'The Irish immigrants in the mid-1800s were scorned and labeled as drunks and lazy people not to mention the perceptive of the Roman Catholics. At the wake of the 20th century, the immigration of the Poles, Russian Jews, and Italians was held in the opinion that they were too different from the nationals of the United States to be able to assimilate the ways of life in the new world.'
In the past two centuries, the American continent witnessed an influx of immigrants from different parts of the world, who came and settled in the land of opportunity. The immigration condition has been on the watch list of the United States federal government where serious concerns have been raised about the effects of immigration and Diasporas in the country. It not only happens in the United States alone but since the creation of nation states, there has been immigration of people from one nation to the other, which has become an issue for national leaders to address (Sobczak 2010). This paper will look into the contribution of immigrants in the United States by exploring the cultural dimension of immigration. Specifically, the paper will explore the positive and negative effects of migration into the United States and seek to determine the extent of impact and influence it has on the people, both the immigrants and the nationals of the United States.
Positive impacts on culture.
About two centuries ago, the then-president Benjamin Franklin was worried about the possibility that German immigrants would flock into the United States and swamp the British culture which was predominant at that time. The Irish immigrants in the Mid 1800s were scorned and labeled as drunks and lazy people not to mention the perceptive of the Roman Catholics. At the wake of the 20th century, the immigration of the Poles, Russian Jews, and Italians was held in the opinion that they were too different from the nationals of the United States to be able to assimilate the ways of life in the new world. Today, similar concerns are still felt but in lower undertones than the ones which were witnessed in the latter century especially to Asians and Latin Americans (ansen, Besser, & Baronian, 2007).
It is reasonable to argue that immigrants and Diasporas are not ruining the American experiments in any way, but rather they are an integral part of it. Ultimately, the United States is a nation of immigrants, a frothing pot of diverse cultures from different origins and continents. The successive influx of immigration has made it able for the United States to remain young, rich in culture and diversity and enhanced the productive situation of the nation.
Political Scientists, Psychologists, and anthropologists have long studied and explored ways in which immigrants can maintain and integrate into the host country, maintaining their culture and heritage from where they were born and still adapt to the culture of the host country. This is the aspect that German immigrants in the United States can speak German, have German friends, cheer German soccer teams. This is while they are fluent in the English language, can hang out with a host of other Americans. Immigrants have been important in the development of American popular culture in the context of the creation of a positive image in the minds of the Americans argues (ansen, Besser, & Baronian, 2007). Second generation immigrants in the United States and the first immigrants have played a paramount role in the American creative arts, directing, and writing, producing and acting.
This can be attested in the acting of American films in most of the first part of the 20th century. Most of the Hollywood producers of films who have won two or three straight wins in the Grammies are immigrants, or their parents were the first generation immigrant to the United States. Some of the prolific American play writers, composers, and lyrists were in a broad way is considered as offspring’s of immigrants and most of the composers and play writes in the American Song Book were either Jewish immigrants of third or second generation (ansen, Besser, & Baronian, 2007). They are billed as having brought up in ethnic enclaves, but the music which they produced has since then defined the American music culture at the latter part of the 20th century.
Although it has been noted that first and second generation immigrants have tried to assimilate into the ways and the cultures of the Americans and adopted “Anglo-sounding" names in an attempt to personal rebranding. They had also broadened the culture of America and made it more inclusive and receptive to outsiders. The theme of Hollywood, such that of “anyone, can make it in America" can be described as rags to riches American version. Many of the Broadway and Hollywood production offer everyone a chance, whether an outsider or a citizen that they can be understood and accepted argues (ansen, Besser, & Baronian, 2007).
