I.

MULTICULTURAL USA

America has been a multicultural country from its very beginnings and its history has done nothing
else but increase this multicultural, multiethnic and multi-faith nature.
1. What is multiculturalism? Coexistence of several cultures within the same society
2. Sources of multiculturalism:
A. NATIVE AMERICANS the only native population
B. AFRICAN AMERICANS brought by force as slaves
C. COLONISTS/IMMIGRANTS attracted by Americas promise as land of all opportunities
(freedom, democracy, self-fulfillment and material wealth)
A. NATIVE AMERICANS
Origin
They probably came from Asia via the Bering Strait some 20000-30000 years ago, at a time when
the strait was covered in ice. They occupied gradually the American continents, the Northern one
being less densely populated than South America. In the 17 th century when the first British colonies
were created here, the native population of North America is estimated to have been between 2-18
million people.
Lifestyle: differences among various tribes
They were organized in tribes (between 500-900 of them in the 17 th century) living at Stone
Age level, and speaking a variety of different, yet related languages (just as European languages are
related among themselves but different from Asian ones, for example).
Their lifestyle differed as their natural surroundings differed too. For example, those living in
the east, near the Atlantic coast, had the abundance of the ocean fish and forests full of wild animals
to support them, but they also practiced some farming (especially corn, pumpkin, squash). In the S-W,
in nowadays Texas and Arizona, where land was arid, the Pueblo Indians took great pains to grow
plants using irrigation, but they were very successful. For those living on the Pacific coast, food was
plentiful and life easier. In the Great Plains, farming was not an option, as the land was mostly covered
in high prairie grasses, but the natives lived on the buffalo herds roaming this area.
Similarities
However, despite the differences, they shared many features in common.
One thing that all Native American people shared was a belief in a great spirit which influenced
their lives. They believed that things like the Sun, wind, moon and water or even various animals
greatly influenced them. In fact, most Indians chose an animal spirit to guide and protect them
throughout their life. Above all of this they believed that no one could own the land. The land was there
to feed you, not to be possessed. Chief Seathl, for example, wrote a letter to the US Government in
which he explained their belief: "The earth does not belong to man. Man belongs to the earth. This we
know". As a result, they had a profound understanding for and close relationship with nature, being
able to read nature's signs and showing great respect for it. They knew how to read the signs of nature
and live in a way which did not destroy it.
Most tribes combined hunting and gathering with some form of farming, which was usually
done by women, while men hunted or went to war. Their weapons were spears, bows and arrows and
knives. Even if they had no horses at first, after the Spanish conquistadores brought them to America,
the natives became expert riders.
Indian life was clan-oriented and communal. People defined their place in society through
kinship and were organised in tribes subdivided into bands. The leaders were usually military leaders
or wise men and as a rule they relied on a council of old men (old people were greatly respected in
these tribes).
Their culture was mainly oral (although some tribes did use some form of hieroglyphs) with a
stress on the interpretation of dreams and tales. Crafts and arts were closely related and relied on
natural materials, colours and patterns. Trade was essential in their life and was done by exchanging
the necessary goods.
Some tribes were aggressive and treated their enemies harshly, but most had moral codes of
honour and respected promises, being very much impressed by oratory.

Encounter with the Europeans

After Christopher Columbus opened the way to America, many other explorers followed him
and then came the white colonists. The area now occupied by the USA was settled by the British
(whose way had been opened by John Cabot in 1497, financed by king Henry VII to explore and claim
that new land for England).
After the first colonies in 1607 (Jamestown) and 1620 (Plymouth), there were created till 1750
13 British colonies along the Atlantic coast. After the War of Independence, however, the Americans
started to settle west of the Appalachians and by 1848 they reached California, on the Pacific coast. All
the land between the eastern and western coasts was occupied by white settlers who believed it was
their manifest destiny to do so and simply pushed the natives away when they needed their land.
Getting rid of the unwanted and materially inferior native tribes was done especially through war (there
were 40 between 17-19th century, most won by the whites), relocation of natives into reservations (after
the law of 1830) and by diseases. When the natives met the colonists they caught many diseases they
were not immune to (such as smallpox or TBC) and died in huge numbers.
Today, the Native Americans represent under 1% of the USA population and most of them
prefer to live on reservations where they can keep their traditions and lifestyle. Of course there are
many who managed to adapt to the white American way of life and even succeed in becoming famous
people, but most such attempts have failed. For example, after in 1924 Native Americans were
granted full American citizenship, in 1953 there was a governmental attempt to move them into cities,
but because life there was so different from their traditional one, most of the relocated natives returned
to their reservations.
Even now, life on reservations is hard, poverty and diseases are widespread, and the high
rate of unemployment led to a high rate of alcoholism. TBC is also widespread among natives, and
generally, their standards of education and health are below the national average.
However, there seems to be a new appreciation of the Native American art and culture among
the whites and even a sense of guilt for what their ancestors had done to the natives when they first
came to America and took their lands. Some tribes have managed to reclaim their old territories from
the US government and some have also managed to turn their reservations profitable by starting
various businesses (e.g. gambling casinos or uranium mining).
To sum up, what led to the defeat and almost complete annihilation of the natives by the white
colonists was not only their inferior technology, but also a huge misunderstanding of the others way of
thinking. Their being fragmented into small tribes also played a decisive role in their defeat.
Here are some details on the natives most recent history:
1860 - 1890's - Plains Indians Wars - During this period Americans and Plains Indians clashed as
Americans attempted to force Indians onto reservations. Representative are the Battle of Little
Bighorn, where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his regiment of 250 where all killed by
approximately 4500 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors and the battle at Wounded Knee where thousands
of Cheyenne men, women and children were slaughtered by the American Cavalry. Wounded Knee
represented the end of any real armed resistance on the part of the Native Americans
1887 - The Dawes Act - The act provided for the following:
1. Each Indian family head be allotted a 160 acre farm out of reservation lands.
2. Each new land owner who abandoned tribal practices and adopted the "habits of civilized
life" would be granted American citizenship.
3. "Surplus" reservation lands would be made available to sell to white settlers.
The Dawes Act, while well intentioned, did not benefit the Indians. The lands they were assigned were
poor and the concept of "Americanization" led to a destruction of Indian culture and the destruction of
the traditional status of Indian women in tribal life. Finally, as a result of the "surplus" land provision the
Indians lost 90 million out of 140 acres of reservation land.
1924 - Indian Citizenship Act - Granted American citizenship to all Indians born in the United States.
1934 - Indian Reorganization Act - This act provided the following:
1. Ended land allotments and returned unsold lands to the Indians.
2. Authorized tribes to form corporations and launch businesses.

