Immigrants and Employment Discrimination in the US - Coursework Example

Immigrants and Employment Discrimination Submitted By: Submitted] Introduction The social panorama in the United States is all but alluring especially for those abroad. In other countries, the word America signifies the 'Promised Land' much in the same way Israel was for Moses-led Hebrews. It would seem that the prospect of going to America was one of prosperity, equality and democracy. However, such things only hold true for the White American and not for the immigrants, not even for the Native Americans who have been tilling American Land even before the continent was chartered. Discriminatory practices in the United States are prevalent and worse, it can sometimes be fatal. It becomes more prominent during economic and social uncertainty such as the Great Depression where people try to find somebody to blame much in the same way as we blame others for our failures. Who gets the blame There is human tendency for people to blame others and not themselves and because they fear blaming their 'own kind', the situation becomes bad for those of different color of the skin, different accent, different religious beliefs etc. To make the long story short, it is usually the immigrants where they lay their misfortune-ruined eyes. Immigrants have been the targets of many jokes, unfair labor practices, bias and prejudice. This especially goes true for the state of California where immigration is the highest. Discrimination is real and existent as shown, for example, by the media who uses videos of African Americans as criminals and White Americans as the life saver of the nation (in the coverage of war and implemented national health programs). Virtually every time we hear about immigrants in the news, it's not about celebrating their many contributions, sacrifice or heartwarming love and loyalty for this country, but rather about how they break the laws and drain the system. Immigrants are usually perceived as an uneducated person and a liability that must be eliminated. Such hatred for people is not confined in the USA alone but finds extreme scenarios in other countries such as what Hitler and Slobon Milosevic embarked upon. Discriminatory practices also vary among immigrants. Light skinned people would generally be more acceptable than dark and brown colored people. In any case, immigrants are seen as a stranger that should not be fairly treated in the household. Yet in truth and in fact, the United States is a country of immigrants that can be traced in history. The fact is that every American is either an immigrant or a descendent of an immigrant. In fact, immigrants are the true story of America . There are countless inspirational stories of immigrants who made a tremendous difference and contributed to the fabric of the American heritage. This paper aims to discuss the discriminatory practices regarding employment of immigrants in the United States. As such, it becomes necessary to deal with historical facts to make us aware of how America actually is a nation of immigrants. We will also discuss the differential degree of discrimination with regards to the white skinned rather than colored people such as the Native Americans and African Americans. It is aimed that even in such limited space, a worthy discussion on an issue (which have been the subject of many studies and articles) can be constructed in a way that is informative as it is enlightening. Foreigners in the Land of Promise Native Americans Colonists arrived to take advantage of the land resources and opportunities afforded by a virgin America. The entry of European and Christian values into a continent that was inhabited by American Indians (Native Americans) of a distinctly different culture made clashes inevitable. Operating with government assistance, the colonists subdued the original Native Americans and usurped their most fertile fields, prized resources, timber lands, and grazing areas. Now the Indians are found in reserves where most of them had been transplanted from their original location because they occupied mineral rich territories. African Americans Tobacco farming in Maryland and Virginia and cotton production in the deeper South required inexpensive labor that was adaptable to a hot and humid climate. Indentured servitude in early America soon led to Africans being used as cheap slave labor. African American slave labor greatly contributed to the growth and wealth of the United States and to the prosperity of its people. The almost free labor provided cheap resources, reduced production costs and enabled industries to be competitive. Substitution of manual labor for capital released the capital for investment in other industries. After institutionalized slavery had been abolished, institutionalized racism returned African Americans to a status close to slavery. Two centuries of slavery extended into another century of economic exploitation by segregation, unfair employment practices and violation of basic laws. The desire to get rid or to make them slaves found its greatest expression in the formation of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) which conducted large scale murders of Blacks. Chinese Racism also victimized the Chinese and oriental peoples. Chinese laborers had been brought to the United States in the latter part of the 19th century to carry huge loads over mountains during construction of the Trans-Continental Railroad and to perform hazardous tasks, such as dynamiting sides of hills to construct tunnels. After accomplishing the life-threatening tasks, the Chinese laborers were discarded, many times beaten and robbed, forced to wander the country