People are agents in the creation and formation of new cultural perspectives whenever they go and settle. This can be referred to as ethnoscape in the understanding that immigrants can recreate the cultural forms which are essential in determining on how people think, react and perceive the world. With them, when people cross borders as noted above can impact in the entertainment and dietary ways in regions which they immigrate into. This is the reason why in the United stated the Chinese people have the china town where Chinese culture in food and other forms of entertainment is practice. This kind of integration and creation of a cultural enclave by the Chinese has been vital in tourism activities in that region where American who need to have exotic entertainment and food can go and indulge (Sobczak 2010).
There can be a "tool bag" in that culturally specific abilities, and skills can be developed and emphasized in a particular cultural entity. When immigrants leave their home nations and go to live in another, they bring with them the cultural aspect of that particular country which they are from. These certain aspects of culture from the way they approach life. In this regard, the immigrants who can be brought to the new land include specifics such as life experiences, language, and other socially learned attitudes and behaviors which can be acquired by the host country (Gregory 2005). This can be achieved by intense interaction by the natives with the specific individuals of that cultural heritage.
The immigrants come with a tool bag laden with new attributes to the new surroundings when someone leaves a culture; there are ties to that culture which are maintained by the individual. The movement of ideologies in into the new environment is usually integral to the survival of that person culture in the new surroundings. Immigrants from religious states especially the Muslims are usually the ones who still maintain the cultural aspect of their host country. Muslims are known to be Islamic costumes in areas where they move and settle (Gregory 2005). This helps them to maintain their identity and have a sense of attachment to their real heritage.
These immigrants are usually functioning as fertile grounds for the creation of a hybrid of cultures. As they go about with their activities in their new environment, they employ their “tool bag” into the economic activities in the new environment, gain proceeds to send back home. Most of the immigrants have diversified the economic powerhouse of the host nations. The United States of America is billed as a country which has benefitted largely on the labor capital of immigrants to become the economic hub of the whole world. None the less, the issuing of green cards to individuals in less developed nations has made it possible for them to come with the skill tool bag in the nation (Sobczak 2010).
In the aspect of creative artworks, countries which had no heritage of such a cultural entity gained a lot from the immigrants. A considerable amount of effort in the field of sculpture has been necessary by the immigration of sculptures over the past centuries. Most of the iconic buildings, statues and sculptural wonders in the United States have been done by immigrants. One of the famous sculptures to immigrate into the United States was the Irish- French Augustus Saint-Gaudens who is known for his work on the equestrian statue and the memorial Boston common to Colonel Shaw (Gregory 2005).
Immigrants and Diasporas are also integral in the movement of technology through immigration of individuals with technical knowhow in some countries. The technological revolutions in some countries are usually spearheaded by immigrants from countries which are developed technologically (Gregory 2005). The formation of extensive networks by immigrants has made it possible for the development of cultural capital in the host countries. This can also be in reverse in case of an example where the Chinese who have their extensive networks with their counterparts in their native lands where technological exchanges cross territories. These then become beacons of change in either country they might be in or make them deploy resources and pursue careers (Gregory 2005).
Negative impacts of immigration.
It has been argued that the open and developed first world countries especially the United States of America have been targets of thousands of immigrants from the less privileged and underdeveloped societies in Latin America, Africa and Asia where they drove into the countries and settle there. They then earn income which is then diverted to their home countries instead of investing in the host countries creating an impasse in the economic development and stability. Some of the immigrants even grow into influence where they wield diplomatic influence in the host nations, despite the fact that they have no intention of becoming citizens (Guerette & Freilich 2006). The draining of money and wielding of immense political power become a threat to the host country whose political culture dynamics are tipped over the balance.
The culture of activism in the case of the host nation especially in the United States has made it possible for immigrants to attain the culture of nationalism and human rights activism. This has led to forming of advocacy activism networks in the United States which have been billed as the changing of the behaviors of host nations or homelands. Notable cases are where the American –Chinese immigrants have been vocal in China human rights violations, the American- Cuban against the Castro communist regime and other nationalities which have lobbied on the intervention of authoritarian regimes in their homelands (Guerette & Freilich 2006).