3. Provided for elected tribal councils with significant powers. This represented a reversal from
previous policy and the restoration of tribal power.
1953 - Termination Policy - This was a new sharply different policy that ended the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) and all of the programs that went with it. It divided tribal property among the tribes
members thus subjecting them to taxation. It also curtailed tribal self government and relocated many
Indians to the cities where jobs were available. The Termination policy also ended federal
responsibility and social services - education, health and welfare, to the Indians.
1970 - President Richard Nixon recommends self determination for Indians. Indian tribes were once
again brought under federal funding with the promise that federal control would be lessened.
1974 - Iroquois Nation vs. The State of New York - Claiming they have been using certain lands
since 1805 Indians sue and win in federal court. The federal government is forced to be responsive to
their treaty claims.
1980's - Several Indian nations, most notably in Connecticut and New York, sue to gain autonomy
(independence) on tribal reservation land. Indians win these cases paving the way for the creation of
gambling operations on reservation land. Today there are casinos on several reservations providing
millions of dollars of income for those tribes. In other areas, uranium was discovered under tribal land.
B. AFRICAN AMERICANS
Unlike the other groups coming to America, the black population of nowadays America generally
originate from the black slaves brought from Africa between 1619, when the first batch of African
slaves were brought to the first English colony, and 1808, when slave trade was officially ended.
Unfortunately, even if slave trade ended, slavery itself continued till after the Civil War. It was only in
1865 that slavery was officially abolished (the 13th amendment to the Constitution), former slaves
became full American citizens (14th amendment) and got the right to vote (15th amendment). Despite
this, however, they continued to be discriminated against by the white majority for many more
decades. For example, unable to accept that their former servants became their equals, white
politicians voted in 1876the so-called Jim Crows Laws which meant segregations of black and white
people in public places, where everything was separate for the two races: schools, buses, restaurants,
drinking fountains and even public toilets. Even if the slogan was Equal but separate, segregation did
not and was not meant to ensure equality between whites and blacks. Black Americans were barred
from higher education, from good jobs and were generally regarded as second-class citizens by the
white majority, so the mentioned slogan actually hid discrimination.
This discrimination took violent forms when extremist whites got together in racist organizations
like the Ku Klux Klan, or KKK. Appeared in 1866 as a reaction to the great social changes brought by
the end of the Civil War, it targeted the black population through a policy of intimidation and even
killing. Lynching of targeted blacks continued in the Mississippi until the 1960s and the KKK still exists,
although most of its race induced violence is mainly verbal nowadays.
The status of the black population started to change after 1950 and especially in the 1960s, a decade
of social upheavals and revolutionary ideas. One such idea was Black is beautiful! and many whites
supported it too. It was the decade of Civil Rights Movement which culminated in victory, as the
timeline of events shown below suggests.
However, even after they became equal with the white majority in front of the law, the black minority
was still far from the ideal of equality dreamt by Reverend Martin Luther King, the leader of this
movement:
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of
former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by
the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
This is the timeline of African American recent history:
1954-Brown v. Board of Education case: strikes down segregation in schools as unconstitutional.
1955-In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks (1913 2005) is arrested for breaking a city
ordinance by refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. This defiant act
gives initial momentum to the Civil Rights Movement.
1963-Monumental march in Washington in support of civil rights for black people. Here, Martin Luther
King holds the famous I Have a Dream speech
1964-The Civil Rights Act is signed, prohibiting discrimination of all kinds.

