Being Different Analysis

America consists of a variety of people, with all kinds of different backgrounds, such as their immigrant ancestors. “In the same sense, we cannot speak of a particular “immigrant contribution” to America because all Americans have been immigrants or the descendants of immigrants; even the Indians, as mentioned before, migrated to the American continent,” (Kennedy 23). Everyone that is “American”, their

Since the start of our country, America has been known as a land of immigrants, a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities working towards the American motto of the land of the free, home of the brave. Since colonial times, immigrants have been an integral part of society, majorly contributing to U.S culture and economy, yet many Americans have always had very conflicting ideas on immigration. Many people look past the benefits immigrants bring to our economy and society and instead scapegoat them for many of the United States’ problems surrounding unemployment and budget. The positive effects of immigrants, both legal and undocumented, in our country far outweighs the negative effects because of their important impact on society and the economic help that American relies on.

On July 10, 2012, a passage titled When Italian Immigrants Were “The Other” was published. In this passage Ed Falco said, “America has a proud tradition as an immigrant nation, but it also has a long history of marginalizing those it marks as ‘other.’ America 's other heritage includes suspicion, hostility, abuse, and even death, leveled against ethnic groups as they arrived one after another in waves over the past 2 ½ centuries.” Falco emphasizes that America is proud of being an accepting nation to the immigrants, but they are often marginalized, or pushed out of society. Many true Americans attribute these immigrants with suspicion, hostility, abuse, and even death, as they continue to arrive in America. This quote was said by someone

America is a giant melting pot of races that brings a mixture of traditions and cultures. History informs us that societies are the result of collective contributions from the various social and ethnic groups (Times – News, 2008). The United States contains the most diverse combination of cultures in the Americas, due to the contributions made by all the native and foreign cultures embraced within this nation (Times – News, 2008). Hispanic roots composed of influence by settlers from Spain to Mexico and/or Latin America brought in to the United States by immigrants. Hispanics were present in this land before the birth of the United States (Times – News, 2008). The legacy of Spanish-speaking peoples has been uninterrupted throughout American

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”. It is a common assertion that the United States is a “melting pot”-a mixture of numerous different cultures, ethnicities, religions, and people hailing from all over the world. However, just as proudly as this is proclaimed, there is another truth that becomes evident: prejudice against those who dare to make a better life by emigrating to the U.S. is alive and thriving. This unfortunate reality is nothing new. “Immigrants constantly face being discriminated against because of the color of their skin, the sound of their voice, or simply because of the way they look and their beliefs”

“My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.” This quote, spoken by Barack Obama in 2014, is about the topic of the immigration system. Immigrants are what make up America, and all that come here are faced with great difficulty. They can face discrimination, struggles getting on their feet, and strive for the American Dream. The American Dream is a belief that everyone will have equal opportunities to succeed and get a better life. This is found in the hearts of almost all immigrants, no matter where they come from. This had led to waves of people flooding into the United States. The most notable wave that has occurred was in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. During this time, thousands of Lithuanians flooded through Ellis Island into America; their change from their lives in Lithuania, to their work experience and education, their lives in America had overall left a positive impact on society.

We are currently living in era were diversity and inclusion is more important than ever. The start of the colonization of America from many different countries is what makes up the heritage of America. When asked about a person’s heritage, one always replies with a vast number of different races. In the past we welcomed these immigrants. Today, the people that were born and raised by immigrant parents and grandparents do not want more immigrants in America. Immigration laws have always been a controversial topic but with the recent rise in illegal immigration and a rise in unemployment, there has been a greater push for stricter immigration laws. America has always been offered as a safe haven or as a place for immigrants to find a better

“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists” ("Franklin D. Roosevelt").

President Barack Obama said “My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.”, during his speech on national immigration.What Barack Obama means by this is that the foundation of the United States is immigration and the pursuit for a better life for us and our families. I think that a lot of people get confused when the word immigrant is brought up. The definition of an immigrant is, a person who comes to live permanently in another country. There is also illegal immigration, but regardless immigration affects many lives and causes many issues in politics.

The United States was founded by immigrants and is known as the land of immigrants, yet controversy continues regarding immigrants. There has previously been talk about illegal immigrants and the want for their deportation, but recently the desire to deport all illegal aliens has grown. When the topic of illegal immigrants is brought up for discussion the same arguments are brought up from the same approaches; people fail to realize who illegal immigrants are, their benefits, and rather speak of getting rid of them rather than means of legalizing them.

“We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community and this nation.” These words of the Chicano civil rights leader Cesar Chavez have resonated into the present vision of Mexican culture in America. Mexicans in the United States have created a vibrant culture that has crossed over to influence other cultures. The reality is that Mexicans have played an integral role in shaping the current state of America, and through the power in numbers as well as the continued blending of cultures Mexicans will influence the future of the United States.

Your honor, respectable members of the jury and attendants of civil institutions, from the eyes of the outside, the United States seems to be the country where one might find an illustrious future. The label of “immigrant’s nation” has been buried in the past and the new generations use such characteristic as a symbol of patriotism instead of a inclusionist call as it was meant to be. Today the faces of progress are the ones of white males as result of decades of oppression towards minorities. An example of racial siege within the land of the free is the murder of Vincent Chin, whom in a day just like today would be married but instead he lays in his grave.

Within the United States, a variety of cultures exist. These cultures may not always get along, but it is this melting pot that makes America unique. Two stories, “A Quilt of a Country” by Anna Quindlen, and “The Immigrant Contribution” by John F Kennedy, provide differing viewpoints on how cultures contributed to make America the Nation that it is. When comparing the two stories, there were some obvious differences when looking at how cultures were perceived. In the story, “A Quilt of a Country” on page 14, the author writes about how different cultures in the United States don’t always get along.

Immigration in the United States has had a contentious history since this country’s first settlers, with overtly exclusive and xenophobic policies being de rigueur throughout colonialism until the mid 20th century, and arguably today. Anti-immigrant sentiment has reigned with each historical immigration wave, intensifying as the demographics shifted from Northern and Western Europeans during Colonialism to more “unassimilable” races like Southern and Eastern European, Asian, African and Middle Eastern ("History of Oppression: Lesson 4- Cultural Imperialism", 2016). Policy is inescapably shaped by public sentiment, and the American white majority believed in the objective supremacy of the “Nordic race” to exercise political, economic and social control over “inferior” races (Grant, 1916). This is in stark conflict with the Constitutional values that America is built on, and to whom many have gestured to in the same breath as their anti-immigrant vitriol. It is in this contrast that one must look at the social constructions of immigrants, race and who is worthy of citizenship, and how our country has historically sought to deny and restrict those considered a threat to “the American way of life” (Jimenez, Pasztor, Chambers, & Fujii, 2015, p. **).

Social conformity can be toxic, it often leads to the epidemic that is prejudice. To give a better idea of what prejudice means, Judice translates to judge in Latin, therefore the term “prejudice” literally translates into “pre-judgment”. There are innumerable forms of negative preconceived notions that exist in our world today, the biggest one being racism, which often is a stem of having anti-immigration views. Immigration prejudice is not unknown to any person who lives in America and has eyes and ears to know it exists, but it’s important to know that prejudice is not innate, it is learned, and as long as we allow our society to practice xenophobia among present and future generations we will never be free of it.