Ethnicity Transitions in the US - Essay Example

? Race Ethni Introduction America has been like a magnet to the people of the developing nations since decades. People come to the United s in pursuit of good education, good job or a flourishing business that ultimately provide them a secured life of fantasy and increased urge for all sorts of material pursuits. However, the stories of these uprooted people are always not ornamented with glittering dreams and joyous heart. Behind their peppy talk and sunny smile are the hidden stories of endless tears, countless fears, pang of being discriminated as something inferior and most importantly to spend years in a state where they are neither properly aware of their culture nor have been able to transport themselves completely into the United States of America culturally or mentally. This failure to accommodate oneself into the American way of living has generally given rise to a crisis of identity both at the cultural and social paradigm. This essay captivates the experience and expression of the three people from different ethnicity or race who have come to the United States of America with their different agendas and dreams and have passed through myriad transitions and framed their unique trajectory of life at the United States. Experience and Expressions The first immigrant who has been interviewed is a Chinese girl of age 23, pursuing her graduation from Boston University under the department of Bio-science and medicine. Her name is Anne Lai. She migrated to the United States for her graduation in the year 2010 and is in final year of her course. Discrimination is the first effect which has been felt in her voice. Anne says that most of the campus activities do not come along their ways and mostly they remain engaged in their communal club at the campus or Chinese Christian activities in and around. Anne claims that few professors and most of the students find their English accent poor and bizarre which has given her a sense of being inferior and resulted in keeping her out of the group assignments. In this circumstance, the native student is under a threat of her low performance and abstains herself from active participation. Anne says that she has been mocked of her appearance, accent and even food habits which have enforced her to keep more and more distance from the American students. Anne claims that most of the Americans are inhibited with the immigrants. They often have asked Anne to take up her family business which according to them is being a chef or working in a shoe manufacturing company or being a hair dresser. Lai reports that back in China both her parents are well settled in the field of medicine and are acclaimed doctors. Lai’s grandfather was a scientist. Therefore, to tag every Chinese as a chef or a good barber by birth is not a correct notion (Lu & Short, 2007; Mac, 2009). The history of the Hispanics in America is very old and passes through many upheavals. They are diverse in their race, language and ethnicity. On being the population generators in America in recent years, an increase in their demography have resulted the government to draw attention towards their wellbeing. However, they too have a dark history and pang of racial conflicts deeply woven into their hearts despite being the nearest neighbor to the United States. Santiago Carlos is a middle aged corporate executive and aged around forty five. He is settled in California; he married Sofia Cartagena and has three children. It was really very insightful to talk with a man of great sensibility and having in-depth knowledge upon society. Santiago is in marketing job and therefore travelling across the world and especially throughout the United States is a part of his daily routine. He has seen the transformation into the Hispanic society in America over the years and has well narrated his understandings and experiences. Santiago claims that he came to Texas when he was just nine years old and his father came from Spain, his original place of birth to America for joining the Korean War, where his father fought successfully and after taking retirement from army served as a corporate executive in America. His growing up in the school as a Hispanic kid at times did create a discrimination. Nevertheless, Santiago says that mostly he had to face the conflict in his college when the socio-political events shaped the fate of the Hispanics inside and outside the communities. With booming populations, Hispanic started entering into the lands occupied by the African American since ages and it made them hate the Hispanics and made them their targeted prey of attacks and as a race or community made them more clustered. Nonetheless, Santiago finds that the strong determination of the Hispanics as a community has made them come out of their assigned professions of a cab driver or a soldier and through the light of education. They have evolved out to be one of the effective contributors in the American society. Through their steadfastness, they have been able to stand out and perform extraordinarily well which has made them valuable in the eyes of the American government. However, somewhere between the interviews with so much well read, well seen and well known Santiago, a sense of alienation which after so much of contributions to American society and economy persists and looms large in his words (American Federation of Teachers, 2008). The last man to be interviewed was Samuel Albert Jackson, a fifty nine years old retired cop of FBI. Samuel’s history is a forgotten one. Yet, he could feel the pang of being other, being minority and being non-white. His great grandfather came to America as a slave during 1890 from Africa says Samuel. His father and his brothers were all born and brought up in America. Samuel as well grew up in the ghetto of New York City along with his sisters and brothers. He received education and took up the work of a security agent as taken up by maximum black Americans. Being a cop and seeing the administration run so closely, Samuel found the American government detaining people and taking them to trial for suspicion on the basis of their race or ethnicity. Samuel still finds and comments that much of the deserving members of the African American community at FBI do not get worthy promotions timely because they are non-white. And, Samuel narrates the story of his struggle to come out of the ghetto and buy a flat at the apartment in the New York City where mostly whites are living (Anderson, 2013; U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d.). Conclusion The narration or the story or first-hand experience of all these people from minor groups in America narrate a pang of deprivation and a saga of discrimination which is very subtle and the intricate thin line of difference has still made them feel alien despite the relentless effort taken by the American government to give the immigrants a better life and a better place to live in. References American Federation of Teachers. (2008). Challenges and opportunities facing Hispanics in America today. Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/yourwork/tools4teachers/hispanic/challenges.cfm Anderson, S. A. (2013). Blacks still face challenges in economic equality. Retrieved from http://bigstory.ap.org/article/blacks-still-face-challenges-economic-equality Lu, J., & Short, M. (2007). Learning and Living: the challenges facing Chinese students in the Australian context. University of Tasmania, 1-10. Mac, J. (2009). Myths and mirrors: real challenges facing Asian American students. Japanese American Citizens League, 1-18. U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). The African American legacy and the challenges of the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.doi.gov/pmb/eeo/AA-HM.cfm Read More