1965-The Voting Rights Act is passed, outlawing the practices used in the South to prevent African
Americans from voting
1967-Edward W. Brooke becomes the first African American U.S. Senator since Reconstruction. He
serves two terms as a Senator from Massachusetts.
1968-Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated by a white extremist in Memphis, Tennessee.
1972-The Equal Employment Opportunity Act is passed, prohibiting job discrimination on the basis of,
among other things, race.
1972-Barbara Jordan (Texas) becomes the first African American woman from a Southern state to be
elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She will serve three terms in Congress.
1975- The Jeffersons, one of the first sitcoms about an African American family, premiers on television.
It will run for 10 years and will become one of television's longest running and most watched sitcoms.
1976-Alex Haley receives a special Pulitzer Prize for his novel Roots. The next year, made into a miniseries, Roots will be one of the most popular shows in the history of television.
1977-Andrew Young becomes the first African American person to serve as the U.S. ambassador to
the United Nations.
1979-The song "Rapper's Delight," by the Sugar Hill Gang, helps bring rap to national prominence.
1982-Singer Michael Jackson's album Thriller becomes one of the best-selling albums of all time.
1983-Astronaut Guion "Guy" S. Bluford, Jr., becomes the first African American in space, flying aboard
the space shuttle Challenger.
1986-Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday is made into a national holiday. It is celebrated on the 3 rd
Monday in January. It is seen as a day to promote equal rights for all Americans, regardless of their
background. Some educational establishments mark the day by teaching their pupils or students about
the work of Martin Luther King and the struggle against racial segregation and racism. In recent years,
federal legislation has encouraged Americans to give some of their time on this day as volunteers in
citizen action groups.
1987-Reginald Lewis becomes the first African American to own a business with sales over $1 billion,
by taking over Beatrice International Food Company.
1987-Magic Johnson is named the National Basketball Association's Most Valuable Player.
1989-General Colin L. Powell is the first African American to be named chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
of the U.S. military. Later he will become Defence Secretary.
1989-Oprah Winfrey, the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated (and wildly
popular) talk show, founds Harpo Productions to produce her own movies and TV shows. In 2000,
Forbes magazine will estimate Winfrey's earnings at $150 million.
1989-David Dinkins becomes the first African American mayor of New York City, and Douglas Wilder
becomes the first African American state governor since Reconstruction by being elected in Virginia.
1992-Rioting in Los Angeles follows the acquittal of four white policemen caught on videotape beating
African American motorist Rodney King.
1992-W. Lincoln Hawkins, Ph.D., wins the National Medal of Technology. During his lifetime, he
secured over 140 patents. He helped make universal telephone service available through his work as
the first African American scientist at Bell Labs.
1993-Author Toni Morrison is the first African American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
1999-A group of African American farmers wins a suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for
discriminating against them in giving out loans and subsidies.
2000-In the largest settlement ever in a U.S. racial discrimination suit, the Coca-Cola Company agrees
to pay out $192.5 million to roughly 2,000 African American employees.
2002-Halle Berry becomes the first African American woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress, for her
performance in Monster's Ball.
2008-Barack Obama (1961 - ) becomes the first African American to win the U.S. presidential race. He
is elected for a second term in 2012.
2014- riots in Fergusson/Oklahoma, spurred by the accidental shooting by white policemen of a young
black suspect

10 FACTS ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICANS TODAY

1. While people of color make up about 13 percent of the United States population,
they account for 60 percent of those imprisoned. 1 in every 15 African American men

and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white
men. 1 in 10 black youth are likely to die under 25.
2. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one in three black men can expect
to go to prison in their lifetime. A report by the Department of Justice found that
blacks and Hispanics were approximately three times more likely to be searched during
a traffic stop than white motorists. African Americans were twice as likely to be arrested
and almost four times as likely to experience the use of force during encounters with the
police.
3. Students of color face harsher punishments in school than their white peers,
leading to a higher number of youth of color incarcerated.
4. African American youth have higher rates of juvenile incarceration and are
more likely to be sentenced to adult prison.
5. The war on drugs has been waged primarily in communities of color where
people of color are more likely to receive higher offenses. According to the Human
Rights Watch, people of color are no more likely to use or sell illegal drugs than whites,
but they have higher rate of arrests.
6. Once convicted, black offenders receive longer sentences compared to white
offenders.
7. While about 15% of the American population lives below the poverty line
(=$22,000 for a small family, $30,000/year for a large one), among the black
population the percentage is 28%.
8. The rate of unemployment for blacks in 2014 is 16% while for whites it is 7%.
9. when blacks and whites have the same education and work experience, the
whites earn more:
- high school graduates: $532/week for blacks, $626/week for whites
- university graduates: $934 for blacks, $1144 for whites

10. mixed marriages are not very frequent but are more frequent than in the past:
89% of black men have a black wife and only 9% have a white wife. For black women,
the percentage of inter-racial marriages is even lower.

As you can see by analyzing it, great progress has been made but America has not become totally
colour-blind.
C. IMMIGRATION USA
It is generally known that the United States is a nation of immigrants. Every person on the North and
South American continents came from someplace else -- either as an immigrant herself or as a
descendant of immigrants. At present, 1 in 10 Americans was born abroad.
The late nineteenth century was one of the great ages of immigration in American history. This era of
immigration differed from previous immigration booms in two key respects: scale and sources. In many
ways, the change in sources of immigration was more important than the change in scale. By far the
largest sources of immigrants in the period were the nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe.
These immigrants were refugees from economic privation and political and religious
persecution in the ailing empires of Austria-Hungary and Russia and the new, fragile nations of
Italy and Germany.
This also was the first great period of Asian immigration to America, mostly from China but with a
trickle of immigrants from Japan and Korea as well. However, anti-Asian feeling in the western United
States, exacerbated by such cynical politicians as Daniel Kearny of California, limited both the extent
of Asian immigration and the degree to which the Asian immigrants could take full advantage of the
opportunities available to their white neighbours.
The growth of immigration in this period was spurred, as were so many other social
phenomena, by technology. The development of ocean-going steamships and the rise of a great
transoceanic trade spanning the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans made it possible for tens of thousands of
men, women, and children to seek a new life in America and, despite the lure of the large eastern
cities, to spread out across the continent to do so. Moreover, the rise of American industries and
the growth of the railroad system created thousands of jobs -- both in factories and in the
construction trades -- that offered powerful inducements to prospective immigrants seeking a
new life.
For a while, it seemed that everyone was welcomed in America and the more immigrants, the better.
This mentality is expressed by the famous poem by Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus "written at
the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightening, and her name
Mother of Exiles...
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Lazarus' poem is a message to all potential immigrants as well as a statement of philosophy. By

placing this message on the base of America's most recognizable symbol the Americans have
established what their policy should be. America, as previously stated, is a nation founded by and for
immigrants. Everyone in America, with the exception of native Americans, are immigrants.
This being the case one would think that they have, or should, live up to the ideals in the poem. Yet
America has not always had an open immigration policy. In fact it has often been restrictive.

