The Immigrant Advantage By Claudia Kolker

America has been a melting pot of cultures for many centuries, with the number of immigrants continually rising every year. Most of these immigrants come into the country with nothing at all except for the clothes on their backs and a few English words. But they also bring with them something special – their cultures and traditions from their homeland. In the Immigrant Advantage, readers can see that these specific traditions that they bring with them give them an advantage because they tend to have better mental and physical health than their native born American counterparts (5).

The topic of immigrants has been debated for centuries, and has been an even larger topic for discussion since the attack on the two towers in 2001. Many people contemplate whether immigrants are a reason to be scared, not; and if so, then why? If one finds themselves asking this conflicting question, Jeremy Adam Smith’s article, Our Fear of Immigrants, provides an answer. Relying on research from psychologists and sociologists, Smith gives sufficient evidence for why immigrants bring such intense feelings of both hatred and compassion, and recommends a way to increase empathy toward them.

Immigration has been a controversial topic for a while now. Linda Chavez dives into this controversial topic in her essay “The Realities of Immigration” to come up with a solution. She combats incorrect information with the establishment of ethos and logos. Furthermore, Chavez uses a passionate tone and shows credibility in her essay which allows her to win the audience’s trust. In this essay, Chavez is persuasive with the tone she uses by clearly organizing her arguments, her word choice, and facts; although at some points she seems biased, she presents valid information to convince politicians of reconsidering their stand.

The essay "How Immigrants Become 'Other'" by Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco illustrates the issue of immigrants never truly being accepted by natural born citizens of America. In the essay, it is discussed that immigrants are and have been treated differently. The different ways immigrants are treated differently is almost an unintelligent question to ask. Instead the question, “How aren’t immigrants treated differently?” should be asked. Even the names politicians and society have created to describe immigrants are alienating and harsh, “Illegal, undocumented, alien.” The idea of a human being illegal is something that most people overlook, but the reality is, no human is illegal. This idea of immigrants being associated with names that have such negative connotations is one of many ideas discussed in the essay "How Immigrants Become ‘Other’.”Even though America is known as a “melting pot,” immigrants will never truly be accepted as a part of society no matter the amount of assimilation due to the blatant racism, segregation, and prejudice that non-immigrants have against immigrants.

“Mom, will I ever be treated as a regular person? When will I be like the others without people look at me in a strange way and make fun of me, when mom? When?” Those were the questions I did to my mom almost every day after getting home from school. Fourteen years ago that my parents brought me to this country offering a better life with better opportunities than where I was born. I was seven years old when came to the United States, but I still remember the happiness I felt when I first step in this country. Throughout the years, I have realize that not everything is easy and simple as I imagined. My parents worked in the fields because of the lack of a social security and not knowing how to speak English. Many Americans do not know how hard it is the life of an immigrant, they should have a consideration for us and not just blame us for the deviance of the United States.

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.

Humanity is ever so much more complicated than one could have ever imagined. Humans can thrive on change, but ultimately look for something to declare as home. In search of this home people travel long distances and risk everything they have. When an American contemplates the word immigrant, one imagines the countless people from Mexico crossing into our country or the refugees that hope to make this country their home. What eludes most of us, however, is the reality that most people were, at one point, immigrants to this country and that our forefathers came here exactly the same as refugees come today. What is brought to mind when I hear the word immigrant is hope and perseverance. I remember the countless people who have traveled here

All around the world the United States of America is viewed as a place of freedom and equal opportunity for all people who settle in the country. Immigrants, especially from second or third world countries, view America as a chance for them to start over and a live the lavish lifestyles they are accustomed to hearing. However, this belief that everyone in the United States lives how they want to and has equal opportunity is false. Immigrants from countries all over the world face many different issues as they settle in the United States. Although these problems may vary, the message is the same; the American dream is a lot more difficult to achieve than previously thought. Although every immigrant is different in the problems

Interested by the success of several immigrant friends, journalist Claudia Kolker observed various customs of the immigrants and their families, which they brought along with them to the United States. She put together her observations in her book “The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness, and Hope,” which gives a detailed account of the traditions and customs of the immigrants residing in the United States. Though the customs are unfamiliar to a majority of the Americans, Kolker believes that the customs help to understand why the immigrant families tend to be happier and healthier, even though they hail from poor and grievous homelands, unlike Native Americans. In the book “In The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness, and Hope,” Kolker talks about various customs, including the Vietnamese hui or Money Club, the Mexican tradition of parenting a new mother for 40 days post birth, the South Asian custom of “assisted” marriage, and the Korean after-school programs.

