New Citizens Mean Shifting Culture

For a lot of the current events that I have read, I try to think about what will happen in the future for the Hispanics. In the news article, “New Citizens Mean Shifting Culture,” they also focused on the future. They thought that America’s culture would change because of how many Hispanics are immigrating to America. The writer also questioned if it is American citizen’s obligation to try to integrate the Hispanics into American culture. The writer’s main reason for why it would be so hard for the Hispanics to become a part of their culture is because the writer thought that Hispanics are resistant. “…he argues that this recent wave of immigration –mostly from Mexico- is different from past wave because Mexican Americans are particularly resistant to assimilation into Anglo American culture,” (“New Citizens Mean Shifting Culture”). The writer believes that most of the other groups that have immigrated into the U.S. have become successful, however he does not think the Hispanics will because they are not willing to adapt to America’s culture. I think that there are good and bad things to that statement. I think that it is good that the Hispanics want to keep their original culture because it is very important that America has a diverse culture. American is known as a melting pot of different cultures, and I think that part of that reason is because other ethnicities like to keep things from their original culture when they move to the U.S. I also think that it is bad because it is important that when a new ethnicity immigrates to America that they adapt to their surroundings, and try to become united with the country that they are immigrating to, and in this case it is America.

Immigration Is Responsible for the Rising Poverty Race

A problem in America that I do not really notice because of what community I live in, is poverty. In the article that I read, they said that one of the biggest attributes to the poverty problem is the Hispanics. According to the article, “…the Hispanic poor accounted for almost three quarters of the four million increase in America’s poor since 1989,” (“Immigration is Responsible for the Rising Poverty Rate”). The writer of this article seems to look down upon the Hispanics because of how many of them contribute to the poverty problem in America. The writer believes that the main cause for the poverty problem is immigration. Because so many Hispanics are immigrants, the writer came to the conclusion that is the main cause for the Hispanic poverty. I also agree with the writer that one of the major contributors to American poverty would be the Hispanics, however I feel that in the future the Hispanics will be able to make a great contribution to American culture. The writer brings up the point that now the black poverty rate has been decreasing. “Black have a very high poverty rate…but the black poverty rate has been declining,” (“Immigration is Responsible for the Rising Poverty Rate”). When the blacks had to start a new life in America after slavery was abolished, they were part of the lower class. As time moved on they were able to move up more and more because they were no longer new to society. I think that in the future the same thing will happen to the Hispanics because when they immigrate they are looking for a new life, and at first they will be poor, but like the blacks, as time moves on they will start to be a smaller part of the poverty problem in America.

bibliography

"Proclamation of the Delano Grape Wokers," Annals of American HIstory.I http://america.eb.com/america/article?articleld=387418&query=cesar+chavez [Accessed February 1, 2010]

"Study details challenges for Hispanics, implications for labor force." Dallas Morning News. (March 1, 2006): NA. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 22 Feb. 2010 http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=OVRC&docId=CJ142701403&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=deer63488&version=1.0.

Thom, Linda. "Immigration Is Responsible for the Rising Poverty Rate." Contemporary Issues Companion: Inner-City Poverty. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 10 Feb. 2010 http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010292212&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=deer63488&version=1.0.

Green, Josh. "New citizens mean shifting culture." San Francisco Chronicle. (March 2, 2008): M1. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 10 Feb. 2010 &contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=OVRC&docId=CJ175722392&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=deer63488&version=1.0>

"Latinos in U.S. society." American HIstory. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.

http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/.

"Cuban missile crisis." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010.






"Mexican-American War." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010.


Augenbraum, Harold and Margarite Fernandez Olmos. "...And the Earth Did not Devour Him." The Latino Reader. Ed. Tomas Rivera. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997. 290- 295. Print.



"Mexican Immigrants Do Not Threaten American Unity." Interracial America. Eleanor Stanford. Opposing View Points Resource Center. Detroi: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 7 Feb 2010. http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ30148246&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=deer63488&version=1.0

Mexican Immigrants Do Not Threaten American Unity

Just like all the other minorities in America, the Hispanics’ goal are just to make it in America, and now that they are starting to no longer be a minority anymore it is important that they do. According to the article “Mexican Immigrants Do Not Threaten American Unity,” the Hispanics’’ future are looking bright in America. This is different than what they said in the other article that I read. They thought that because the Hispanics were getting such a poor education, and this would result in significant lower paying jobs. However, in this article they thought that the Hispanics will eventually become successful because of their will power to do so. “Huntingon criticizes Latinos’ use of Spanish and falsely alleges that Latinos do not want to learn English. The majority of Latinos speak English. Among Spanish-speaking Latinos, poll after poll shows that Latinos want to learn English” (“Mexican Immigrants Do Not Threaten American Unity”). Many people do not believe in the Hispanics, and do not think that they will be able to succeed. The writer however, thinks that because the Hispanics are coming into this country with a goal to start a new life, they will then focus on their education to then become successful in America. One of the reasons why people do not think that Hispanics will be successful in America is because of how segregated things are for the Hispanics. “…as it is still difficult for Latinos to gain equality in white communities, and there is still discrimination in jobs and housing. However, like African Americas, Latinos have been segregated and mythologized as “different,” and subject to unfair criticism, because of their ethnicity” (“Mexican Immigrants Do Not Threaten American Unity”). This is a reoccurring thing in America, and in the past the minorities have been able to overcome oppression and rise above it. I think that in the near future the Hispanics will be able to do the same thing, and become a successful race. Another reason for why I think that the Hispanics will be successful is because of how hard working they are. They are willing to take the jobs that no one else wants. "New York Times poll found that Latino immigrants are hard-working, have strong family values, do not take public benefits, and generally epitomize the American dream" ("Mexican Immigrants Do Not Threaten American Unity"). Because they are so hard working America should try to embrace the Hispanics because they can also help benefit America's economy by people taking jobs that no one wants to do. If America lowers their bucket to the Hispanics, like Booker T. Washington wanted for the Blacks, then not only can it help out the Hispanics, but also America as a whole.

