The American Ethnicity - Coursework Example

Teacher The American ethni traces its roots back from the American colonial era. However, diversions and mixed race interactions between groups have increased the number of ethnic groups in America. Just being a United States citizen does not identify a person as an American. California is a vast state that has grown tremendously in the last decades; it projects the countless dynamics of different communities and existing cultures, it no longer projects the typical American dreamland. It has been found that 3 out of 5 California residents are not ethnic Americans; most of them are immigrants or the children of immigrants. This shows how the state is populated with racial and ethnic diversity. California has been a place where people migrate in order to avail opportunities being presented in the region- termed as California Dream. This has led to the change of the American agenda towards ethnic groups due to issues like changing demographics and immigrant roles. There contribution to the society as a whole is evident. California has been the upfront stage in this process. More or less, California has been termed as the first global society in the world. The main issue is whether multiple generations of ethnic Americans had become able to realize the California Dream? Evidence to support the argument has been taken from the autobiographical fiction The Rice Room: Growing Up Chinese American, From Number Two Son to Rock’ n’Roll by Ben Fong-Torres in which he explored his cultural heritage and ethnic background being intermingled with his self concept yielding him a hyphenated identity in the United States. Opportunities available for Ethnic Americans - California Dream In order to achieve California Dream increasing number of ethnic groups have managed to change, renegotiate and recreate the social structure in California. This has affected almost every facet of the society. If comparing the community to post world war era, that is when immigrants from across the world began flooding in, we can see how these first generation immigrants have fused themselves and their culture into the society. In the book The Rice Room: Growing Up Chinese American, From Number Two Son to Rock’ n’Roll Ben Fong-Torres elucidates how his forefathers had difficulty meeting both ends meet in China so his family decided to migrate to United States just to get a better fortune. For that his father even changed his name to Torres getting a false Filipino identity just to enter United States as too many Chinese were not allowed immigration (Torres, p.12). The book showed how he slowly began to move along with the American culture despite cultural restraints laid down by his parents. However his parents opened up a family restaurant and settled down, this can be seen as the first step his parents took to become integrated in the American society (Torres, p. 15). While living in Oakland their children had a better opportunity to get higher education required for changing their economic status. Fong-Torres’s parents wanted their children to “study hard and become a doctor, dentist, lawyer, or, if we [the children] weren’t quite up to snuff, maybe an engineer” (Torres, p.80). Limitations faced by ethnic groups Even being a second or third generation of an ethnic group in the American society does not mean there are no limitations or constraints. Some proportions of the society still believe that by gaining US citizenship does not make any ethnic race a true American. Only those are considered as Americans who trace their roots back to the colonial heritage. Torres and his brothers were mostly kept away from outsiders and the broad society. His parents disliked them becoming more social and wanted to keep them safe from the society as they feared they would be harmed due to being Asian Americans. The fear of not being accepted by the ethnic Americans caused his parents to being reluctant in letting them out in the world. With reference to the book, The Rice Room it became evident that racism and discrimination existed in North America but in the back drop. Parents tried to abstain their children from Native Americans as Fong-Torres has mentioned, “Implied that we’d do well to make friends mostly with Chinese. They had bad names for white and black people- they were bok guey and hok guey, “white demons” and “black demons””(Torres, p. 63). The author also remembered the shock he felt at age twelve when his physical education Coach at Texas called him “chop-chop” (Torres, p. 76). Another reason is Chinese culture. His father and mother as being true Chinese wanted to keep there culture alive within the family, they feared that if the sons would go out and indulge with other members of the society eventually they would lose the importance of there own Chinese culture. In order to reciprocate the influence of American Culture, older generations never miss an opportunity to instill Chinese values in their children causing frustration and rebelliousness in youth thus making them hate their legacy rather than own it as Ben Fong-Torres explained how he and his siblings mimicked Chinese opera Heroes with their father he stated, “Beneath the nonsense, our parents had a mission in life: to instill Chinese culture in us” (Torres, p.44). Often it became difficult to cope up with family’s cultural pressures. Ben Torres together with his siblings Barry, Shirley, Sarah and Burton all had difficulty dating Chinese people. Sarah left the family in chaos as she preferred a Caucasian groom. Ben felt compelled to bring Chinese women, from whom he had no interest to social gatherings e.g. his sister’s wedding just to satisfy his parents regarding his family belonging (Torres, p. 133-136). Differences between first and second generations As mentioned earlier, Ben’s parents were the first generation Chinese immigrants. They immigrated to America in very harsh circumstances. In his memoir The Rice Room Ben Fong-Torres gave an explanatory note of his Chinese American background in the post world war II era. “My parents connived their way into the United States, using false identities. For most of their existence here, they feared being found out, and the shame of being sent back home” (Torres, p.12). He also recollected the memory of his mother who had the most troublesome experience having “the first sight of America as a cruel illusion” when she arrived at San Francisco in 1940. Every Chinese migrant had to be interrogated and examined on Angel Island Immigration centre, where a person may be kept for two to three years if the officials were not satisfied with the legal proceedings. At that time immigration laws were so strict that if proven guilty any Chinese could be directly deported (Torres, p.20) also in the United States prohibitive legislations were created like the “Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882” and “Immigration Act of 1924” (Torres, p.24). First generation was hesitant in even trying to adjust in the society. As they have their cultural roots and social upbringing elsewhere and they have shifted from one society to another. Regardless of all matters Chinese parents remained against the American mode of teaching thus widening the communication gulf between their children. Disparity already existed in terms of family ties which were further strengthened