Ethnic studies: overview and key concepts

Ethnic Studies

The objective of this work is to conduct a comparative analysis of the experiences of Nicaraguan children, Filipino children, Vietnamese children, Haitian children and West Indian children and their experience in America.

The work of Zhou (1997) entitled: "Growing up American: The Challenge Confronting Immigrant Children and Children of Immigrants" states of the "increase in contemporary immigration to the United States that this increase has "...given rise to a record number of children who, regardless of place of birth, are raised in immigrant families. The work of Zhou (1997) additionally states that the family is the most critical of all American institutions "...outside of school for socialization adaptation and the future social mobility of children. Success in school, one of the most important indications of adapting to society, depends not only on the cognitive ability and motivation of individual children, but also on the economic and social resources available to them through their families." (Zhou, 1997, p. 8) it is stated in the work of Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller (2005) entitled: "Segmented Assimilation on the Group: The New Second Generation in Early Adulthood" that the children of "Asian, black, mullato, and mestizo immigrants cannot escape their ethnicity and race as defined by the mainstream. Their enduring physical differences from white and the equally persistent strong effects of discrimination based on those differences...throws a barrier in the path of occupational mobility and social acceptance. Immigrant children's identities, their aspirations, and their academic performance are affected accordingly (Fernandez-Kelly and Curran 2001; Lopez and Stanton Salazar 2001 cited in Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller, 2005, p.8). It is noted that teenaged immigrants are on the receiving end of racism and discrimination and on a constant basis and this results in their development of "perceptions of the overwhelming influence of race on their lives and life chances that differ from their parents' views. These teens experience being hassled by police and store owners, being turned down for jobs they apply for, and being attacked on the street if they venture into white neighborhoods." (Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller, 2005) the following chart shows the racial identity of children of immigrants in the United States as stated in the work of Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller, (2005) for the year 1996.

Figure 1

The Racial Identity of Children of Immigrants (1996)

Source: Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller (2005)

As shown in the foregoing chart labeled figure the Asian immigrant population is the largest population of children of immigrant parents in the United States followed by Hispanic and Latino, then Mexican followed by white, then multiracial, black and finally the racial group listed as 'other'. Therefore, according to the foregoing chart the Asian immigrant child population represents approximately 32% of the child immigrant population in the United States. As identified in the introduction to this study, the educational attainment of immigrant children is greatly dependent upon the family in terms of resources available and expectations for the immigrant child's academic achievement. The following chart labeled Figure 2 shows the educational aspiration and expectations of children of immigrants in the Jamaican, Chinese, Filipino, Cuban, Cambodian, Laotian and Mexican races.

Figure 2

Educational Aspiration and Expectations of Children of Immigrants,

Selected Nationalities (1996)

Source: Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller (2005)

Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller report that the required and necessary resources to achieve goals of academic success in immigrant children are two-pronged: (1) providing access to economic goods and job opportunities; (2) reinforcing parental normative controls (2005) the government, when demonstrating a "...favorable reception...promotes the emergence of strong ethnic communities, the social capital grounded on ethnic networks, provides a key resource in confronting obstacles to successful adaptation (Portes and Rumbaut 2001, cited in Source: Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller, 2005) the following key outcomes of second-generation adaptation by national origin were stated in a study reported in Southern Florida in 2002.

Figure 3

Key Outcomes of Second-Generation Adaptation by National Origin South Florida 2002

Source: Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller, 2005

The highest level of education in the stated nationalities in the study which came out of Southern Florida educational research are of Cuban private school students followed by West Indian, Colombian, West Indian, Cuban public school, then Nicaraguan educational levels. (Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller, 2005) the family income stated for each of these nationalities upholds the supposition that socioeconomic factors greatly impact the lives and experiences of immigrant children in the United States. The work of Rumbaut (nd) entitled: "Acculturation, Discrimination, and Ethnic Identity Among Children of Immigrants" reports the experience as stated by Carolyn Hwang as follows:

"My identity is hardly clear-cut… to my parents, I am all American, and the sacrifices they made in leaving Korea…pale in comparison to the opportunities those sacrifices gave me. They do not see that I straddle two cultures, nor that I feel displaced in the only country I

know. I identify with Americans, but Americans do not identify with me. I've never known what it's like to belong to a community…" (Rumbaut, nd)

Facts stated in the work of Portes, Fernandez-Kelly and Haller (2005) include those as follows: (1) Asian-originated families are more likely to remain intact especially Hmong and Cambodian immigrants; (2) the Dominicans are the only Latin American nationality to exhibit the pattern of high family structural instability seen among the Haitians and West Indians; (3) the most cohesive families are the Latin American immigrants; and (4) All of the Asian, European/Canadian, and Black Caribbean groups fell below the sample average in their percent of high-cohesion families; and nearly all of the Asian and Black Caribbean groups scored above the sample average for high-conflict families. Overall, those families were more strongly associated with patterns of dissonant acculturation. It is reported in the work of Portes and Rumbaut (20005) entitled: "Introduction: The Second Generation and the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study" relates that the present "second generation" of immigrants or specifically children of immigrants "may be better defined as undergoing a process of 'segmented assimilation' where rapid integration and acceptance into the American mainstream represent just one possible alternative. This concept describes alternative paths of adaptation as depending on a number of factors." (Portes and Rumbaut, 2005) Four factors are stated to be decisive in nature and include: (1) the history of the first generation; (2) the pace of acculturation among parents and children and its bearing on normative integration; (3) the barriers, cultural and economic, confronted by second-generation youth in their quest for successful adaptation; (4) the family and community resources for confronting these barriers.