IMMIGRANT DISCRIMINATION IN THE US

Immigrants Discrimination in the US

Immigrants Discrimination in the US

Introduction

Immigrants are not of course a new constituency in this country. The first large wave of immigration occurred during the 1700s and included mostly White predominantly English-speaking and Protestant Europeans and African slaves. The second wave from the 1820s to the 1920s was more diverse and included Catholics and Jews, more southern Europeans and non-English speakers, African slaves, and smaller numbers of Asians. Today's students are members of the third large wave of immigration to the United States that began in 1965 and extends to the present.

Discussion

The children of immigrants construct their educational experiences based on what they bring with them and their contexts of reception in this country. Like those before them, today's immigrants bring with them their cultural beliefs and practices, native languages, ties to family and community in their native countries, and for some, experiences of war or persecution (Todorova, 2008). Today's immigrants, however, bring a greater diversity of cultural backgrounds and languages than did past waves of immigrants. Unlike past immigrants who hailed predominantly from Europe, today's immigrants are largely from Mexico (39%), Central American and Caribbean countries (16%), and Asian and Pacific Islander countries.

Students' educational experiences are also a reflection of their social, political, and economic contexts in this country. Like Irish, Italian, and eastern European immigrants in the early 1900s, today's Asian, Latino, and Black immigrants encounter xenophobia, ethnic discrimination, and English-only movements. But while past immigrants from Europe largely became part of the White majority, 85% of today's immigrants are incorporated as people of color in the United States (Rosenbloom, 2006).

In schools with multiracial populations, ethnographers describe violent and racialized school contexts.

Researchers describe one Boston high school in terms of daily taunting and racial epithets, as a school where fighting and ...