due to lack of communication. With this additional barrier, children began to forget the Chinese manners and fluency in language. Although some parents tried to learn English but couldn’t become proficient enough to understand the needs of their children who were under the influence of American style of teaching. Even Torres’s mother tried to learn English, “But after a few classes I [the mother] decided it would be better to teach my children how to speak Chinese” (Torres, p.58). Second generation either became a complete recluse or played a dual life existence role thus obeying their parents and hideously fulfilling personal pursuits. In his book The Rice Room the author discussed how he kept his private life hidden from his parents. He mentioned how much he feared talking to his parents about his Caucasian fiancé as they were so much culture obsessed. He had to bring an old Chinese liaison for moral support during that meeting as he “couldn’t face his parents alone with the news” (Torres, p.233). “When I joined rolling stone, I told them only that I was working at a newspaper in San Francisco that covered music. There was no easy way-and no point, really to telling them more. My parents tended to judge people on surface appearances. That’s … how they responded to various friends of ours” (Torres, p.176). There are nations in the world which place heavy importance in the culture and norms one is brought up in, with the passage of time they become embedded in the lifestyle and cannot be eliminated. Fong-Torres’s parents had a strong social value of there place of origin, they opened up a Chinese restaurant which directly showed they prefer to survive in the society based on there cultural expertise and respect for the Chinese culture. It was an opportunity for them to continue the upbringing of there sons with the Chinese influence. The first generations have faced hardships in the society in order to gain acceptance and they have worked there way to achieve an identity in the society. The hardships they faced include language barriers, cultural differences, racism and prejudice by the host society. The second and third generations have been born and brought up in the Californian society with other ethnic Americans. When a child opens its eyes in a place, that is the point from where on the learning process begins. With the present views and structure of the society, the child grows and adapts to the host society. It no longer feels a sense of discrimination as it has not experienced the effects of immigration and moving to completely new place. The first generations that moved here did not have the same level of education as the Americans back then, but the second and third generations have grown up with the rest of the society; they have gained education from the host society’s education system, meaning that there mind has been taught the ways, the language and the culture of the American society. This smooth flow of adaptation has led these generations to being more loyal and integrated in the society. They consider themselves as Americans as there is not much difference in the language they speak, views the hold, acts they do as compared to the ethnic Americans. These generations have not gone through the hardships their elders had to face in order to be a part of the society. Ben Torres concluded that “my parents felt they didn’t need English to survive” (Torres, p.58) but the main issue was that the author himself and his siblings were of the view that Cantonese was irrelevant in their American mode of living. He further stated that they “saw no use for Cantonese, other than to appease our parents and children. Yes we could talk and understand most of what the other was saying. But shadings, detail, nuances, turns of phase…all of those, and much more, would be blocked by the omnipresent wall”(Torres, p.58-59). Comparison with Previous and contemporaneous ethnic groups in California Previous ethnic groups have gone through hardships and struggle in order to find a suitable ranking in the society. Ethnic groups were tortured and tormented in various ways; they were constantly being reminded that they did not belong to this place. The air was heavy with biasness and racial discrimination. But the trends have changed, the views have changed and so has the proportion of the ethnic groups in California. The global issues and the vast level of globalization have led to a decrease in the social and national differences. Being the second and third generation in California meant that ethnic groups had to perform dual roles, thus abiding by the parents aspirations of becoming a better Chinese as well as a proper American citizen. Keeping equilibrium with societal expectations and family norms had been difficult for ethnic groups as both constantly clash with each other. By studying the historical accounts of authors like Ben Fong-Torres and Mary Park Lee etc. it becomes easier to understand the problems faced by younger generation of the first migrants as they led open windows to how their lives take ironic twists, the struggles they faced while intermingling in the North American Culture. The society is constantly developing accordingly to the people who make up a society, so it is obvious that if majority are ethnics, then a vast structure of the society is based upon there presence and involvement in issues. Economic structure, political structure, educational structure and social structure are constantly undergoing change. This has created many opportunities for the ethnic groups. Conclusion: The world has become a global village where economic power and political independence rule. Foreign policies have led to projection of social interests and how to keep peace with other nations. Interest at such a broad level has led to micro issues losing their importance. In order for an economy to grow, every individual must work towards the growth of the economy, whether they are Hispanics or Chinese. It is not the color of the skin that matters, but in fact his loyalty to the country. California has become so populated with different ethnic groups that the place is evolving into a diverse cultural location. The ethnic groups that currently exist no longer are treated differently from the rest of the members of the society. There indulgence in various occupations such as research and technology, communications, marketing etc is considered important. They are an asset to the nation with equal status. In a broad spectrum it seemed that multiple generations of ethnic groups have realized the California Dream but at the expense of their younger generation. Children of the first generation had a somewhat dysfunctional childhood. Being not proficient in Chinese, their modes of interaction with community were limited. They couldn’t even decipher their personal feelings to their parents. While the five children imagined that they had moved far away from the chicken wired rice room in reality they had only made a slight deviation from the track. It is through his writing that Fong-Torres tried to explore his hyphenated existence as a Chinese living in America: "What we have here is a language barrier as formidable, to my mind, as the Great Wall of China ... I talked to my parents for our entire family, to allow all of us to have a good, long look over that wall"(Torres, p. 5). Read More