In Chapter 8 of We Wanted Workers the author goes into detail in regards to the economic benefits of immigration and more specifically about who in particular gains and loses from said immigration. He starts off by noting that factually there are some misleading statistics that may appear to some people as objectively beneficial. When looking simply at the numbers the author says that people will say immigration benefits companies financially. This data is true but the author says that there is another aspect of immigration, which is that there is typically a loss in value associated with the native population in a country. When immigrants arrive in a new country the data suggests that local populations that were already in place will experience an economic loss whilst large corporations that employ these new immigrants will experience the benefits noted in the data. The second major thing the author speaks about in the chapter is in relation to the types of immigrants that come to the country in terms of their skill level. The author says that immigration is most beneficial to the native populations when the immigrants that are coming into the country are of high-skill and even then there needs to be a certain set of criteria met in order to ensure that the immigrants have, as the author would say, a productive spillover on the native population. Not every immigrant will beneficially impact the native population and the author notes that it takes a certain criteria to ensure that productive spillover will occur. Do immigrants need to benefit the local society in order to justify being in the country or should the fact that they are often leaving a bad situation for a chance at a better life be enough to justify immigration regardless of the economic impacts?
Author: Andrew Doane
In this most recent reading of We Wanted Workers the author heavily focuses on the idea of assimilation and the implications that assimilation has on both immigrants and the rest of the American public. The author notes that all throughout American history assimilation by groups of immigrants has been relatively quick and common. The author states that nearly every group throughout previous American history has assimilated and has done so at a rapid pace. This is important to note due to the fact that immigrants from Mexico, according to the author, have not been assimilating at the same pace as other groups from other countries. The author believes that one of the main reasons for this lack of American assimilation is due to the fact that there is a significant amount of immigrants from Mexico who are moving to places that already have a large Mexican population. This leads to a lack of assimilation because, as the author points out, if people immigrate to America but do not live with the population they will not be exposed to the American values and culture which will lead to them not assimilating as fast. This is particularly important in regards to the Mexican population because there are a significant number of immigrants coming to the country which means there are more areas, or as the author puts it enclaves, in which Mexican immigrants live. This leads to a less immersive experience in American culture and can explain the slower assimilation that the author has pointed out. I believe there is value in assimilating to American culture in that it is beneficial for immigrants to become accustomed to American culture to simply have more opportunities available to them. Assimilation is not necessary nor should it ever be forced upon any immigrant population but it is clear that assimilation simply helps immigrants gain more opportunities in America as they have more information about our society after assimilating. I personally think that assimilation is helpful but not necessary and the idea that that all of the problems surrounding the issue with immigration and the struggles that immigrants face when they arrive in America would be solved by assimilation is not accurate. Is assimilation the root of the current issues immigrants face when arriving in America? How would assimilation be encouraged or mandated without infringing on the freedoms of those in America?
In the documentary Hoop Dreams we briefly follow the lives of two boys from inner city chicago as they try and follow their dreams of becoming professional basketball players. As the documentary starts out it is clear that basketball is a very important aspect of both the boys lives. Both boys are offered scholarships to play at St. Josephs which is a private highschool with a very good basketball program. Along with making the hour and a half commute to the school every morning the boys need to adapt to the new academic environment which is significantly more rigorous. The boys struggle and with William Gates being significantly behind on a grade level scale there is much academic work that needs to be done along with the effort that must be put into basketball. After only a year of being at the school Arthur Agee is forced to leave midway through a semester due to his inability to pay the amount of tuition that he does not have covered by scholarship. Along with losing his place at the school Arthur’s father is suffering from drug abuse and ends up going to jail. Even though William is still at the school after finding a sponsor to help him pay for the tuition increase he injured his knee and does not perform as well after recovery. William end up suffering throughout most of his highschool career without ever fully recovering from his injury. He ends up getting a scholarship to play at a college after just barely meeting the academic requirements to play. Arthur makes a sort of comeback in the sense that his senior year goes very well and he also ends up getting to play at a college after completing his summer school requirement. Throughout the documentary of these two teenagers lives we get a glimpse into the significant amount of struggle that they faced and how they tried to overcome it. After watching this I looked further into what happened in the rest of their lives and both Arthur’s father was murdered and William’s older brother, Curtis, was murdered as well. The drug abuse by Arthur’s father and the various instances of violence within the communities these two boys grew up in relate to the issues we are talking about in class. These two boys both saw basketball as a way out of their situations and the environment they lived in presented many challenges to achieving this goal. The long commute to the school and the lack of resources for their families made it particularly difficult for these boys to achieve their dreams. Do Amy Wax’s ideas in her book Race, Wrongs, and Remedies still apply to this situation or does the documentary help to shed light as to how many of the things that are plaguing inner city communities are out of the control of the people suffering? How does the documentary express ideas similar to that of the American dream and how does the documentary show that this dream may be unattainable?