Immigration Policy
A. Who are the immigrants that have come to America?
The American history may be divided into three great periods of immigration to the U.S.
Can you spot them on this timeline of immigration?
1607 - first English colony Jamestown is created by 104 men sailing from Britain
1619 - first shipload of African slaves are brought to America by a passing Danish ship
1620 - second British colony called Plymouth is created by 102 English later called Pilgrim Fathers
1630-40 - a number of 21,000 immigrants come to the New England colonies, a third being British, the
rest western and north Europeans
1718 - Large scale Scottish and Irish immigration begins
1807 - American Congress votes the importation of African slaves illegal. The slaves already in the
USA remain slaves and even multiply
1845 - massive Irish immigration after the "Potato famine" makes New York the largest Irish city in the
world
1848 - discovery of gold in California attracts people of all origins
1851 -1860 almost 1 million Irish come to America to escape poverty
1820 -1880 over 10 million Europeans from northern and western areas come to America after the
failed revolutions of 1848
1868 - Chinese workers needed in railway construction are given unrestricted rights to immigrate
1869 - Japanese political refugees come to California, creating racial tensions
1880- a Polish National Alliance is formed to protect Polish immigrants rights, proof of an increased
number of such immigrants
1880-1890 - peak period of German immigration (1,452,972) and Scandinavian immigration (656,494)
1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act adopted by the US Congress denies American citizenship to Chinese
workers already living in the USA
1892 - The federal government opens its new immigration reception center on Ellis Island. Over the
next forty years some twelve million immigrants pass through it.
1905 - for the first time, more than 1 million immigrants/year come;
- American workers protest against the great influx of Japanese and Korean workers
1907- is considered the peak year of immigration with over 1,200,000 people coming, mainly from east
and south Europe
1907-1911 - a special commission is created to record the migration of new immigrants from south,
central and east European countries (especially Italy and Russia) whose number greatly increased
1910 - The Mexican Revolution leads to a great number of Mexican peasants immigrating to the USA
in search of work and safety
1917 - A literacy test for incoming immigrants finally becomes law
1921 - For the first time, the Immigration Restriction Law introduces a quota system that favours
northern and western immigration, as the quotas of new immigrants are based on the number of
people of each nationality already found in the USA. A quota of 350,000 is first established. Under this
legislation European immigration is limited to 3 percent of the number of foreign-born of each
nationality present in the United States as of the last available census, that of 1910.
1924 - Congress passes the National Origins Act, which reduces the total number of potential
immigrants to 300,000 annually and sets 1890 as the base year for determining the quota of those
eligible. The quota itself is reduced from 3 to 2 percent of those migrants from any given country living
in the United States as of 1890.
1965-the quota system is revoked, but annual limit is imposed (from a few hundred thousand per year,
gradually growing in time).

REVISION
During the first period, until around 1860/1880, most of the immigrants came from Great
Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and western Germany. The period till 1860/1880 was called that
of Old Immigration.
In the second period, from 1860 to 1920, those countries continued to supply a great number
of the immigrants. However, especially after 1860, the proportion of immigrants from northern
and Western Europe declined rapidly. In the final period, from 1890 to 1910, fewer than onethird of the immigrants came from these regions. The majority of the immigrants after 1860
were natives of southern and Eastern Europe, with nationals of Austria, Hungary, Italy, and
Russia constituting more than half of the total. Chinese and Japanese came too, although the
Americans soon blocked their coming through restrictive laws. This was the New
Immigration period.
Until World War I, immigration had generally increased in volume annually. From 1905 to 1914
an average of more than a million aliens entered the U.S. every year. With the outbreak of
war, the volume declined sharply, and the annual average from 1915 to 1918 was little more
than 250,000. In 1921 the number again rose; 800,000 immigrants were admitted. Thereafter
the number fell in response to new conditions in Europe and to the limitations established by
U.S. law.
1. Old Immigrants (1620 - 1860) - Immigrants arriving during this time period were
primarily from Western Europe.
They shared backgrounds:
Religion: Protestant
Nations: England, Germany, Netherlands
Appearance: Fair skin, hair and eyes.
2. New Immigrants (1860 - 1920) - Immigrants arrived in America from a variety of
places. Early in this period many Asian (Chinese and Japanese) immigrants arrived.
Asian immigrants helped to build the trans continental railroad. In the 1870's Irish
immigrants began to arrive. In the 1880's Italians began to arrive in America. Around
1900 Eastern European immigrants began to arrive in America from Poland and
Russia.

These immigrants were different from the Old Immigrants.

Asians were different physically and religiously.

The Irish and Italians were Catholic and many Italians were also darker in
coloring than the Old Immigrants.

Many of the Eastern European immigrants were Jewish, some East

Europeans were Slavic and had the Orthodox religion.

How did the Old Immigrants (those currently in America) react to the influx of New
Immigrants?
1. Many felt that the new immigrants would take jobs away from Americans. No one
complained when Asian immigrants were building the transatlantic railroad but when
they were finished there was suddenly an emergence of anti Asian sentiment. What
caused this was most likely racism but fear of job loss played a role as well. These
anti Asian feelings led to two restrictive and discriminatory immigration laws designed
to curb Asian immigration to the United States.
The most important reaction to this was the Quota Act of 1921 restricting immigration
from non-Anglo areas.
2. After 1917 there was a national paranoia that immigrants would bring communism
to America.
Here is a more complete list of the American reactions to immigration.

