Question

How valid are fears that immigration from countries other than Europe will change American culture? Is this pattern of immigration likely to be functional or dysfunctional for America? Provide some examples of the increase in Latino and Asian culture.

Answer 1

• Many of the perceptions and fears of native Americans about new immigrants are rooted in ignorance and prejudice, the fears of many Americans about the future are not entirely irrational.With globalization and massive industrial restructuring dominating many traditional sources of employment both blue-collar and white-collar, many native-born citizens are fearful about their and their children’s future.
• Immigration, especially clandestine immigration, is higher in the United States than in most other industrial countries, but the underlying dynamics are common to almost all industrial societies.
  The mass media routinely report the extraordinary investments and ingenuity of Latin Americans, Chinese, and Africans who seek to migrate to North America and Europe. Many of these efforts lead to capture and humiliating treatment as criminals.
• The gains of international migration to the economies of advanced countries are also substantial. Most industrial economies do not have sufficient domestic supplies of low-cost labour.
• Migration allows for workers to benefit from higher wages in growing areas and stimulates the economy to operate more efficiently by creating larger and more porous labour and consumer markets.
• The Latino population has had an impact not only on the demography of the U.S. population, but also on other aspects of U.S. society. This can be seen, for example, in the increasing popularity of Latin American food and music and in the prevalence of Spanish-language signage, advertisements, and media. In addition, the business community has discovered the economic clout of the Latino population.
• Most Asian Americans were low-skilled, low-wage laborers crowded into ethnic enclaves and targets of official discrimination. Today they are the most likely of any major racial or ethnic group in America to live in mixed neighborhoods and to marry across racial lines.They also stand out for their strong emphasis on family.
• Asian religions have become a big fad in America. The most prominent include Buddhism, which has an American following of 3-4 million, according to recent surveys. Many believe this is appeal is due to the religion's view on kindness and acceptance, and vegetarianism, which are all appealing traits in today's society.