These examples show cases of increasing influence on the diasporas, where if left alone they can grow to hold lots of political sway. Activist diaspora members are seen as engaging in long distant nationalism where they are not accountable for the regimes they intent to change or the government they oppose (Guerette & Freilich 2006). The “long distant nationalism” has changed the cultural dimension of how the people have changed the role global communication and media. The culture of diaspora activism learned in the host country poses a real danger in the nation states international system and the culture of non- interference by the host country to the country targeted by immigrant activists (Guerette & Freilich 2006). An example is the United States diplomatic culture which is derived from the Peace of Westphalia, where the idea and culture of non-interference, sovereignty and world order can be tipped by simply seeding the diaspora activism even without a shot being fired.
Another negative effect of immigration and diaspora is that it can fuel cases of racism and discrimination in the host country. It is reported on the unfortunate Jewish immigrants in German who were caught at the crossroads of the Nazis resulting to the most dreadful holocaust in human history. This was cases of racism and discrimination which had been regarded as lesser people and unfit to be part of the larger society. Immigration into areas where one cannot speak or profess to the culture of the host country can result to the fanning of racist and discriminatory sentiments against the immigrants (Guerette & Freilich 2006).
There can be a total breakdown of cultures and traditions in the host country due to immigration. The moment Christopher Columbus set foot in the new land in the west; he did not fathom the structural, demographic and cultural changes his successors would cause into his discovery. The vast continent was inhabited by Native Americans who witnessed massive waves of immigrants fleeing their homelands for economic, religious or political reasons. What followed in the centuries to come was that the cultures and traditions of the American countries were reduced into fables and folklore as the people were forced to adapt to new modes of religion, diet, clothing and other dimensions of culture(Hansen 2000). Now the American Indiana has been reduced to the cultural minority in their native homelands.
The same case can be attributed to the scrabble for the colonies in Africa and Australia. A classic case can be attested to the aborigines of the Australia and the case of Boers in South Africa (Hansen 2000). The immigrants to these countries during the times of colonialism changed the rhythm and dynamics of the cultures which were practiced there. Currently, most of the population in these seeded nations now profess the western religion; have western dressing and dietary mannerisms and architecture. Traditions and cultures have been modified to fit in the diversity of cultures of the host nations which affect the fabric of the society in adverse dimensions (Hansen 2000).
Another negative effect of immigration is that it can cause the breaking of social and family setup in the home countries. Many of the immigrants in the United States, Spain, and Italy enter the country borders illegally. Many of them have died in the pursuit of settling in the developed nations by trekking in dangerous deserts in North Africa without adequate water or drowning in a capsized boat in the Mediterranean Sea. Those who make it might get hard times in adapting to the social and economic times of the host nation. This results to the breaking up of family ties as the breadwinners are lost in the new lands if they fail to adapt to the new environment (Arthur 2010).
In conclusion, the impact of immigration and diaspora is a diverse issue and has to be addressed by the prime host nation like the United States whose 99% of the citizens had been born elsewhere and immigrated into it. The impacts pose dangers or development to the host or the homeland. It can be noted that as people break off from their familiar routines in the host nations or organizations, they usually look forward in optimism to their intended destinations, as well look back to the regions they are leaving behind
References.
Ansen, Y., Besser, S., & Baronian, M. (2007). Diaspora and Memory: Figures of Displacement in Contemporary Literature, Arts, and Politics. Amsterdam: Brill Academic Publishers.
Arthur, J. A. (2010). African Diaspora Identities: Negotiating Culture in Transnational Migration. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books.
Gregory, J. N. (2005). The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Guerette, R. T., & Freilich, J. D. (2006). Migration, Culture Conflict, Crime, and Terrorism. Aldershot, Hants, England: Routledge
Hansen, R. (2000). Citizenship and Immigration in Postwar Britain: The Institutional Origins of a Multicultural Nation. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
Sobczak, M. (2010). American Attitudes Toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy. El Paso [Tex.]: LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC.
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