Immigration and the Multicultural American Labor Force

Introduction: Diversity and the American Immigrant Tradition

Although diversity can present challenges, a diverse labor force can also convey many advantages to a society. America is a nation of immigrants, and every subsequent wave of immigration has added new dimensions to American culture. An excellent example can be seen among the Chinese immigrants who came to the United States during the 19th century. "The Chinese performed every type of menial job that was available. They worked in the gold mines, the lumber industry, the fisheries and canneries, and as migrant farm laborers" and opened laundries — any business that did not require extensive language skills and which racism did not bar them from entering (Asian-Americans, 2007, World History). The building of the railroads that transformed American society would have been impossible without the Chinese. "The Central Pacific Railroad employed about 15,000 Chinese" (Asian-Americans, 2007, World History).

Japanese immigrants to the western United States and Hawaii likewise worked as menial laborers, and many established themselves as farmers. Unfortunately, large segments of this population lost their land and possessions as a result of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. However, like the Chinese, the immigrants' commitment to hard work and willingness to fulfill tasks that more established immigrant groups were unwilling to perform gave Japanese-Americans a foothold in America.

Chinese and Japanese Immigrants: Building the Foundation

The greatest influx of Korean immigrants came to the United States after the Korean War. Like many Asian-American immigrants before them, owning independent businesses — "Korean markets" are often synonymous with convenience stores in some urban areas — became a common means of making a living for immigrants with limited language skills and a desire to work longer hours than traditional 9-to-5 employment offered. All Asian immigrants confronted prejudice: stereotypes of "the yellow peril" (suggesting that Asians were more heartless than Caucasians) and even ostensibly positive stereotypes about being innately better students than whites in a robotic-like fashion were widespread, much to the frustration of immigrants whose sense of self did not fit these categories.

Korean, Greek, and Asian Immigrant Experiences

Even immigrants who were not from Asia faced such prejudices. Greek-Americans typically worked in diners and ran independent businesses as a way of living the "American dream" of capitalist success. However, the way race has been constructed in American society created fewer barriers for European immigrants than for Asians, reflecting the uneven landscape of racial discrimination that immigrants encountered.

Conclusion: Assimilation, Identity, and the Hyphenated American

As with so many immigrant groups, the first generation worked as cab drivers and in sectors of the labor market where often only immigrants are willing to work, but second-generation Ethiopians are now professors and lawyers. Constructed as "other" by mainstream U.S. identity because of their race — and even facing prejudice in some instances from African-Americans, given that theirs was specifically the immigrant experience rather than that shared by other dark-skinned Americans — the Ethiopian community is now thriving. Yet there is always a tension between the desire to assimilate and the desire to retain one's uniqueness as a hyphenated American.