Indians Immigrating To America Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Indians Immigrating To America Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers Indians Immigrating To America Their homeland has the second largest population in the world, yet in America they form one of our smallest minorities. Americans were influenced by their beliefs long before the first immigrants arrived, and an important interchange of ideas has continued to the present day. Although many came to America as early as the turn of the century, they were denied citizenship until a congressional act granted it in 1946. Now they are students and teachers in our universities; they are artists and writers, musicians and scientists. Their contributions to industry, commerce, and agriculture have been valuable to America and to the world. Who are these people? They are the East Indians in America. Asian Indians have supplied innumerable contributions to the culture and well being of the United States; the majority of these contributions are geared notably to engineering and the sciences. The reason for immigration in the period from 1830-1890 is quite clear. India was in a great shape. Howeve r when the British took over India, they depleted the country of all her wealth and gave her poor citizens no choice but to leave. The main reason why everybody wants to go to the United States is because if they would go somewhere else, like France or Japan although they would get higher wages, there is much greater chance of getting harassed, arrested or deported in those countries as opposed to the United States (Takai 32). Here in the United States land remained plentiful and cheap. Jobs were abundant and labor was scarce. The United States, in the nineteenth century, remained a strong magnet to immigrants, with offers of jobs and land for farms (Hess 12). The Jews came for religious freedom, Italians and Asians came for work, and the Russians came to escape persecution. America had jobs and religious freedom. Consequently, America was referred to in many countries as the Land of Opportunity. This is land is also often called the melting Pot of the World. This is because it is b elieved that people from all over the world come to the United States and loose their cultural identity and 'melt' into or assimilate into the American culture. However, nowadays, the above is an unfair statement to make. Nowadays with the growing Chinese restaurants, Indian grocery stores, and European languages is school, etc., one can say that individual cultures are trying hard to voice their distinction amongst the overall American culture. One can therefore refer to the United States as the Salad Bowl of the World where every culture has its own flavor, just like in a salad, where every vegetable has its own taste even though it has a common dressing, the American culture. Amongst the Chinese, Japanese, Europeans, etc. and other immigrants, the East Indians represented a big group of those people who wanted to be part of the American culture. The East Indians, who came to America, were mostly spread out in little groups up and down the West Coast (Pavri 56). Their story is an especially important part of the history of Asian Americans, for they were a new kind of immigrant. The large majorities of the first immigrants from India were Punjabis, from a region called the Punjab. Most of these immigrants were young men, between 16 and 35 years old (Daniels 33). Many of them were married; however, they did not bring their wives across the sea with them. Their family and community ties remained strong after they left home; they came to America in small groups of cousins and village neighbors, and these relationships formed a network of interconnections among them in the new country as they lived and worked together. They had many reasons for leaving their homeland. They were being repressed by the British rule and had no land to farm on. To make matters worse, famine devastated India from 1899 to 1902. Thus, large-scale immigration began in 1906, when six hundred Asians applied to enter the United States (Millis 32). These families became the basis for the new East Indian communities. They had come to the United States with high hopes, expecting to make their fortunes, but they discovered that life in America was unexpectedly challenging.

Yes, Reverse Racism is Real Essays - Racism, Discrimination

Yes, Reverse Racism is Real Essays - Racism, Discrimination Yes, Reverse Racism is Real Racism is an ongoing problem in our society especially considering the curren t political atmosphere. However, the image of racism in the American context that one conjures up usually involves 'the white man' me ting out racism to every person of color like a souther n gentleman reeling out "how do you do's " . That brings the following q uestions to mind: Is there such a thing as reverse racism? Are African American's capable of treating other races discriminatorily and with prejudice as well? Yes, yes , and a thousand times yes. Persons of color are capable of being racist towards other races, including Caucasia ns, contrary to popular belief . The debate about the ability of blacks to be racist hinges on the definition of racism. The definition that is widely accepted by the public treats racism as the systematic oppression of and discrimination towards a race which requires one race to be in a position of power over the other, to institute and benefit from their racist actions. If we were to take this definition as gospel, no Black person could ever be accused of racism as within the Amerikkkan society, constructed and controlled by Whites, Black persons are definitely not the ones in a posit i on of power. That is similar to saying a smaller child can't bully a larger child because the larger child has a physical advantage. That definition is false. There are several ways an oppressed and marginalized group may be able to discriminate against and show prejudice towards their oppressor, and black people have found a w ay to finesse the system. The Oxford dictionary puts it a little bit differently: it defines racism as " p rejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior" . This is a definition one could work with. It simplifies the concept of racism and gives each race or group of people equal opportunity to be able to be prejudiced or discriminatory. Reverse racism is therefore when a minority or marginalized group, such as Blacks, discriminates against their oppressor. You may ask when, where and how can Black people be racist? By the same methods W hite people are racist; either b ehind closed doors or blatantly. A black person using slurs such as cracker' is racist, despite its uselessness as an insult . Calling a white person the c word', while less offensive than it's n counterpart, is still derogatory behavior . Mocking white facial features by saying white people are pale and crusty is racist . Making jokes about the incestuous preferences of Caucasians is racist. S aying that Caucasian lips look like bologna or an open wound is racist ! If you are able to ignore the explicit antagonism in the previous examples of com mon utterances in the black community, you have a bad case of denial. The result of reverse racism is the co ntinued tension between races. The continuous lack of communication and the distrust that racism brings will do nothing to bridge the chasm that exists . The implicit racial segregation will continue and there will be no integration of people of colour into th e system which has been designed to disenfranchise them . By the same token, reverse racism makes the marginalized group no better than the ones who oppress them. This way of living is fruitless and only perpetuates the hatred we see present today. All in all , racism is racism, regardless of the hue of perpetrator . T o only see racism as racism when it is committed by the right race' is a biased view that doesn't always lay the blame where it belongs. Until we can admit the wrongs committed on both sides of the racial divide and move to remedy them, there's no way the divide can ever be bridged.