Immigration of African-American and Mexicans to U.S in 20th century. - 3300 Words

Immigration of African-American and Mexicans to U.S in 20th century. (Research Paper Sample) Content: Name Instructor Course Date Immigration Of African-American And Mexicans To U.S In 20th Century. Various reasons motivate the migration of people. Migrating people also have varying accounts of their migratory experiences. Developed countries face large immigration influxes, especially from developing countries. The twentieth century saw an upsurge in immigrations in the United States. People from Africa and Mexico migrated in large numbers creating a significant immigration history (Waters, Kasinitz & Asad 373). African-Americans and Mexican Americans were part of the massive influx of immigrants during this time. They took divergent paths from various origins in becoming part of the American history. With the immigration, cultural changes occurred, which lead to historical transformation. For instance, the immigrations led to variations in the demographic settings and social-cultural compositions in the larger United States. The paper offers a comparison betwe en the immigration of African-American and Mexicans Americans to the United States regarding their migratory causes and experiences in various cities they settled. Causes of Immigration The immigration of African-Americans and their Mexican counterparts was prompted by various causes (Portes & Zhou 143). African-Americans majorly originated from West Africa through the Trans-Atlantic trade. In the twentieth century, more immigration was recorded especially from the Eastern and Western parts of the African continent (Waters, Kasinitz & Asad 381). The backgrounds of Mexican immigrants have improved with a high number of the Mexicans immigrants originating from Mexico's less wealthy south as well as the southeast locations different from the previous concentration from the center-west section (Portes & Zhou 145). Imbalances drove the immigrations in economic opportunities in their countries (Gregory 19). For instance, African-Americans and the Mexican immigrants moved to America to s eek survival approaches because their nations had discrepancies in the distribution of economic resources. In the twentieth century, the southeast Mexico largely lagged behind development wise. The same case was witnessed in West Africa where a large number of African-American immigrants originated from. The search for employment opportunities with higher wages was also another cause of the immigration (Gregory 20). The regions where the two groups of immigrants originated from were economically behind the American States (Portes & Zhou 149). In the twentieth century, America had developed its industrial system, and large-scale agriculture existed. For this reason, immigrations took place to supply cheap labor for the industries and the large plantations (Waters, Kasinitz & Asad 376). Additionally, there existed large labor-hungry industries that demanded cheap labor from the immigrants. Black and white people flooded the economically advanced localities in the North and West (Gr egory 20). A major aspect that contributed to the immigration of the African-Americans to the United States in the twentieth century was the insufficient scheduling of its labor supply in various African nations. The states realized a superfluity of specialized workforces in an organization incapable of absorbing them (Card & Lewis 195). It, therefore, means that brain drain was instrumental in ensuring the increased immigration from Africa and Mexico to America. The professionals in various fields got employed in the American snowballing economy (Gregory 22). Additionally, edification in African nations inclined towards modeling after education sysions that failed to accommodate the local realities (Portes & Zhou 151).Consequently, it made its easy for African and Mexican immigrants to enter global employment markets. From the early 1890s, novel industries started in the United States’ Southwest region. Some of the sectors that promoted the economy were in agriculture and mining. The availability of unskilled labor enticed the Mexican immigrant laborers to cross the border (Card & Lewis 200). The industries required a lot of labor which prompted the engagement of the Americans possessing large plantations to engage in the Trans-Atlantic trade. Africans were sold in large numbers as slaves to provide the much-needed labor (Portes & Zhou 149). Most of the African nations affected by the Trans-Atlantic trade include the West African countries such as Angola, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Guinea among others. Concerning the Mexican immigrants, the Mexican Revolution between 1910 and 1920 augmented the stream where war refugees and other political expatriates escaped to the United States (Gregory 34). The occurrence of violence contributed to the increased immigration from the neighboring nations. Mexicans Similarly, left the country in search of stable employment opportunities. As a