“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” (-Mark Twain) Being a child of immigrant parents who move to American can be hard. There is a lingering feeling of not feeling like a child belongs. They are stuck in the invisible world between where their parents came from, in this specific case, Asia and where the child lives now. It can be difficult to be raised as an Asian American and learning both culture and traditions. Many Asian American kids end up deviating from the Asian culture and embracing the American culture. However, children of immigrants should embrace their own culture in order to keep traditions alive and be proud of who they are.
Children of immigrant parents should know that they are not alone and there are many other kids out there will similar backgrounds. Throughout middle school and high school, I had a few other Asian American friends. Just like me, their parents knew very little English and knew very little about the American culture and ways. We couldn’t talk about our lifestyle at home to our other friends because we would just sound strange. Although we couldn’t talk to others without feeling judged, we did have each other to laugh about crazy Asian mother moments and was able to feel empathy for the mean Asian father moments we experienced. It can be hard being a child of immigrant parents because as a child, all you want to do is fit in and have friends but, coming from a completely different background makes it hard for
If your family had to move from a war ruptured country to America, and when you arrived to America you were not able to learn anything? How would you feel? There are an estimated 775,000 undocumented immigrants below the age of 18 who face substantial obstacles to school enrollment. Declining children of illegal immigrants education in inhumane. Children of illegal immigrants should be entitled to a public education. Every child has the right to a public education and their parent’s immigration status does not affect the child. Why would the government want the country to have a future of uneducated and underclass people?
The United States has experience a large wave of immigration of hopeful people to try and start a better life and live the American Dream. Coming from countries around the world, the United States is being shaped by the immigrants. Families that come to the United States come here to give their children a better education and for them to have a successful life than they ever had. Immigrant children have to live with the fear everyday of being deported and being separated from their parents. All these children want to do is have a better education and try to support their families. Little by little Obama is helping the immigrant children who actually want an education and deserve an opportunity to be successful in this country, by passing the dream act and making speeches about how important immigration is and how education for
To be young and Asian in America is a special brand of torture. There is an unspoken dictum of silence that grips Asian youth, a denial of our place in popular culture. Asian youth walk in America not quite sure where we fit in-black children have a particular brotherhood, Hispanic children have a particular brotherhood, white children own everything else. We cannot lay claim to jazz or salsa or swing; we cannot say our ancestors fought for equality against an oppressive government or roamed the great hallways of power across the globe. We do not have a music, a common hero, a lexicon of slang. Asian youth experience personal diasporas every day.
What would you do if you were in danger? In the article, “Why are so many children
A common biased opinion on immigration is that immigrants coming to the United States are taking American jobs. According to the Immigration Policy Center, “research indicates there is little connection between immigrant labor and unemployment rates of native-born workers.” The jobs that immigrants are taking are the low-budget jobs that Americans do not want. They not only get less pay, but also less benefits in comparison to American workers. In fact, according to Forbes, “illegal immigrants actually raise wages for documented/native workers.” America is considered to be more productive when we have more trading partners, Undocumented workers with limited English skills allows more American workers
Asian immigrants raised their children on the values of filial piety. Filial piety is based on Confucianism ideology which is one showing respect to one’s parent. American-born children are raised with two values which are Confucianism and the American values. The American values allow an individual to make their decisions either in their career, marriage, or lifestyle. Unlike, the American values, Confucianism decisions are decided by the parents, which have created tension in both generations. The immigrant parents stress the importance of a proper education to their children because the parents did not have the opportunity for education. Education was a privilege meaning only the families that had money could send their children to school. The parents began working at a young age to support their family and maintaining the household was more important than education. The immigrant parents are motivated by the “American Dream” instead of a financial benefit, the better the education and the employment, the more opportunities that would be offered. A person without a proper education would not succeed in life compared to the ones that have an education.
Immigrants have always been a part of the United States and played a major role in building the foundation for the life in America, therefore, legal immigrants, should always be welcome granted that they come with good intentions. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is a saying that has been associated with the country of The United States of America since its founding. That saying has infused immigrants with the idea that upon reaching this holy land, their lives will drastically change for the better. With that dream in mind, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, flock to this country to become part of its evolving culture.
An immigrant that is coming to the United States has the emotion and perception that draws to a country of opportunities; that will live in a country that will be friendly. However, most of the time, immigrant do not know that they are coming to live in a different culture, and because of that, they need to experience and adjustment in many ways, and an adjustment that will help them to do many things with confidence.
