and their local communities tend to be centered on economic enclaves. The events of September 11 make this group a special target for hate crimes and security concerns. • Emigrants from Africa remain a relatively small group, and many bring high levels of education and occupational skills, although others are concentrated in the lower levels of the occupational structure. • Contemporary immigrants are generally experiencing three different modes of incorporation into U.S. society: the primary labor market, the secondary labor market, and the enclave. The pathway of each group is strongly influenced by the amount of human capital they bring, their race, the attitude of the larger society, and many other factors. • Relations between immigrants and the larger society are animated by a number of issues including: relative costs and benefits of immigration, concerns about undocumented immigrants, and the speed of assimilation. One important issue currently being debated by social scientists is whether assimilation for New Americans will be segmented or will ultimately follow the pathway established by immigrant groups from Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries.

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND STUDY

1. What differences exist between these New Americans in terms of their motivations for coming to the U.S.? What are the implications of these various “push” factors for their reception and adjustment to the U.S.?

2. Compare Asian and Pacific Islander immigrant groups with those from the Caribbean and Central and South America. Which group is more diverse? What differences exist in their patterns of adjustment and assimilation? Why do these patterns exist?

3. Compare and contrast the experiences of Arab Americans with Asian and Pacific Islander groups and with Hispanic and Caribbean groups. How do they differ in terms of human capital and settlement patterns? Why do these differences exist? What are the implications of these differences for assimilation?

4. Compare and contrast African immigrants with the other groups. How do they differ, and what are the implications of these differences for their adjustment to the larger society?

5. What, in your opinion, are the most important issues facing the United States in terms of immigration and assimilation? How are these issues playing out in your community (if at all)? What are the implications of these issues for the future of the United States?

6. Will assimilation for contemporary immigrants be segmented? After examining the evidence and arguments presented by both sides, and using information from this and previous chapters, does either side of the debate seem more credible? Why? What are the implications of this debate? What will the U.S. look like in the future if assimilation is segmented? How would the future change if assimilation is not segmented? Which of these scenarios is more desirable for immigrant groups? For the society as a whole? For various segments of U.S. society (e.g., employers, labor unions, African Americans, consumers, the college educated, the urban underclass, etc.)? 09-Healey.qxd 11/7/2006 9:48 PM Page 262

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INTERNET RESEARCH PROJECTS

A. Update and Expand This Chapter by an Internet Search Many of the groups covered in this chapter have Web sites dedicated to them (e.g., Arab Americans are the subject of http://www.allied-media.com/Arab-American/Arab%20american%20Demographics.htm). Select several of the groups covered in this chapter and conduct a search for relevant Web sites. See what you can learn about the concerns and situation of each group and compare the information to what has been presented in this text. What information can you collect about their socioeconomic profile? What can you learn about their point of view on the United States and their treatment by the larger society? What issues are most important for them (e.g., learning English, job discrimination, hate crimes, availability of welfare services, etc.)?

B. Update and Expand This Chapter With Census Data The 2000 census collected an array of information about most of the groups covered in this chapter, and the information is available online. Go to www.census.gov and click on “American Factfinder” on the left-hand panel of the home page. Next, click on “Data Sets” on the left-hand panel and select “Census 2000, Summary File 4” and “Quick Tables.” On the next window, click “Add” to move the United States to the bottom window and click “Next.” Choose a table from the list in the next window (e.g., QT-H3. Household Population and Household Type by Tenure: 2000) and click “Add” and “Next” and choose a racial group or an ancestry group. The selected table will be displayed for the total population and for the subgroup(s) you selected. Extend the analysis in this chapter by comparing groups with each other and with the total population.

FOR FURTHER READING

Portes, Alejandro, & Rumbaut, Rubén. 2001. Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Portes, Alejandro, & Rumbaut, Rubén. 2001. Ethnicities: Children of Immigrants in America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Landmark studies of New American groups whose findings are generally consistent with the segmented assimilation hypothesis. Bean, Frank, & Stevens, Gillian. 2003. America’s Newcomers and the Dynamics of Diversity. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Alba, Richard, & Nee, Victor. 2003. Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Landmark studies of contemporary immigrants that find that assimilation is generally following a course consistent with the “traditional” model of assimilation.