1. The first measure restricting immigration enacted by Congress was a law in 1862
forbidding American vessels to transport Chinese immigrants to the US.; 20 years
later Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act excluding Chinese immigrants.
2. Gentlemen's Agreement - A diplomatic agreement made in 1907 by the U.S. and
Japan provided that the Japanese government would not issue passports to Japanese
laborers intending to enter the US
3. In 1917 Congress passed an immigration law that imposed a literacy test and
created an Asiatic Barred Zone to shut out Asians. Aliens unable to meet minimum
mental, moral, physical, and economic standards were excluded, as were anarchists
and other so-called subversives.
4. Emergency Quota Act of 1921- After World War I a marked increase in racism and
the growth of isolationist sentiment in the U.S. led to demands for further restrictive
legislation. In 1921 a congressional enactment provided for a quota system for
immigrants, whereby the number of aliens of any nationality admitted to the U.S. in a
year could not exceed 3 percent of the number of foreign-born residents of that
nationality living in the U.S. in 1910.
5. McCarren Walter Act - In 1924, the basic immigration quotas were changed; the
new law provided for annual immigration quotas for all countries from which aliens
might be admitted. Quotas were based on the presumed desirability of various
nationalities; aliens from northern and Western Europe were considered more
desirable than those from southern and Eastern Europe. Aliens (=foreign immigrants)
who fulfilled lawful residence requirements (i.e. to have lived in the USA for 5 years as
permanent residents) were exempt from quotas, as were alien wives, children, and
some husbands of U.S. citizens.
6. Immigration Act of 1965 - The 1965 amendments to the Immigration and
Nationality Act abolished the national-origin quotas and established an annual
limitation of 170,000 visas for immigrants from eastern hemisphere countries. Another
law, effective in 1968, provided for an annual limitation of 120,000 immigrants from the
western hemisphere, with visas available on a first-come, first-served basis.
After this year, the number of accepted immigrants continued to grow reaching the 1
million mark in 2014.
7. Immigration Act of 1985 - In the 1980s concern about the surge of illegal aliens
into the U.S. has led Congress to pass legislation aimed at curtailing illegal
immigration. The Immigration Act of 1985 allows most illegal aliens who have resided
in the U.S. continuously since January 1, 1982, to apply for legal status. In addition,
the law prohibits employers from hiring illegal aliens and mandates penalties for
violations.
Immigration Today
There are approximately 1 million immigrants granted legal access into the USA every
year (the number may vary from one year to another, though). The waiting time for
getting a working visa (or green card) varies, but after you are a permanent resident
for 5 years (or 3 if you are married to an American national) you can apply for
naturalization or citizenship. Most of the green card owners who request American
citizenship get it, but they have to:
-

submit an application form (which costs $595) and fingerprints ($80)

prove continuous residence for 5 years (with absences of under 6 months per year)

pass an interview where your spoken English is checked

prove good moral character (any crime you commit or have committed will rule you
out)

pass a written test with civic knowledge and American history questions

take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the USA and promise to embrace its
values (e.g. noblemen have to renounce their titles as America is a democracy)
However, the most important step is to get the Alien Registration Card (also known as
the Green Card), which is valid for 10 years. You have either to prove you have found
a job which requires skills that no locals have or to be a specialist in a field of great
interest or to have some outstanding talent. Having a lot of money to invest in
business also helps. That is why some say there is bias in the way America accepts
immigrants because certain categories are favoured.
At present the easiest way to get access is through:

- specialist visa (skilled and highly educated professionals from other countries gain easier
access, favoured fields being: IT, bioengineering, chemistry but doctors, nurses and
physiotherapists are in demand too)
- visa for aliens of outstanding ability = people of outstanding talent in sciences, arts,
business or academia
However, in accepting them, the USA carries out the so called brain drain policy
(which means luring already educated people whose education was paid for by their
mother country)
- investor visa (people who can invest $1 million in a business in the USA and set up a
business that hires at least 10 people)
- refugee visa (political refugees from communist countries or dictatorships are preferred, although a
refugee is a foreigner displaced by war, famine, civil or political unrest unable to return to his/her
country for fear of persecution or even death). Refugees compose about one-tenth of the total annual
immigration to the United States, though some large refugee populations are very prominent. Since
2000 the main refugee-sending regions have been Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, and Ethiopia. The ceiling
for refugee resettlement for fiscal year 2008 was 80,000 refugees. The United States admitted 17,000
Iraqi refugees during fiscal year 2009. The U.S. has resettled more than 42,000 Bhutanese refugees
from Nepal since 2008. However, if having to choose between Cuban and Haitian refugees, which do
you think the US government would choose? (Note: Cubans run away from communism, Haitians from
hunger).
- lottery diversity visas some 50000/year, offered to countries which do not usually send too many
immigrants to the USA (they provide an initial 10-year green card).
The main countries sending immigrants to the USA nowadays are:
Inflow of New Legal Permanent Residents, Top Five Sending Countries, 2013
Country
2013
Region
2013
Mexico
135,028 Asia
400,548
China
71,798 Americas
396,605
India
68,458 Africa
98,304
Philippines
54,446 Europe
86,556
Dominican Republic 41,311 All Immigrants 990,553
As a result of all these, the USA is undergoing a process of browning (see graph below). In
fact, in some areas-like California- the non-white population has already surpassed the white
one in number.

