Over the course of the past two weeks we have further studied various ethnic groups and their experiences in America. Cuban Immigrants came to America after Cuba’s 1959 revoution, when Fidel Castro, the grassroots leader that overthrew Batista. The first major migration after the revolution included Cuba’s upper class elites and others who had done well financially under Batista. The next wave which began in 1961 contained many middle and upper class Cubans who chose exile from the island rather than life under Castro’s authoritarian government. By 1962 almost 200,000 cubans had come to America. Unlike previous ethnic groups however, the Cubans came by planes and boats and ultimately did not have the long hard trek that many immigrant groups faced. In addition, the first wave of Cubans who decided to leave their island were known as the “golden exiles” because Americans believed that they were the ones against communism so they were accepted. Major push factors continued to force Cubans to leave their homes and head for America. In 1980, 125,000 Cubans arrived in America and were known as Marielitos or “undesirables” because they were the poorer and less educated than earlier immigrants and had a large percentage of criminals and mentally ill.
Isabel Wilkerson, noteworthy author of The Warmth of Other Suns, displays literary prowess and insightful knowledge of the plight of African Americans in both her debut novel and myriad journalism and reporting entries. On multiple occasions, Wilkerson’s abilities in journalism garnered attention from universities and award committees, earning her the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing and the George Polk award for coverage and research on the Great Migration, as well as allowing her to lead seminars and hold positions of high esteem at universities such as Harvard, Emory, and Princeton. In addition to being the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for individual reporting, Wilkerson and her parents lived and participated in the Great Migration themselves. Hence, it will come as no surprise to hear that her claims within The Warmth of Other Suns present themselves as spectacularly accurate. Wilkerson proposes that the Great Migration altered the cultural, economic, and social history of America dramatically,
Module Four: Thinking like a Historian Part One Compare the views of these two scholars by answering the following questions. Be sure to find specific examples in the selections to support your answers. 1.) What issues that surround Latino immigration to America does each author address?
When it comes to Cuban and Haitian refugees in the late 1970s and early 1980s although they were coming to the United States for different reasons, they were both trying to find freedom from dictatorship in their own countries. Though both Cubans and Haitian arrived around the same time in Florida, in Detention by Design, Episode 5: "The New Immigration Detention System Is Born”, Wenski stated, “Because African American communities saw that the Cubans were getting kind of a favored migration status and the Haitians were not” (55). This is important since episode 4: "Mariel Boatlift: The Tide Turns” also states something similar about how Cubans were released quickly while Haitians still had to serve a longer period of time. This shows how differently
Since the 1960s to even present day, Cuban exiles have been making their way
During 1942-1964 many Mexican immigrants were “given” the “opportunity” to enter the United States in order to labor and help the United States economic industry. For many immigrants the bordering country was seen as an exceptional place that offered great opportunities but at the same time many family difficulties. The Bracero Program during the 20th century for many Mexicans was seen as an exceptional deal that offered immigrants and infinite amount of opportunities to succeed; however, in Ejemplar y sin igual we realize that the Bracero Program in reality was not the “exceptional program” everyone thought. In Ejemplar y sin igual, Elizabeth Rosas mentions that “an entire generation of children experienced uniquely difficult childhoods because
Many nationalities came to America in hopes of a better life for them and their families. However, it was not easy time for them after arriving in America. Each nationality encountered obstacles, some more difficult than others, but in the end they each persevered. One nationality that experienced a considerable amount of difficulties were the Native Americans. There may have been over 2 million Indian people living in what is now the United States (Olson & Beal p.18).
Overall, the groups of people the United States gave the label “Latino” all had different reasons and ways to become citizens. The Cubans were accommodated gladly because they were viewed as fleeing communism and, arguably, had the easiest time becoming citizens of the groups that immigrated. Mexicans fell victim to having their border fall south of them after the Mexican-American war and became citizens with the treaty of Guadalupe. Puerto Ricans became citizens without full rights under the constitution with the Jones Act of 1917 after the Spanish American war. The other Latino groups listed above came to the United States after they were forced out of their countries with violence, both political and not, and economic hardship and had a
My father’s side of the family escaped religious oppression in Yorkshire, England and travelled to America to practice their Puritan beliefs in peace with others. My mother’s side of the family came to America as a volunteer group in one of 16 families who came from the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco under the rule of the King of Spain in 1731 to establish themselves in the province of Texas. A recession had just hit the Islands because of cash crop competition from the American colonies, so during this time many people were immigrating to various other Spanish territories. My ancestor that emigrated from those Islands, Juan Curbelo, became the 6th mayor of San Antonio in 1737, again in 1739 and his son was elected mayor for 3 different terms.