In this section of Race, Wrongs, and Remedies the author goes into detail as to what needs to happen to both the culture of African Americans and to their personal values and goals. In the opinion of the author she believes that equality will be impossible to achieve unless there is a massive shift in personal and cultural values of the African American community. She argues that there must also be a shift in the family structure of the typical African American family. The author presents data showing the high rates of single-motherhood and out of wedlock birth and explains how she believes that the lack of a familial structure leads to a lack of values being instilled in children and perpetuates the problems that the community faces. Wax believes that there needs to be a shift in how African American culture views the family structure and how they address the inequality present in America. Wax argues that there needs to be a look into the future and not into the past meaning that she thinks there needs to be a shift towards self help. As she continues to emphasize she thinks that there is only so much others can do to help ones situation. She believes that members of the black community needs to take a proactive stance and mindset in order to improve their condition. Lastly she speaks about affirmative action, which she believes is not a particularly positive thing. Wax argues that affirmative action relies on the idea that an even playing field is not enough to achieve equality. Wax believes that affirmative action and programs similar to it hinder equality and do not create any actual change within culture. Overall Wax believes in a self help approach to inequality along with a massive shift in what she perceives to be the culture and views of the black community. Seeing as this book was published in 2009 are there now more things to take into consideration considering the climate of America today? Do Wax’s ideas make sense or is she not considering aspects about the condition of the African American community that are crucial in determining how to solve inequality?
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Short Essay #3
Learning about American culture and society we have looked at both formalized sources of information about society, and work that reflects said society. The books Who Are We by Samuel Huntington and All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy help to provide us with both formal and informal views into the values and practices of American people. In McCarthy’s book the main character John Grady helps to exemplify the values and worldviews that Huntington describes. John Grady heavily exemplifies individualism and some of the core American values about workmanship throughout the novel. Not only does Grady himself show certain aspects of the American identity that Huntington talks about, but his relationships with his companions does as well. The worldview and values shown by Grady, help us to understand aspects of the American identity that Huntignton speaks about throughout his book.
In the beginning of the novel by McCarthy Grady decides to leave the ranch that his mother is trying to sell and head down to Mexico and start a new life for himself. Joining him is his friend Rawlins and another accomplice he meets along the way; Blevins. The aspects of American identity and the worldview held by Grady are heavily present throughout the beginning of the novel as Grady and his companions are not only inexperienced in frontier life but also very young as well. Huntington talks about American values and worldview as being ready for anything and being able to go at things alone. Grady does not rely on anyone and even though him and his companions work as a team, there is no sense of dependence on one-another. The rugged frontier and Grady’s ability to navigate this new terrain with little experience is a reflection on many of the American ideals that Huntington sets forth in his book. Huntington speaks on the ideas of individualism and Grady’s decision to leave his home and go to a completely new area is a great example of it. Not only does Grady leave his ranch back home he also works hard in Mexico to prove himself as a good employee on the new ranch he ends up briefly staying at. The ideas of strong workmanship and facing new tough conditions with confidence are strongly present in the worldview presented by Huntington and show us the accuracy in Grady’s representation of American Ideals.
The relationship that Grady has with Blevins and Rawlins also helps to exemplify elements of the American and Anglo-Protestant identity that Huntignton speaks about. Specifically when speaking about Blevins, Grady makes decisions that are not necessarily beneficial to him in order to help Blevins out. When Blevins loses his horse Grady decides to help him steal it back and convinces Rawlins not to abandon him. This sense of togetherness and group strength is an aspect of American identity and is amplified in the face of conflict. When Huntington talks about Americans grouping together in the face of conflict we see a direct parallel to Grady. Not only when helping Blevins is this group strength shown, but towards the end of the novel when Rawlins is ready to give up it is Grady who convinces and motivates him to continue to move forward. Grady’s ability to be strong in the face of conflict and unify the group he is with further shows how he is strongly aligned with the values that Huntingon explains are characterized by an Anglo-Protestant worldview.
Grady’s alignment to the Anglo-Protestant worldview and culture that Huntington presents helps to show us concrete examples of what that culture entails. The actions and decisions Grady makes show us how his views and ideas are influenced by the Anglo-Protestatn culture and helps us further understand the specific things Huntington spoke about in his book.