Advantages and disadvantages of multiculturalism

At present, there are some 12 million illegal immigrants in the USA, over 50% Latinos and
mainly Mexicans. There are great debates over their status. One side is in favour of sending them
back to their countries when caught, the other side would give the ones already in the USA a legal
status, but increase the border control so that new ones would not come any more.
The pros and cons of this situation are discussed below:
Immigration's Impact on Overall Wage Rates
Immigration is popularly thought to lower the overall wage rate in the United States by increasing the
supply of individuals looking for jobs. This effect may occur in an area over a fairly short period of time.
Over longer time periods, however, wages will only fall if the amounts of other resources don't change.
Wages will not fall if the immigrants bring sufficient amounts of other resources with them, such as
capital, or cause the amount of other resources in the economy to increase sufficiently. For example,
historically the large-scale immigration from Europe contributed to rapid westward expansion of the
United States during most of the nineteenth century. The westward expansion, however, increased the
amounts of land and natural resources that were available, factors that almost certainly kept
immigration from lowering wage rates. Immigrants also increase the amounts of other resources in the
economy through running their own businesses, which both historically and in recent times has
occurred at a greater rate among immigrants than native workers.
Economic Benefits from Immigration
Beyond any effect on wages, there are a number of ways in which immigration might improve the
overall standard of living in an economy. First, immigrants may engage in inventive or scientific activity,

with the result being a gain to everyone. Evidence exists for both the historical and more recent
periods that the United States has attracted individuals with an inventive/scientific nature. The United
States has always been a leader in these areas. Individuals are more likely to be successful in such an
environment than in one where these activities are not as highly valued. Second, immigrants expand
the size of markets for various goods, which may lead to lower firms' average costs due to an increase
in firm size. The result would be a decrease in the price of the goods in question. Third, most
individuals immigrate between the ages of 15 and 35, so the expenses of their basic schooling are
paid abroad. In the past, most immigrants, being of working age, immediately got a job. Thus,
immigration increased the percentage of the population in the United States that worked, a factor that
raises the average standard of living in a country. Even in more recent times, most immigrants work,
though the increased proportion of older individuals in the immigrant stream means the positive effects
from this factor may be lower than in the past. Fourth, while immigrants may place a strain on
government services in an area, such as the school system, they also pay taxes. Even illegal
immigrants directly pay sales taxes on their purchases of goods and indirectly pay property taxes
through their rent
Looking Ahead

Will the unauthorized migrant population continue to grow at the present pace? In the short run, this
seems highly likely. Despite tightened border security and restrictions on the legal and social rights of
unauthorized migrants, the unauthorized migrant population has continued to grow at a rapid pace
during the post-September 11 era.

Furthermore, the unauthorized migrant population is no longer concentrated in only a few industries or
a few parts of the country. Rather, unauthorized migrants have become increasingly integrated in all
sectors of the economy throughout the nation; there appears to be widespread demand for their labor.

Finally, the circular migration pattern of unauthorized migrants between Mexico and the US, the
pattern of working in the United States while maintaining homes and family ties in Mexico, and the
ease of international communication and travel, suggest a high level of social and economic
integration between Mexico and the US that would be extremely difficult to disentangle.

The long-term future is more difficult to predict, and may depend in part on the economic development
of the countries and regions of the world from which unauthorized migrants originate. Research
suggests that heightened aspirations and opportunities for upward mobility abroad, rather than
desperate poverty, lead to high levels of international migration.

Why do immigrants choose America?

Also called the land of all opportunities the USA has always attracted immigrants. In fact, people
leave their home country either because something pushes them away or because something pulls
them.
Push factors:
- wars
- poverty/lack of jobs
- political/religious/social persecutions
- natural disasters
- climate harshness
Pull factors:
opportunities in economy (jobs), education
freedom (political, religious, sexual)
democracy
safety
One term that encompasses several such factors is The American Dream. The American Dream is
the belief that through hard work and determination, any United States immigrant can achieve a better
life, usually in terms of financial prosperity and enhanced personal freedom of choice. According to
historians, the rapid economic and industrial expansion of the U.S. is not simply a function of being a
resource rich, hard working, and inventive country, but the belief that anybody could get a share of the
country's wealth if he or she was willing to work hard. This dream has been a major factor in attracting
immigrants to the United States.
D. FROM MELTING POT TO SALAD BOWL
America is a nation of nations and has been created by colonists and immigrants, so it is the
most diverse multicultural country of the world. However, since historically the English or
Germanic white colonists came first, they had some attitude as superiority in the past, treating
the others, the late comers as intruders sometimes. They also imposed English as the main
language and it was the Anglo culture that dominated America for centuries.
Possible attitudes to ethnic or racial minorities through time:
REJECTION
INTOLERANCE
TOLERANCE
UNDERSTANDING
ACCEPTANCE
EMBRACING
INTEGRATION
Where are the Americans now?
If we look at their history and the changes within their society, we can say things have greatly
improved, racial and ethnic discrimination have much declined, and even if there is some left (mainly
economic discrimination, i.e. most poor people are immigrants or ethnic minorities such as the AfricanAmericans or the Native Americans).
In the past (until the 1960s ) American society was a Melting pot (=creuzet)in which all
ingredients (ethnic groups) melted and lost their distinct character. The result was uniformity or
homogeneity and it was accomplished through a policy of forced Americanization which meant that
everyone learnt the same things at school, i.e. Anglo culture and history, and were supposed to
embrace the American way of life, with total disregard for cultural variety.
In time, it was understood that it was not feasible to force people abandon their cultures or
make them have one identity at home and another in society. Uniformity to a sort of ideal American
identity was impossible to create, nor was it desirable.
Now, the American society can be compared metaphorically to a :