In 1920s a group of 200 Pashtuns arrived in America The records of the first Afghans is very vague and non-existent The first Afghans who arrived were mostly from the upper class who had a high education, and were trained for a profession In 1930s and 1940s most Afghans arrived in large groups or alone and some were married to Europeans From 1953 - 1970s, an estimated amount of 230 Afghans immigrated to United States and got their citizenship From 1973 - 1977 110 Afghans came to America due to political uncertainty There were also many Afghans who came to America for education or other reason and then returned to Afghanistan
The fear of being overcome by Western ideals of consumerism and capitalism pushed the people of Cuba to search inward for what it meant to be Cuban. Instead of searching outward as capitalistic materialism of western culture urges it’s inhabitants to do. Post revolutionary Cuba was not a place where such economic and social injustice could exist. The people of Cuban were looking for an escape from the Brazil, in particular, was adamant about being different from its neighbors.
In the year 1990, my father and his family emigrated from Vietnam to the United States of America with the intention of seeking opportunities for a better life, as well as escaping the Vietnam War. The migration was a long, strenuous situation for him; he came to America without money and knowing how to speak English. Thus, he tried his best to learn English and find ways to earn money to have food. The reason for his success in America was his attitude towards the situation; my father’s objective was to become prosperous by studying and working hard. Furthermore, his determination to achieve the goal was very high.
In this part in particular, De La Fuente utilizes figures and solid facts to prove his claims, especially with his effective use of census records to show black flight from Cuba due to lack of opportunity (pg. 104). Speaking to social mobility and education, De La Fuente identifies the mediocrity of Cuban and American efforts to create a literate population. Although the government made significant strides to educate the populations, imperialist motivations fueled the system, which lacked secondary systems of support and training for Afro-Cubans. It is essential that De La Fuente identifies lack of labor opportunities and education in Cuba because both Afro-Cubans and white Cubans could eventually find solidarity in combatting these issues. Upon reading this chapter, De La Fuente’s revelation of a cyclical nature in Cuba with revolution and racism is uncovered.
Racial discrimination is inevitably seen throughout our history. Cuba had discriminated the Africans solely based on the colour of their skin. As there race dictated where they fit within the social hierarchy. Thus, allowing for the Cubans to enslave the Africans, however being slaves only made them fight harder as they never disregard their upbringing entailing their beliefs. Their strong beliefs and backgrounds ended up integrating within the Spaniards culture to form a hybrid, making them just as much apart of the Cuban culture as the spaniards were.
“American History” is a short story written by Judith Ortiz Cofer in 1993. She was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, in 1952 but then moved to United States when she was three years old. Her story narrates the experience of a fourteen-year-old Puerto Rican girl named Elena that lived with her family in New Jersey in the early 1960s, when racism and segregation were strongly present in America. This story’s main theme is ethnic racism since some of the characters demonstrate racist thoughts, dialogues and actions against Latin people, in this case towards Elena and her family. The author’s main purpose of writing this story was to criticize the xenophobic behaviours against Latin immigrants and to show how these innocent people can get affected
The first migration of Native Americans and the settling of the Americas occurred thousands of years ago during the Ice Age when continental ice sheets surrounded the Earth. Big game hunters followed large herds of animals from Asia across the Bering Strait and settled in North America enduring forbidding, severe weather. Coming across the dangers of the extensive journey, Native Americans fought off saber-toothed tigers, mammoths, and bitter weather. Under harsh conditions, our ancestors dwelled and migrated to the Americas where they settled in the plentiful abundance of food and natural resources. All fought for survival under deadly diseases and dangerous mammals and traveled thousands of miles on foot in the search of food.