“On 'A Day Without Immigrants,' workers take to US streets” by CNN and “US Cities to Hold 'Day Without Immigrants' Protests” By Al Jazeera both covered stories on the widespread protest in America. On February 16, 2017 took place a nationwide protest that was supposed to advocate for immigrants and their importance in America. It is called “Day without Immigrants”, reminding America that this country is made up of immigrants and built by them. Immigrants, no matter where they come from, seek a better life and try to make that happen by sacrificing themselves from sleep and time with their family. Recently, Donald Trump has been making threatening rhetoric at immigrants, especially Mexicans. He is trying to keep immigrants out of the country because most of them are “criminals and rapists”, as he said in his first campaign speech. There are also 11 million undocumented immigrants who he wants to deport, which eventually caused this social unrest. This is actually a false belief because without immigrants America would be nothing. Therefore, it was on February 16 when schools were almost empty, restaurants and other businesses closed for the day making it certainly, a day without immigrants.
Growing up as an Asian American, I often struggle to identify my own cultural identity. Being the first generation of both my mother and father’s side of the family, I more than often get confused between American and Asian culture when applying them to society or at home. While being raised at home, I am largely influenced by culture and traditions from Asian parents and relatives. However, when I go to school or someplace else, I am heavily judged for practicing part of my Asian culture because it is entirely different than western or American. With that being noted, I began to learn and adapt to the western culture in hopes of fitting with society as well of trying to keep my Asian culture intact. As can be seen, this situation I dealt with is the same problem the whole Asian American community faces. Mainly focusing on younger generations like me for example, the Asian American community struggles to adapt to the western culture because they were raised with an Asian influence. Wishing to fit in society and be part of the social norms, the Asian Americans community faces issues that identify their cultural identity.
The emergence of the second generation bloomed quickly and by 1930, 41% of the Chinese population in America was naturalized born citizens. The birth of a child in America was symbolization of an elite status in an Asian American’s family (Lee 177). First generation immigrant parents feared the worst for their children who were second generation Asian Americans. The parents of the children feared that their children will grow up learning the American culture and language that they would become too “Americanized” and forget
As the immigrant population currently projected to overtake latinxs and hispanics as largest group of residents in the United States of America, Asian Americans have shown their will to survive in a way that many groups have not, and that is by banding together in order to achieve the life they deserve. Taking the overgeneralization of pan-ethnicity and using it as a device for increased numbers and support for the causes of a group of people who otherwise may not have much to do with each other, is a testament to how vulnerable they must have felt as well as how successful they have managed to be many aspects of progress. What I have gained from this course is the understanding that at the root of ethnic studies and the Asian American community is the “for us, by us” sentiment that contributed to the blurred lines between the different part of their communities as social, political and cultural, structures, collectives and groups which came out of an obligation and necessity to protect those immigrants and their future generations from a country which has always pushed European superiority in all aspects of society.
Because America is such a diverse country, there are many differences between cultures of various immigrant groups. Members of each culture, have their own beliefs and values regarding what they think is right. The cultural diversity allows for each person to have a different view of things. Amy Chua’s essay “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” she describes her way of parenting her two daughters following Chinese values about education. She explains how Western parents are much more lenient than Chinese parents with their children and education. Chua gives examples of how she raised her daughter Lulu and Sophia which lead them to achieve success. She makes comparisons between Western and Chinese parenting styles throughout the essay and concludes that both types of parents want the best for their children, but just approach parenting it in different ways. In the article, “Chinese vs Western Mothers: Q&A with Amy Chua,” Amy Chua is interviewed by Belinda Luscombe where she clarifies how her Chinese method of parenting did not hurt her children the way many readers thought it did. Chua explains that her relationship with her two daughters is very strong and believes there are many effective ways of parenting in addition to the Chinese approach. Chua’s essay shows the Chinese immigrant approach to parenting and gives insight into why so many children of Chinese parents are so successful. Discussing the cultural differences shows the risk of stereotyping groups where feelings
The article, “Group counseling with South Asian immigrant high school girls: Reflection and commentary of a group facilitator,” focused on integrating South Asian girls into a new school in a new country through group counseling. The first author was South Asian herself, therefore, she felt that she was competent to work with these students. She explained that the South Asian people are collectivist therefore; a group setting would match the student’s cultural norms and values. The authors begin by stating that the numbers of immigrant children in this country have grown 66 % between 1995 and 2002. This makes a huge impact on urban schools, where 95% of these immigrants attend school. The authors also mention that the Asian American population is one of the fastest growing immigrant population in the United States and stress that relationship building is an important factor in acclimating to a new country.
the workers were not provided with stable housing or living space. For example in our country a migratory worker looking for work might rent a house or stay in a motel or hotel. Unlike in the US, in qatar migrant workers were forced to live in camps. These camps were located near where the world cup was being built. People lived in tents or small shacks with no running water. Once the workers were employed their legal residence would be transferred to their employer. This meant that they could not leave the country unless their employer said so. These people were then forced to work even when working in those high temperatures could kill them. Some workers would work in the direct mid day heat and would die of heat exhaustion. Heat exhaustion