Puerto Rican Obituary By Pedro Pietri

In Puerto Rican Obituary, the Puerto Rican people from New York City struggle to attain

Globally, the United States has been known as "a nation of immigrants" almost from its inception. Beginning in the 1600s with English Puritans and continuing today, America is a melting pot of culture and ethnicity. In fact, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigration was the major source of U.S. population growth. Looking over our 200+ years we find that to clearly be true, with approximately 1 million immigrants coming to America during the 17th and 18th century. Almost 3 million arrived during the 1860s, and another 3 million in the 1870s. In the next four decades, the number of immigrants rose to over 25 million people, most from various European nations, most arriving in New York or one of the Eastern seaports (Damon, 1981). Despite the politicization, as of 2006, the United States actually was the number one country globally to accept legal immigrants into the country, with a current immigrant population of almost 40 million (Terrazas and Batalova, 2009). In fact, the peak of immigration was 1907, when over 1.2 million Europeans entered the country beginning a push towards legislation limiting immigration in the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1924 and the 1921 Congressional Quota Act. These immigrants came for two sociological reasons: the push factor (wars, famine, persecution and overpopulation) and the pull factors (jobs and the promise of freedom). Most came by ship, and a passage often cost the equivalent of an entire life's savings causing many

Tato Laviera, a great Puerto Rican poet, writes one of his most famous and prideful poems called "AmeRican" majorly composed of metaphors, where he dreams of a time when his people, the Puerto Ricans, can create, or how as he states in his poem "give birth" to a perfect race in which we live in peace and happiness; where all cultures are welcome because we ourselves are forged by various races and cultures, and we do not judge others by mere race. Hence, comes the name of “AmeRican”, because we can make the American society a better place. The main subjects that I will focus on are the meanings embedded in the poem discussing only the most important parts, the relationship of the American and Puerto Rican culture and the tension that lies between them. I will also focus on one of the main ideas of the author: a utopian society conveyed by Puerto Rican culture.

Simply put, America is the land of opportunity. In the past, immigrants have left most of their family, memories, and familiarities with their homeland in search of a better life in America, where jobs were easy to find and the economy was booming. These immigrants formed almost the entire American population, a demographic anomaly in which people from nationalities separated by land and sea; these people come from countries separated by expansive distances can live within the same neighborhood. Both Anna Quindlen with her essay “A Quilt of a Country” and John F. Kennedy with his essay “The Immigrant Contribution” have documented the story of these immigrants and

In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and

First of all, the setting of this novel contributes to the Rivera family’s overall perception of what it means to be an American. To start this off, the author chooses a small American city where groups of Latino immigrants with their own language and traditions, lived together in the same apartment building. All these immigrants experienced similar problems since they moved from their countries. For example, in the novel after every other chapter the author

“I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here, found out three things: First, the streets weren’t paved with gold; second, they weren’t paved at all: and third, I was expected to pave them,” old Italian American saying. Immigrants came to the United States to escape poverty, persecution, industrialization problems, and economical problems. New immigrants arrived to the United States, the main station they entered through was Ellis Island in New York Harbor or on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. To enter you had to be in good conditions and had to support yourself or else you were deported back. Every little thing was being made differently overtime, things that were made by hand were being made in factories, and steam engines transported goods in matter of time, instead of traveling for

When most people think about immigration to the United States, they think of the U.S. as being the “land of opportunity,” where they will be able to make all of their dreams come true. For some people, immigration made their lives richer and more fulfilled. This however, was not always the case. A place that is supposed to be a “Golden Land” (Marcus 116) did not always welcome people with open arms. Even after people became legal citizens of the United States, often times the natural born Americans did not treat the immigrants as equals but rather as outsiders who were beneath them in some way. In some situations, people’s lives were made worse by coming to the “land of opportunity.” Often times people were living no better than they

Along with its economic classes, American is known for its freedom, its liberty, and the melting pot of ethnicity. This ethnic diversity comes form the immigrant population in the country. However this perfect country is a major falsehood. These untrue ideals of harmony, freedom, success, and equality are deceptive and do not show the struggles that immigrants face when coming to this class dominated country. The immigrants of today do not come from just Europe, but overwhelmingly from Asia and Latin America. “They are driving a demographic shift so rapid that within the lifetimes of today 's teenagers, no one ethnic group – including whites of European descent – will comprise a majority of the nation 's population’ (Colombo, Cullen, Lisle). These immigrants challenge the social myth that everyone has an equal chance in life. They

During 1870-1900 the Unites States of America was filled with a lot of immigrants. These immigrants came from all over the world, mainly Europe. These immigrants were seeking to live a better life and move away from their country hoping to have more opportunities in America. Most of the immigrants moved to the cities and worked extremely hard to make a living for themselves. Immigrants didn’t have it is easy; most of them was not treated equal because the Americans treated them as being inferior.

Many immigrants came to America seeking freedom, jobs, and land while others were running from famine and war. While immigrants ran from the problems of their native land, they were running into new problems in America. Americans feared the immigrants would take their jobs or have the right to vote. This fear caused discrimination against the immigrants due to their diverse backgrounds from Germany, Ireland, and China. Immigrants that came to America faced the hardship of discrimination because they did not only stand out with their culture but also because Americans didn’t necessarily want them in America.

In the late 1800’s, immigrants fled to the United States like an unkindness of ravens migrating south. Unlike the highly intelligent raven, new immigrants really did not know what to expect from moving to the foreign land of the United States. They came with the hope of living the American Dream and making it big, but instead lived and as they died, in poverty. The places these immigrants worked which were monopoly controlled institutions tried placing balances on their values, beliefs, and political ideas.

There are many reasons as to why people from other countries decide to make a journey to America. Some immigrants flee to the united states in an attempt to escape persecution, find economic prosperity, and to seek a new life that is filled with opportunities that would have been virtually impossible in their homeland. Others are escaping oppressive regimes or natural disasters that have ravaged their country. America’s reputation for being the “land of opportunity” filled with endless land just waiting to be claimed, plentiful jobs, and tolerance for all peoples has made the country a beacon for the “huddled masses”. Throughout America’s history immigrants have poured in from nations all over the world, but the most memorable waves of

Immigration has been one of the reasons that we have the America that we all know and live in currently. From 1776 when America was formed to this day, Immigrants have given each square of land its own identity and special skills. Not only have Immigrants increased our country’s population and strengthen our economy, it has also helped facilitate the industrial revolution era. To begin in a new country without the oppression of the old one was not only a great prospect to neighboring countries; it was the main goal that had driven many to begin such a journey. Yet, as immigrants kept moving to America, many Americans started to link rising criminal rates, low wages, unemployment, and poverty to the Immigrants.

The United States of America has repeatedly been called a “land of immigrants” due to its extensive and continuing history of taking in large amounts of foreign born people from all over the world. Despite this, immigration has always been a controversial subject. These issues have existed as far back as the time of George Washington—when it was thought that too many German settlers would flood and eventually stamp out the treasured British culture of the colonies. Throughout history, each new wave of immigrants has brought along new fears and disputes. In the face of these hardships, immigrants have carved out places for themselves within the United States and even succeeded in paving the way for future