without protections and without families. In 1882, the 47th Congress passed the Chinese exclusion law which made it illegal for any Chinese to remain in the United States.This act was renewed in subsequent decades until it became permanent in 1904. It wasn't until 1968 that the U.S. Congress abolished restrictions on Oriental immigration. Irish The Irish were the largest group to enter the United States. Today, there are over 43 million that claim Irish descent. The Irish didn't all come over at one time, but can be considered to be in three waves. The first wave was the missionary effort of the early medieval Christian church. The second was the fight of the Roman Catholic nobility. Finally, the third was the mass emigration since the great potato famine of the mid-19th Century. Irish immigrants have been not as persecuted as the Chinese and African Americans were. In fact, many of them had attained political positions in just one passing generation. This they attributed to the importance the Irish had of their children's education. Nevertheless, there were still persecutions such as the medical tests conducted on them on their entry to the United States. A bad result would lead to a return journey to Ireland. Most of them had bad health because of the bad agricultural situation in their country and because of the unhealthy environment in the ship during their travel. Italians, Poles and East Europeans The American government and American industry welcomed the massive immigration that fueled the American economy and maintained a wage floor. After impoverished, unskilled and poorly educated immigrants of distinctly different cultures began to arrive from Eastern Europe in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Americans displayed a fear of competition. This was only a temporary phenomenon and the discrimination never reached a fraction of the hate that affected the African American and Oriental communities. The largest immigrant groups of Italians, Poles and East European Jews all battled for share of the American economy, mildly struggling against each other and against the established Anglo-Saxon power structure. They had a peculiar advantage--the United States had become a pluralistic society and the government did not react uncomfortably to a group which pursued self-interest. Their timing had been fortunate for if they had arrived as the Chinese have, they would have been subjected to severe discrimination. Can we therefore say that it was purely the timing that made them less assaulted The answer is no for even in that period, the Native and African Americans and the Asians were still persecuted. Such treatment must then emanate from the fact that these people were Europeans and light skinned as the 'pure' Americans were. Unlike the Native Americans, African-Americans and Orientals, the Italians, Poles and East European Jews, except for a few isolated cases, have not been denied education, employment, housing and access to the vast wealth and materials of America. Contemporary Social Scene History informs of the excesses committed by the past generation. Nevertheless, discrimination is still rampant. The 1999 discrimination in the workplace study of the U.S. National Government with major contributions from concerned of Non Government Organizations produced the following results: 34,107 or 41% of establishments visibly discriminated against Blacks in at least one occupational category which affected 586,771 Blacks who were qualified and available to work. 19,174 or 35% of establishments visibly discriminated against Hispanics in at least one occupational category which affected 283,150 Hispanics who were qualified and available to work. 10,888 or 39% of establishments visibly discriminated against Asian Pacific persons in at least one occupational category which affected 149,214 Asian Pacific persons who were qualified and available to work 207 or 38.5% of establishments visibly discriminated against Native Americans in at least one occupational category which affected 1,983 Native Americans. A "hard core" of 22,269 establishments appears to have discriminated over a ten year period against Minorities. One of the things which can be noted is the absence of the distinction between the Irish and other East Europeans. These groups have become so well established that one cannot distinguish them anymore except of course by some accent or a visit to the family's home. Contemporary Mitigating Measures There have been substantive efforts to reduce or even to eliminate discrimination in the employment. This is essentially what the researchers of the 1999 study wanted to develop. Native Americans, for example, had obtained legal measures to prevent employment discrimination in the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These laws protect Native Americans and others from employment discrimination based on color and race discrimination, in addition to national origin discrimination, gender discrimination, religious discrimination, or citizenship status. The African Americans also gained rights in the Civil Rights Act. Nevertheless, most of them had been scarred by past discriminations and had to console themselves with receiving employment that were not paid enough. The Chinese just faded from the limelight but eventually developed into a powerful societal bloc. They harmed no one and they were accommodating to the wishes of the White. Well for the Europeans, they simply needed time to gain equal footing with Americans who had their roots in Europe. Reference: Cayton, Mary, Gorn, Elliot and Williams, Peter (1993). Encyclopedia of American Social History. New York:Charles Scribner's Sons Read More