Chapter 14

What brought about a change in attitude towards Asian immigrants?

-First positive change was brought by China becoming our ally in WW2.

-There was a presence of Asian-Americans in Washington since 1959 when Hawaii joined the U.S. and Asian-American Senators and Representatives would be elected.

-Asian-Americans juxtaposition to other minorities. When compared side by side with the perceived underachieving Blacks and Hispanic.

What characteristics have led to Asian Americans being called the model minority?

-Asian-Americans fit the standard for the ideal, normal, middle class.

“If one looks only at the aggregate data, Asian Americans are younger than the average American. They also have fewer children, are less likely to be unemployed or in jail, and are more likely to get higher education than the average American.”

What are ABCs and FOBs and who are the "silent" Chinese of San Francisco?

-The ABC is short for American-born Chinese and FOB refers to Fresh off the boat, when talking about the language barrier that exists between American taught and recent immigrants. The “silent” Chinese of San Francisco is a testimony form Dr. Ling-chi Wang, and it presents data to show the Chinese population is not actually quite the model minority. Dr. Ling-chi Wang concludes that inner city San Francisco and Chinatown unemployment was almost double the city-wide average, 2/3 of living was substandard, plus TB rates were six times the national average.

What are the three distinct increments of Filipino immigration?

-The groups of students that came with the 1898 American annexation of the Philippines.

In the 1920s and 1930s came farm workers that filled Japanese and Chinese agriculture.

-After 1965 a migration groups of educated, mobile professionals, would be entrepreneurs.

-Immigrants were mainly males… Not until 1960s did the female population begin to rise above 35 percent and it was in 1980 that the genders evened out.

What profession niche do recent Filipino immigrants dominate and why?

“Most, perhaps two-thirds, of recent Filipino immigrants have been professionals, most notably nurses and other medical personnel. During the 1970s, for example, the fifty nursing schools in the Philippines graduated about 200 nurses annually. At least 20 percent of each year’s crop of graduates soon migrated to the United States, where shortages of trained nurses, especially those willing to work long and uncomfortable hours demanded by public hospital, provided instant employment.”

Who were the Koreans who came before the 1965 immigration act?

-Korean Americans were mainly post-Korean War immigrants; the population was extremely small before the 1930s and like other immigrant groups expanded rapidly after 1965.

-Traditionally Buddhist, converted Christian

How and why do Vietnamese immigrants differ from other recent Asian immigrants?

“Rather than self-selecting immigrants reasonably well-qualified for success in America, Vietnamese, or many of them, have been poorly equipped for life in an urban society.”

-The book goes on to refer again to push, pull and means, and it confirms that Vietnamese have more “push” then “pull” and most would not have qualified if U.S. had not felt a responsibility.

What was the total number of Vietnamese War refugees and their children, and what nationalities are include

-Total number of war refugees and their children will exceed 1.25 million by 1990.

-Nationalities included Vietnamese, Laotians and Kampucheans (Cambodians); smaller groups like the Hmong as well.

Chapter 13

Recap: What is the Immigration Act of 1924 and the national origins system?

The Immigration act of 1924 was a federal law that was enacted in order to limit the number of immigrants who could be admitted to the country. The national origins act established quotas to monitor basic immigration. This remained the basic law of the land till 1965. The 19 24 Act was said to be, “ a racist and discriminatory system that was so much the product of the tribal twenties.”

How did the Cold War effect immigration and immigration policy?

“The act ended the total exclusion of racial and ethnic groups from naturalization and immigration… Essentially made laws colorblind”

“Just as the granting of the right of naturalization to Chinese in 1943 should be seen as a war measure, the further liberalization in 1952 should be seen as the fruit of the cold war.”

The cold war forced America to make provisions concerning the Walter McCarren Act. What I found to be so significant is that America is having its first struggle in becoming a leader of the “free world” amongst the majors acting countries and therefore the status of the law needed change in order to practice a more friendly immigration process. Although much of the original act, as well as the national origins system, were preserved, it is made clear that the U.S. must now begin to carry out “free world” governance.

What was surprising about who was admitted under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948?

It was the first piece of American legislation that set refugee policy rather then an immigration policy. The act was originally made for Nazi regime victims, but most who came benefited from Third Reich.

What did President Truman say was the greatest vice of the quota system and what was he specifically referring to?

“It discriminates, deliberately and intentionally, against many of the peoples of the world. The purpose behind it was to cut down and virtually eliminate immigration to this country from Southern and Eastern Europe.”

President Truman approved of the innovations of the bill, yet vetoed it… however it was still reenacted.

While immigration policy was still focused on Europe, who was really immigrating to the U.S. in larger numbers and why?

1950s- half of immigration was coming from Europe

1960s- 1/3 was coming from Europe

1980s- just over a 1/10 was coming from Europe

Latin American and Asians were where the large number of immigrants to the U.S. came from. The Chart 13.1 on page 335 shows legal immigration to the United States and shows clearly that, although policy was still focused in Europe, the largest number of immigrants did not come from Europe but from Latin America and Asia, especially after 1960.

What was revolutionary about the Immigration Act of 1965 and how did it fit with the national mood?

The original refugee act was limited. The act did not sufficiently make provisions for all groups. In 1965 Latin America was brought into the definition. Egalitarianism was the national consensus.

