Cultural Diversity
.... Because the lower class lacks upward mobility in society their options of advancing in educationally and occupationally is almost non-existent. Religion among Chinese Americans today varies. Chinese immigrants come from a culture that discouraged organized religion. A survey from 1997 in southern California showed that a large proportion did not participate in organized religion. And 32 percent recognized the Christian religion and 20 percent were Buddhists. Chinese Americans are employed in all aspects of the workforce. Superficially they appear to do well because they have lower unemployment rates and they are well represented throughout the professional and managerial occupations. Japanese Americans have had their own battles with discrimination and prejudice. It wasn’t until after the mid 1880’s that the Japanese started to come to the United States. Up until that point Japan had prohibited emigration. And they, like many other minority groups took laborious jobs that were low paying. The Japanese didn’t start to feel the effects of discrimination, until in 1924 they were barred from gaining naturalized citizenship. The Chinese had already been excluded in the late 1870’s and 1880’s. “In its 1922 decision in Tako Ozawa versus United States, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Japanese could not be naturalized because racially they were neither white nor of African ancestry; these were the only two groups named specifically in the Naturalization Act.” (Chan 2002) Laws were also created to prohibit Asian immigrants from owning or leasing farm land in California and Washington. Then in the 1940’s and the beginning of World War II the United States began to institute policies that the Japanese Americans would have to face. The bombing of Pearl Harbor brought almost instant attention to all of the Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. “Front page attention was given to pronouncements by the Secretary of the Navy that Japanese Americans had the greatest responsibility for Pearl Harbor. Newspapers covered in detail FBI arrests of Japanese Americans allegedly engaging in sabotage to assist the attackers.” (Schaefer 2004, p352) The accusations included “poisoning drinking water, cutting patterns in sugarcane fields to form arrows directing the enemy pilots to targets, and blocking traffic along highways to the harbor.” (Schaefer 2004, p352) These accusations were never confirmed even though they were thoroughly investigated. On the 13th of February, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, which authorized the removal of people in specific areas that were considered a threat. Any one with at least one eighth of Japanese ancestry was removed and taken to evacuation camps; this covered 90 percent of the 126,000 Japanese Americans on the mainland.(Schaefer 2004) Of the 120,000 Japanese Americans that were sent to the camps, seventy five percent were under the age of 25. The relocation of all of these people was not ordered from any court nor did any trials take place. Being of Japanese descent was enough reason to be sent to confinement. The Japanese Americans cooperated and did not make much objection, if they would have resisted it would have only caused Americans to be suspicious of them. All of the Japanese Americans were instructed to only bring their personal items to the camps, and there was not any arrangements made to keep the belongings safe. And anyone who owned property or businesses had to sell at any price that they could get. (Schaefer 2004) They clearly were not compensated for all of their property. Ten camps were created in seven states throughout the United States. They were allowed to work at the camps for a maximum pay of $19 a month. They lived a forced community life which weakened their strong family bond. In certain aspects the camps took on characteristics of American cities, for example they had high schools, boy scouts and girl scouts, and a parade on the 4th of July. Undoubtedly the Japanese Americans faced a traumatic experience that caused damaged to their lives even though they showed great loyalty to America by their behavior. They volunteered to fight in Europe and many were recruited to work as interpreters and translators. It wasn’t until December 18, 1944, that the Supreme Court found the detainment unconstitutional. Two weeks later Japanese Americans were allowed to go back home. However the return home was not pleasant for them, they were terrorized by Whites in similar attacks that the Blacks experienced; for example labor unions had work stoppages when Japanese Americans came to work. The anti-Japanese behavior fizzled out quickly. From the 1930’s to 1950’s the Japanese American community changed drastically, they moved and spread out throughout the country. By moving beyond the West Coast, they seemed to be less of a threat than if they remained in large groups. This forced them to develop business ties to other people besides Japanese Americans. Overall the Japanese community is more settled than other minority groups and is less affected by new arrivals from Japan. Japanese Americans The Japanese American community struggles just like the Chinese American community to maintain their cultural identity. Japanese American youth is accepting mainstream cultures. Japanese Americans have a low rate of divorce and social disorganization, which is generally higher in minority groups. There culture demands high in-group unity, politeness, and respect for authority, and a commitment to the community. Educational achievement for the Japanese American community is high along with occupational achievements too. “The proportion of Japanese American families with multiple wage earners is higher than that of White families.” (Schaefer 2004, p357) Considering everything that they have experienced here in the United States, they are doing really well. Japanese Americans have adopted the Christian religion, even though it means shedding their old faiths and traditions. “In Japan, religious beliefs tend to be more accommodating than Christians are, for example a person can be Shinto and Buddhist at the same time.” (Schaefer 2004, p358) A common stereotype for Asian American students is “academic superstars.” “As a group they have impressive school enrollment rates