- Pizza
- Vegetable soup
- Salad bowl
- Rainbow coalition
- Patchwork quilt
- Ethnic stew
In them the ingredients mix but do not disappear. The result is an enriched mixture. It came about
by an increased democracy and fairer laws adopted by the Americans to ensure equal status to all
ethnic groups. After the legislation was adopted (starting with the 1960s) there followed a change of
mentality and people accepted these facts. One example of changed mentality is the so-called
politically correct language and attitude towards minorities. For example, because the old terms
blacks or Indians were perceived to be discriminatory, new ones were adopted: African American
and Native American. If in the past looking down upon these two racial and ethnic groups was
considered normal by the whites, nowadays they think twice before making a racist remark or even
joke, and not only because they might be sued, but also because society in general frowns upon such
manifestations.
It can be said that racism based on skin colour has greatly diminished in America, however, it was
replaced by the economic one (usually, the minorities are also poorer, less educated and therefore
less important socially.
E. CONCLUSIONS
ADVANTAGES OF A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY
VARIETY, CULTURAL RICHNESS (cultural manifestations, holidays, food, music, clothes,
arts, behaviours, ideas, all benefit from a variety of races and ethnic groups)
ECONOMIC WEALTH (variety of skills, work ethics, ideas brought by immigrants)
SOCIAL HARMONY (if each one understands the others, there are no conflicts)
DISADVANTAGES OF A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY
POSSIBLE RACIAL OR ETHNIC TENSIONS (WASP versus new comers, whites vs nonwhites)
DISCRIMINATION of
Native Americans
African Americans
Certain ethnic groups (Hispanics, Chinese, Irish, Puerto Ricans etc.)
LACK OF NATIONAL UNITY or cultural fragmentation or ghettoization of America (in most
cities there are ethnic ghettoes like Little Italy, China Town, etc)
For a better insight into these issues, we suggest the following readings:

ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL READING (Articles)

"Keep Your Tired, Poor Stereotypes"

By Stanley Karnow
Chauvinists worried that immigration threatens to blemish the nations purity might look at the
Washington suburb where I live. It was a drowsy, lily-white stretch of farms, stables and split-level
houses when we moved there 30 years ago. Since then, it has burgeoned into a multicultural,
multicolored, multilingual enclave dramatic evidence that the U.S., despite its manifold defects, is a
beacon for throngs from everywhere.
In contrast to the wretched, tempest-tossed, huddled masses sketched by Emma Lazarus in
her celebrated poem, many newcomers are educated, skilled, wealthy and fluent in English. They
disembark attuned to the best and the worst of the U.S. from their exposure to its movies, radio
programs and television shows, or from the Internet. Their teenagers sport baseball caps and Levis,

ride skateboards and are acquainted with Coke, Big Macs, Mickey Mouse, Madonna and Elvis. Others
who come may fit Lazarus description. But rich or poor, they come eager to work hard for a better life.
My neighbors include a German architect and his Iranian wife, a Palestinian contractor, a
Korean scientist and a car salesman from Madagascar. An Indian physician converted her home into a
miniature Taj Mahal, replete with bronze elephants on the lawn.
The local clinic employs an acupuncturist versed in the subtleties of yang and yin. Filipinos
nurse the elderly. The mechanic at the garage is Senegalese, the attendants Mongolian and Pakistani.
My barber is a French-Jewish woman who traces her lineage back to Tunisia. The shop is owned by a
Korean. We rely for repairs on a group of Jamaican carpenters, electricians, painters and plumbers.
Our part-time gardener is a Salvadoran. Initially he came into the area by bus, but now he has a truck.
The supermarket is staffed by Filipinos, Cameroonians, Haitians, Latinos, Indians, Thais and a
Tibetan. Its stocked with borscht, matzo, couscous, mango chutney, shitake mushrooms, lemon grass,
taro and varied herbs. There are dozens of kinds of rice and noodles.
The community center offers classes in tai chi chuan, karate and yoga. Books, periodicals and
videos, tapes and DVDs in Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Russian, Tagalog and
Vietnamese are available at the public library. At the elementary school, a teacher from Beijing is
immersing kindergartners in the rudiments of Mandarin. One morning, when I casually dropped in on
them, they were perched on the stools and gleefully chanting ditties in rote, reminding me of toddlers
in Hong Kong, my base as a correspondent during the 1960s.
This spectacular demographic transformation owes its genesis to President Lyndon Johnson.
In 1965, consistent with his sweeping liberal agenda, he persuaded Congress to legislate a
progressive immigration law. Among other things, it repealed the patently racist statute promoted in
1924 by jingoists and super-patriots that cut legal immigration by half as a device to curb the
admission of undesirables from Eastern and Southern Europe. Today, 30 million Americans are
foreign-born.
The melting pot concept, glorified as the paradigm, turned out to be an illusion, primarily
because people sought to preserve their distinct identities. We are closer to the notion of cultural
pluralism broached in 1925 by the Jewish philosopher Horace Kallen. Dismayed by the thought of
dissolving his pedigree in an Anglocentric caldron, he suggested a loose federation of nationalities
cooperating voluntarily through a multiplicity of autonomous institutions. Die-hard conformists
vehemently decried his proposal as a gambit for championing hyphenated Americanism. But he was
remarkably prescient.
The syrupy Norman Rockwell illustration of the country as an exclusive WASP domain has
faded into oblivion as we evolved into a land of diverse minorities. The danger, however, is that unum
may be eclipsed by pluribus, and we become a fragmented society. This phenomenon is apparent on
college campuses, where student activists, prodded by their politically correct professors, stridently
clamor for segregated dining halls, fraternities, lounges and curriculums. Immigrants are impervious to
this trend.
Recently, while paying a bill at the gas station, I noticed that the black cashier was pursuing a
newspaper in a language unfamiliar to me. Im Ethiopian, he explained, then asked me: Are you
Jewish? Amazed, I replied, Yes. So am I, he replied, adding shalom as he handed me my change.
"Why I'm Black, Not African American"
By John McWhorter

September 8, 2004

It's time we descendants of slaves brought to the United States let go of the term "African American"
and go back to calling ourselves Black with a capital B.

