The New Americans are divided into five groups. The first among them are the Ogoni Refugees. One of the reasons why people immigrate to the United States is because they are refugees. The Refugee Act of 1980 was signed by President Carter to extend the grant of asylum to those who escapes not only Communist-controlled nations (P&R, 23). A refugee is defined by the act as anyone who has a “well-founded fear of persecution or physical harm, regardless of the political bent of his or her country’s regime (P&R, 23)”.
As can be articulated the status of becoming or being a refugee is something that is controlled by the government. The Ogoni Refugees passed the government qualifications since they are part of a family that had been against the main government for several years. They are constantly being discriminated and persecuted in their homeland. They are not even permitted to return to their homeland in Nigeria thus, most are moving to America. In my opinion, becoming a refugee creates the most cause of optimism for this group. The Refugee Act had solidified the legality of being a refugee.
Furthermore, the refugees do not have anywhere else to go. The conditions and the treatment that they received in the United States are far better than the once they received in the refugee camps of Africa. The second group of immigrants is known as the professional immigrants. From the term itself, this group moved to the United States as professional individuals. The reason for moving to another country is the “gap between available salaries and work conditions in their own countries and those regarded as acceptable for people in their professions (P&R, 18)”.
In the New American groups, this bloc is best represented by the Palestinian Bride and the Indian tech worker. Indeed, the Palestinian and the tech worker are equipped with enough knowledge and skills to get a job in their homeland. Nevertheless, the fact that a person on their level can earn more in the United States is something that they could not set aside. Being an ordinary teacher in the Palestine would not yield the same amount of salary that a teacher in the United States receives.
At the same time, a tech worker in India and a tech worker in the US obviously have a huge gap in terms of opportunity and salary. This group is not as optimistic as the first group since the difference in culture affects the perspective of the immigrants in this group. Also, the fact that the people in this group can still get jobs in their homeland makes them think or feel that they can do better at home. Between the Palestinian bride and the India tech worker, the tech worker presents more optimism.
The living condition in the Palestine portrays less hope than in India. In the Palestine the people needs several documents and processes to enter Israel and to immigrate to US. On the other hand, those from India had proper diploma and working experiences which gives them an edge to apply legally for a job in the United States. The third group of immigrants would be the entrepreneurial immigrants or those who are known as the “middle-man minorities”. In the New American groups, the entrepreneurial immigrants are represented by the Mexican Laborer.
This person started as a laborer in a farm; however, he decided to conduct a small business among his co-nationals as a mechanic. This extra work is illegal and maybe halted by the government anytime his business in found out. He might even pay a fine. Nevertheless, this sort of immigrant presents optimism due to its courage to start a business in the United States. However, the risk of establishing a business makes it less optimistic than the refugees or the professionals. The last group of immigrants would be labor migrants.
This might also include the Mexican laborer since he was originally a migrant worker; nevertheless, he developed into an entrepreneur later on. Therefore, this would include the Dominican Baseball player. The player is a skilled player but is only skilled to play a game. He is working under his coach or manager. He does not know so much about the United States especially its politics. He only obeys orders and follows instructions. He has less ability to decide to himself. He’s culture is very different from those in the United States, especially the language.
This person’s stay in the United States is bounded by a contract which can be retracted anytime. 2. Arab-Americans often identify as ‘white’ when asked to place themselves in U. S. racial categories. As we have seen, Whiteness is bound up with attitude-receptional assimilation, behavior-receptional assimilation, and ‘White privilege. ’ Use these three concepts to explain whether Arab-Americans have become white in a manner similar to north and western European groups. White is a color. Like every color, it has different shades and degrees.
Applying the idea of whiteness to race denotes the idea of a person possessing white complexion. Nevertheless, as Feagin and Feagin discussed in their book, there are situations wherein having merely a white complexion do not correspond to the racial notion of “whiteness”. Race is a concept used to designate the aspect of being a “descendant of a common ancestor, emphasizing kinship linkages rather than physical characteristics (F&F, 4)”. As the context of race developed, loyalty or dedication to one’s own race also heightens. Adolf Hitler portrays a phenomenal example of this love to one’s own race.
Nonetheless, this produced a negative consequence which is “thinking ill of other (people’s race) without sufficient warrant (as quoted by F&F, 11 from Gordon Allport)”. This process is more prominently known as having “prejudice” or an unreasonable opinion or attitude towards a certain group of people. When these prejudices are put into action or results to a change of treatment to an individual or a group of person, it is called as discrimination. Discriminatory acts like calling names or hating another race is still prevalent in our community.
Despite efforts on equality, the mere fact of distinguishing people with respect to color is already discrimination. The Arab Americans are one of the problematic groups that received discrimination. It is a fact that most Arab Americans are Muslims. It is also undeniable that the perpetrators during the 9-11 attack are Muslims. Thus, people who belong to the group of Arab Americans are usually discriminated or subjected to prejudice. Nonetheless, under the US Census, there is no category of race where Arab Americans can fit.
Therefore, despite being treated as a minority, they would either choose the racial category of white or others. Whiteness is something that is bounded by attitude-receptional assimilation. In this view, the core society does not hold prejudices on white people, or at least there are no negative prejudices when it comes to white people. This differs significantly when one says that he/she is an Arab American. As can be interpreted, having white as a racial category depicts an inherent privilege that is controlled by the core society.
There exist a “White privilege”, wherein the white individuals enjoys advantages that the non-white do not. This is an obvious scenario in most workplaces where white individuals are given more preference than non-white. The Arab-Americans would also benefit from the behavioral-receptional assimilation since the discrimination received from the core society which is made up mostly of white individuals would be greatly reduced. Unlike the northern and western European context of “whiteness”, the Arab Americans falls into the category of being “white” to prevent the prejudices and discrimination towards their race.
. Other people who originally fall into the white category did so because of their physical and hereditary proximity to the Caucasian race. They originally have the privileges that go along with “whiteness”. On another context, the Arab falls into the white category due to the lack of proper description for their group. Unlike Asians or Latinos or Africans, there had been no Arabs in the choices provided by the US census. Although they can choose the box “others” instead of “white”, that choice do not provide the same benefits that go along with the label “white”.