Fund, League of United Latin American Citizens and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational. "Mexican Immigrants Do Not Threaten American Unity." Interracial America. Ed. Eleanor Stanford. Opposing Viewpoints®. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 10 Feb. 2010 &contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010148246&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=deer63488&version=1.0>.

Current Event: "Study Details Challenges for Hispanics, Implications for Labor Force

Hispanics are becoming a bigger and bigger part of America each year, with their increasing population and influence in America’s job industry. However, according to the “The Dallas Morning News” the Hispanics future does not look very bright. Most of the Hispanics that are coming into America are looking for better opportunities in jobs and not education. “But the study’s researchers identified education as the biggest hurdle, nothing that Hispanics have higher school dropout rates, lower college enrollment and less job training than the overall population in an economy ever more reliant on higher school jobs” (“Study details challenges for Hispanics, Implications for Labor Force”). This results in a downward cycle for the Hispanics. Because the Hispanics are more worried about working and not their education, it results in Hispanics having a poor education, following by a low paying job. This is one of the main reasons for why so many Hispanics are part of the lower class. This is one of the main reasons why it is so hard for the Hispanics to move from the lower class into the middle class. “…the study found that Hispanics as a group are losing economic ground relative to non-Hispanic whites because of a large pool of low-skilled workers, many of whom are illegal immigrants,” (Study details challenges for Hispanics, Implications for Labor Force”). I think that this is a huge problem for the Hispanics because they are becoming one of the main part of America’s population, it is important that part of their population is in the middle class. Because so many immigrants have no money, it is almost impossible for them to not work, so they cannot afford to have an education. They have to immediately start working in order to start over in their new country. It is hard to know when this vicious cycle will end because of how important it is that the Hispanic immigrants get very low paying jobs, that require no education. This is so that they can start to pay for necesities that they need to survive as new immigrants.

"Study details challenges for Hispanics, implications for labor force." Dallas Morning News (March 1, 2006): NA. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Deerfield High School. 7 Feb. 2010.
http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tapID=T004&prodId=OVRC&docId=CJ142701403&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=deer63488&version=1.0

"...And the Earth Did Not Devour Him"

After reading different informational articles about how the Hispanics had to work as laborers, I could not fully comprehend what their working conditions were like. After reading “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” it made me sick to read how horribly the Hispanics were treated as migrant laborers. The short story followed a boy whose family worked in the fields as laborers. It starts out where the reader learns that his aunt and uncle died from heat-exhaustion from working for too many hours in the farm. Later his father starts getting the same symptoms as his aunt and uncle, and both of them died. The main character continuously asks himself and his mother why G-d is doing all of this to his family. The question “why?” is frequently asked in this short story because the main character feels that no one in his family has ever deserved to die. The main character and his mother talk about the death of their family members and the illness of their father. “Why? Why you? Why Dad? Why my uncle? Why my aunt? Why their kids? Tell me, Mother, why? Why us, burrowed in the dirt like animals with no hope for anything.” The main character is very frustrated at the fact that his people, the Hispanics are treated so poorly, and why all of these things had to happen to him. His father, aunt, and uncle are all decent people, who are hard working and do not deserve to die. A big theme of this story was the workers all knew about getting this sunstroke, however they were unable to do anything about it. “Us being so soaked with sweat, we didn’t feel so hot, but I guess that when you’re sunstruck it’s different. But I did tell him to sit down under the tree that’s at the edge of the rows, but he didn’t want to.” These workers were part of the lower class, and for them working was the only way to provide for their family, so they could not stop working or else their families would not be able to survive. Not only that but their working conditions were also very bad, and if they took breaks then their bosses would get very upset. “It don’t matter if the boss gets mad. Just don’t get sick.” The bosses did not care about the workers because if a worker was not working hard enough and they had to be fired, then they could easily be replaced because so many Hispanics were willing to work in America. After reading this story it makes me understand why Cesar Chavez know that he had to rebel against the organizations that were putting these Hispanics in the terrible working conditions that they were in. I will have to research more on how the working conditions are today for Hispanics. Because Hispanics are looking for a new opportunity in America, they will take jobs that are in terrible conditions, and will be treated very poorly.

Augenbraum, Harold and Margarite Fernandez Olmos. "...And the Earth Did not Devour Him."
The Latino Reader. Ed. Tomas Rivera. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997. 290- 295. Print.

Where I Am Now

So far I do not feel too overwhelmed with the blog and my topic. Originally I did not really want the topic of Hispanics, and I just put it on my sheet as my last choose, however after researching it I'm glad that i got the topic. I think that the Hispanics have a very interesting story, that not many American's care to listen too. I think that the Hispanics story is very similar to the blacks because both groups were greatly mistreated in America, and both groups fought for equality. The only thing that I am a little worried about is the fact that Hispanics is such a general topic because there are so many different kinds of Hispanics in America, so I feel like I will have a hard time focusing one main theme. I think that, that is my only problem, and besides that I feel pretty confident about this project.