The changing environments throughout the ages have caused the movement of thousands of families out of their homelands. Whether forced to make such decisions or doing so by their own desires, all immigrants have had to survive the physical and psychological challenges encountered along the way. To speak about the experiences of all these different people using the same ideas and examples would be quite inaccurate. They all, however, had to live through similar situations and deal with similar problems. Many of them succeeded and found the better future they were looking for. Many others found only hardship and experienced the destruction of their hopes and dreams. All of them were transformed.

Although immigrant women play a big role in America’s society and economy, they have been constantly mistreated and looked down upon throughout history. Not only do they face the burden of the stratifications that their gender entails but they also struggle to adopt the American culture and norms. America was viewed as the land of opportunities and economic prosperity, a perspective that draws in many immigrant women who were willing to leave their families and possessions to come to this foreign country in hopes of a better life. In America, they faced many challenges as they not only had to work long hours but also took care of their families and do housework as well. They struggled to make a standard living out of low wage jobs and assimilating into America’s society. Today, the treatment of immigrant women has improved greatly as they have stood together and fought for their rights. Immigrant women have built communities and held strikes for better pay and treatment. Although America has made great strides in improving treatment of immigrant women, there is still social injustice. Immigrant women have come a long way from the first time they entered America until now, but their stories are often left untold and omitted from American history.

Living a good life as an immigrant in America is a big challenge. In fact, getting a reasonable life is not easy in many countries around the world, but as an immigrant in the United States that involves huge determinations. Thus, anyone who decides to move to another place or community should expect to face many challenges. Most of the time, an immigrant’s reason(s) for leaving their country is based on a hard life for some without figuring out that life in the USA might be harder as well as a better life for others who may have a good life in their motherland. Generally, they are all disappointed by what they encounter. Denis Hunt, a director of Multi-cultural Human Services, a Falls Church, Virginia-based organization that helps immigrants adjust to life in the United States, said “the issues immigrants face can be even more daunting. Most immigrant parents who arrive in new communities are faced with immediate challenges to their survival, including securing a job, finding a place to live, buying food, and enrolling their children in school" (“US immigrants face new challenges”). Despite this situation, it is conceivable for immigrants regardless their origin, to live a good life in America. However, it cannot happen merely by snapping their fingers; massive efforts are required, including working hard, learning English, resolving transportation issues, understanding of the culture, and getting

I have read a lot of books on the subject of culture and customs of the country. When I read the book “The Immigrant Advantage” of Claudia Kolker, I understand more about the immigrants’ culture and their lifestyle. Through the book, I found interesting things about all the ideas of immigrants like me. I read each chapter of the book, and in the book I realized there are three very good ideas of marriage, several generations living in the same household, and good neighbors.

In the book Immigrant America by Portes and Rumbaut they state that children of poor, less well educated immigrants to America run the risk of being swept up in street gangs, drug use, incarceration and teenage pregnancy. However, there are factors which may reduce the risk that children will be swept up in these destructive ways of life. These factors are high social capital and a condition known as selective acculturation.

In Claudia Kolker’s book The Immigrant Advantage, she talks about the cultural tradition of arranged marriages brought by South Asian immigrants to the United States. Kolker agrues that arranged marriages are much more effective in finding a spouse than traditional marriages. Kolker believes that this tradition of assistive marriage should be adopted by Americans. Research and studies have shown that “women in arranged marriages rated the highest marital status” (Kolker, 71) compared to couples who have arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is great for individuals who are ready to settle down and start their own life without wasting any time finding a partner. Arranged marriage saves a great amount of time on dating people who are not compatible with your personality or beliefs. As Kolker states, assistive marriage does not just save time in finding a lifelong partner but, it also leads to exceptional happiness between the couple than a traditional marriage reported by couples during studies. Traditions brought by immigrants such as, assistive marriage should be considered by American traditions.