in comparison to the total population. This can be attributed to the strong family support and structure within the Asian culture. Family involvement is very important to a student’s performance. And the family believes that higher education is the key to upward mobility, therefore educational achievement comes with hard work and dedication. Parents also make all of the important decisions, including academic and career decisions. In 2000, 44 percent of Asian Americans 25 years or older held bachelor’s degrees, compared with 28 percent of White population.” (Schaefer 2004, p315) This appears to be really positive for Asian Americans, but it can also place a burden and some degree of harassment for the students. Also there is a lack of Asian faculty and support for students to turn too. This creates a great deal of stress and alienation for the students. Although there is a great deal of education achievement within the Asian American group, there is still an absence of top executives in the workforce. Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans Because of the very large border that the U.S. and Mexico shares, and the significant difference between the two countries’ economies and standards of living, there has been a considerable influx of Mexican immigrants into the U.S. this century. Surprisingly, the U.S. didn’t use legislation to limit Mexican immigration until 1965. Starting in 1909-1922 (during the Mexican revolution) the U.S. saw large-scale immigration of refugees. Also, during World War I, there was an opening of the labor market to Mexican Americans due to the limitations the U.S. government put on immigration from Europe. In the 1930’s, during the depression, the U.S. took drastic measures (which undoubtedly violated the civil rights of many Mexican-Americans) in order to reduce job seekers and welfare recipients. The process of repatriation was instituted; this was the forced deportation of Mexicans back to Mexico. This was a very complicated process, many that were to be deported had children that were born in the U.S. and were therefore citizens. The incompleteness of border records also caused problems with the question of who should and who shouldn’t be deported. But when World War II was occurring, and the U.S. needed more workers for its workforce, a deal was struck between Mexico and the U.S. to import Mexican workers. These workers crossed legally with contracts, and were called braceros. They mainly worked in farm fields, with one-eleventh of all farm workers on the Pacific Coast being braceros. Under the program, the braceros did receive a minimum standard of housing, salary, and healthcare. Ironically, even this low standard of living was often better than that of many Mexican Americans. The bracero program ended in 1964. After this time, immigration quotas were placed on Mexicans and it was much more difficult for them to come into the U.S. legally. This is when illegal immigration really started to increase. The increase in illegal immigration was followed by a harsher outlook on all Mexicans and Mexican Americans as many people now suspected them of being in the country illegally. This prejudice persists today. These groups have experienced improvements and gains in the area of formal schooling but they still lag behind White Americans. In 1958, 54.8% of all Hispanics attended predominantly minority schools, and 25 years later 73.6% of all Hispanics attended predominantly minority schools. This level of segregation is higher than it is for African-American students. When considering the reasons for this, we must take into account three factors. First, there are higher concentrations of Hispanics in large cities, which concentrates this group in school districts very heavily. Second, the population of Latinos has increased dramatically since the 1970’s. Thirdly, schools that were once desegregated have become re-segregated as the numbers of school-aged Mexican Americans in an area have increased while the determination to maintain balance in schools has lessened. (Moore & Ladicola 1981) Even when Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites live in the same neighborhood the problem becomes social isolation within the classroom. This is achieved by tracking – the process of placing students in specific classes or curriculum groups on the basis of test scores and other criteria. In the case of standardized test placement, some of the cultural bias inherent in the tests (which many are now working to eradicate, and have quite successfully in many cases) acts as a natural segregating factor. (Schaefer, 2004) In 2000, only 51% of Mexican Americans and 64% of Puerto Ricans aged 25 or older had completed high school, compared with 88% of non-Hispanic Whites. Those that choose to pursue a higher education are more likely to select a technical school or a community college to gain work-related skills. (Therrien & Ramirez 2001) In higher educational teaching roles, Hispanics are underrepresented. In 2000, less than 5% of college teachers were Hispanic. However, Harvard University conducted a study on the attitudes of Mexican immigrant adolescents. 84% of those students felt that school was the most important thing compared to only 40% of non-Hispanic White teens holding that same view. 68% of immigrant children felt that doing their homework was more important than helping a friend, only 20% of non-Hispanic white adolescents felt the same. But as the immigrant children are culturally assimilated, they take on more of the views of the White teens. The same survey showed second generation Mexican Americans still giving education a higher priority but not as high as their immigrant counterparts. Also, Hispanics entering a college with a predominantly White population will have to adjust to the environment and may experience racism for the first time while taking on the burdens of being a college student. College is an adjustment all on its own. Mexican family structure differs little from that of all families in the United States. Households are described as more familistic than others in the U.S. Familism means pride and closeness to the family, which results in family obligation and loyalty coming before individual needs. The family is the primary source of both social interaction and caregiving. Familism is v...