consequence, Mexican immigration to the United States escalated sharply. Through this movement, America started shaping its international relations and policies such as the passage of laws restricting the immigration of people into the American territories (Card & Lewis 196). Good examples are the laws passed in 1920 and 1924 which sought to halt the migration processes into America (Gregory 21). In this case, I think the demand for cheap labor from the American industries and large plantations was an important determinant and cause of the flow towards America. Additionally, the poor state of African countries and Mexico intensified the situation. The availability of unskilled labor in this sectors helped increase the number of immigrants in America (Portes & Zhou 154).The media reports concerning the availability of economic advancement in America also contributed to the flow of immigrants into America (Gregory 49). The stories depicted America as the â€Å"promised land† offering freedom from economic oppression. The influx of people rose as t hey sought freedom from the shackles of poverty. I think this aspect greatly influenced the Mexicans towards closing the border to explore the employment opportunities hence, economic freedom (Portes & Zhou 154). Immigrants’ Experiences In America Mexican and African-American immigrants hold an exceptional place in the history of the U.S. immigration (Waters, Kasinitz & Asad 369). Most American citizens identify themselves as first citizens of these localities. The two groups of immigrants possessed rich and complex cultural practices. Presently, they have become part of the most powerful cultural and social groups in the states through shaping the U.S. life in language, food, politics as well as the definition of the nation's identity (Card & Lewis 193). The immigrants played key roles in complex positions in the United States’ legal system and the public opinion. Additionally, the formulation of the immigration law throughout the twentieth century was crucial in th eir settlement in the United States (Rodriguez 112). The reception offered to the two immigrant groups was highly unpredictable frequently prompting them to battle unfriendly elements for their survival (Card & Lewis 194). The equivalent dynamism carries on to date. For instance, the African-America immigrants and their Mexican counterparts faced large racial and ethnical variations from the host residents (Waters, Kasinitz & Asad 370). In this case, the blacks and the Mexican immigrants started their struggles for inclusion in the American society. An important cause of the fight was their denial of citizenship rights and missed employment opportunities (Card & Lewis 199). In this case, high profile campaigns were carried out to block their influx of the Mexicans in their search for employment opportunities in America. The jobs acquired were the lowest in the labor, social and economic hierarchies (Waters, Kasinitz & Asad 369). For instance, the African-Americans were paid relati vely smaller than the Hispanics. In this case, the presence of the immigrants in America helped boost the economic prospects in the states through the provision of cheap labor for their industries (Card & Lewis 193). Immigration in the twentieth century, therefore, helped grow the economy in the United States at the expense of the ill-paid, lowly-skilled immigrants. The immigrants were highly segregated from the other citizens such as the whites, Hispanics and the Asians (Waters, Kasinitz & Asad 370). They were also denied learning opportunities. The African-Americans and the Mexican Americans have the lowest levels of education compared to the non-Hispanic whites (Gregory 3). The evident disadvantages in education for the Mexican Americans mainly replicate their treatment as a slurred ethnic grouping. Their existence in the United States was highly racialized  in the twentieth century (Card & Lewis 194). The Mexicans were not widely excluded from the economic and social inte grations as compared to the African-Americans, but they shared a lot of similarities regarding the positioning in the society. Such treatments resulted in the immigrants lagging behind economically and educationally (Rodriguez 112). Through this, their experiences in the United States were limited to their middle-class livelihoods. The struggle for inclusion into the American society was an important trigger of a vast American history (Waters, Kasinitz & Asad 370). It pioneered the starting of the civil rights movement that later influenced administrative approaches at the government level. The civil rights movement unexpectedly led to the development of new cultural institutions that were beneficial to the southern and eastern Europeans (Gregory 22). It put the black-white matters on center stages in various nationwide agendas. Additionally, the tussle for African-American civil rights condensed the salience of ethnic differences among the European assemblies (Waters, Kasinitz & Asad 370). Through the civil rights movement, the immigrants joined in...