What were the unanticipated results of the 1965 law?

More then 2.25 million persons were admitted to the U.S. as refugees.

How does a refugee differ from an asylee?

An asylee must meet the same criteria that refugees follow, however, an asylee is a person who applies for entry into the U.S. while already here. The book specifies immigrants with student and work visas as asylees. . After reading this I felt that asylees are extremely common and don’t always fit in the category of a student or worker, instead they are usually illegal.

How did American attitudes toward refugees change between WWII and 1980?

“At the end of WW2, making provisions for any refugees had been highly controversial. 35 years later, the notion that the U.S. was OBLIGATED to take in refugees and have a generous policy toward them, or some of them, was totally uncontroversial. Having a refugee policy was part of the national consensus.”

What was the Mariel Crisis and how did it compare with Haiti's boat people?

Mariel Crisis was a three-way dispute between Cuba, Peru, and the U.S. over the right of some 3,500 dissident Cuban. The situation escalated to 125,000 Cubans in a matter of weeks. Haiti’s boat people were said to be leaving from poor economic conditions rather then

This quote sums up a common theme of this chapter, “On one hand Cold War imperatives made it wish to accept those seeking freedom from communism and to embarrass its enemy, Fidel Castro; on the other hand, it wanted the bureaucratic order suggested by the 1980 Refugee Act.” The head of state administration must choose its position. It can take the risk of accepting the refugees and hope that it is an orderly process or it could have rejected the refugees and faced questioning of a hypocritical stance.

Italian emigration 1850-1920

The first thing that stood out to me about chapter 7 was the conditions that were experienced by the immigrating population from the port of Naples. This population consisted of mainly Italians, Greeks, and Syrians. Naples was also one of the largest ports at the beginning of the 20th century. So to find that the conditions were so disgusting and below standards that any human should have to experience was surprising. I felt POW or slaves could have possibly been treated better at times. I was also surprised by the fact that the majority of emigrants did not go directly to the U.S until after the turn of the century. Also, the Italians that did come before the 20th century seemed to be at a disadvantage. Like when the Irish were the new immigrant group, the first arriving Italians, especially the lower class, had the same struggle that would place them at the "bottom of the food-chain". "As early as the 1890s commentators were noting that the Irish no longer built the railroads and paved the streets; Italians did." pg 195

Immigration 1820-1920

The Author goes into extra detail while discussing groups between 1820-1920 because "we will see that there are similarities and differences over time both between groups and within groups." This is significant because prior to the 19th century, the differences and similarities that occurred amongst groups were much less evident. For example, groups of immigrants could be made up of mainly males, as immigration evolved and became more common, more women starting immigrating as well. This also was true with Europe demographic emigration. Western Europe had already established a steady flow of emigration before Eastern Europe would begin to emigrate. Now in this new age of immigration (starting at 1880s), not only do groups have similarities and differences with other groups, but also groups are beginning to have similarities and differences amongst themselves because of their vastness.

Chapter 5- John Jays Providence

In the section ethnic relations, John Jay plays down the ethnic differences that existed during the American Revolution.

"Providence... one connected country to one united people, a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking of the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government..." pg 108

Jay knew his words weren't exactly valid. In reality, the ethnic relations that existed were never consistent, the attitudes held by English Americans towards foreign immigrants varied. Jay was attempting to unite the people with his words. Although he knew everyone had separate ancestors, separate religions, and had not established a form of government that everyone followed, Jay was looking toward the future. Because there was such a variety of people and classes I feel that Jay was trying to limit tension amongst the separate groups. Jay had hopes of creating the beginning of a revolution or at least helping create a more united people.

Late post-Olaudah Equiano

Chapter 2 of Olaudah Equiano's story is a very sad chapter about the capture of him and his sister. My initial question was, how old were they? He mentions that they are children at the time, however, he did not seem like he put up much of a struggle during his capture, therefore he must have been quite young. His journey must have been quite a daze because he is still thinking about escaping. Although he knows he is a far way away from home, he finds he can use the sun as a guide back. However when he is forced to hide from his he master, he just compounds his mistakes. Although he does not say it, I feel that this is the first instance when he loses hope in ever returning. When he is reunited with his sister, it seems there might be a glimmer of hope, but they are torn apart once again. I found his comments about his pain very elegant. The most surprising part of this chapter was the amount African on African slavery. Although i did notice that much of there treatment was better then the treatment that was waiting across the Atlantic.

Late Post, Americans called Indians

"scholars do not make such assumptions about other people in the absence of supporting evidence; yet they make them about Indians without ever looking for evidence."

pg 47 - The Americans and the Problem of History

I chose to include this quote in my blog because of its significance involving Native American history, or in this case lack there of. The author speaks of the struggle scholars have had attempting to understand the native culture. In the Americas much of our pre-history has been lost. Before the arrival of Europeans there was a thriving civilization, "Americans called Indians". Much of our knowledge on the natives today is still unclear and much of our discovery has come from archaeological discovery rather then first hand oral. By disregarding the people that settled the land before them, colonizers destroyed history or a possible recovery of historical information about the native culture present in the Americas at the time. Unfortunately, the mistake of taking advantage has left us with a blank spot n our history of the first Americans.