Modern America is home now to millions of immigrants who were born in Africa. Their cultures and
identities are split between Africa and the United States. They have last names like Onwughalu and
Senkofa. They speak languages like Wolof, Twi, Yoruba and Hausa, and speak English with an accent.
They were raised on African cuisine, music, dance and dress styles, customs and family dynamics.
Their children often speak or at least understand their parents' native language.

Living descendants of slaves in America neither knew their African ancestors nor even have elder
relatives who knew them. Most of us worship in Christian churches. Our cuisine is more southern U.S.
than Senegalese. Starting with ragtime and jazz, we gave America intoxicating musical beats based
on African conceptions of rhythm, but with melody and harmony based on Western traditions.

Also, we speak English. Black Americans' home speech is largely based on local dialects of England
and Ireland. Africa echoes in the dialect only as a whisper, in certain aspects of sound and melody. A
working-class black man in Cincinnati has more in common with a working-class white man in
Providence than with a Ghanaian.

With the number of African immigrants in the U.S. nearly tripling since 1990, the use of "African
American" is becoming increasingly strained. For example, Alan Keyes, the Republican Senate
candidate in Illinois, has claimed that as a descendant of slaves, he is the "real" African American,
compared with his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, who has an African father and white mother. And
the reason Keyes and others are making arguments such as this is rather small, the idea being that
"African American" should refer only to people with a history of subordination in this country as if
African immigrants such as Amadou Diallo, who was killed by police while reaching for his wallet, or
Caribbean ones such as torture victim Abner Louima have found the U.S. to be the Land of Oz.

We are not African to any meaningful extent, but we are not white either and that is much of why Jesse
Jackson's presentation of the term "African American" caught on so fast. It sets us apart from the
mainstream. It carries an air of standing protest, a reminder that our ancestors were brought here
against their will, that their descendants were treated like animals for centuries, and that we have
come a long way since then.

But we need a way of sounding those notes with a term that, first, makes some sense and, second,
does not insult the actual African Americans taking their place in our country. And our name must also
celebrate our history here, in the only place that will ever be our home. To term ourselves as part
"African" reinforces a sad implication: that our history is basically slave ships, plantations, lynching, fire

hoses in Birmingham, and then South Central, and that we need to look back to Mother Africa to feel
good about ourselves.

But what about the black business districts that thrived across the country after slavery was
abolished? What about Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Gwendolyn Brooks, Richard
Wright and Thurgood Marshall, none born in Africa and all deeply American people? And while we're
on Marshall, what about the civil rights revolution, a moral awakening that we gave to ourselves and
the nation. My roots trace back to working-class Black people Americans, not foreigners and I'm proud
of it. I am John Hamilton McWhorter the Fifth. Four men with my name and appearance, doing their
best in a segregated America, came before me. They and their dearest are the heritage that I can feel
in my heart, and they knew the sidewalks of Philadelphia and Atlanta, not Sierra Leone.

So, we will have a name for ourselves and it should be Black. "Colored" and "Negro" had their good
points but carry a whiff of Plessy vs. Ferguson and Bull Connor about them, so we will let them lie.
"Black" isn't perfect, but no term is.

Meanwhile, the special value of "Black" is that it carries the same potent combination of pride,
remembrance and regret that "African American" was designed for. Think of what James Brown meant
with "Say it loud, I'm Black and I'm proud." And then imagine: "Say it loud, I'm African American and
I'm proud."

Since the late 1980s, I have gone along with using "African American" for the same reason that we
throw rice at a bride because everybody else was doing it. But no more. From now on, in my writings
on race I will be returning to the word I grew up with, which reminds me of my true self and my
ancestors who worked here to help make my life possible: Black.

John McWhorter, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, is the author of "Authentically Black"
(Gotham Books, 2003).
A BLACK PRESIDENT COULDNT STOP IT
The Telegraph, 18 August, 2014

Violence continues in Ferguson, Mississippi. It began on August 9, 2014 with the death of Michael
Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager cut down by a white cops bullets. Peaceful
demonstrations turned into looting, the local police went in with rubber bullets and tear gas, all hell
broke loose and, eventually, Missouris governor pulled out the local police and sent in state officers

instead. But the rioting only paused; it didnt cease. And it may continue. Thats probably because its
driven by a deep, deep anger that will take a long time to calm.
Observers might ask, How can this be happening in an America that has elected a black president?
How can black kids still get killed by white cops and how can towns still burn in race riots?
Part of the explanation is that the recession has been especially tough on African-Americans
reinforcing historical disparities of wealth between the races. Before the credit crunch, the median net
worth of a black household was $12,124, compared with $134,992 in white households. After the
crunch, the black net worth fell to just $5,677, compared with $113,149 among whites. Black home
equity fell by an average of 28 per cent and retirement savings by 35 per cent. In May 2014, the black
unemployment rate stood at 11.5 per cent more than double the white jobless rate of 5.4 per cent.
To make matters worse, blacks face additional challenges at home and in the streets. There is a crisis
in black fatherhood: while just 29 per cent of whites are born out of wedlock, the figure is 72 per cent
for blacks. One result is a racial imbalance in welfare dependency: African-Americans make up about
13 per cent of the population yet 39.8 per cent of those on welfare rolls. Other frightening statistics
point to a serious cultural malaise. Four out of five black women are overweight or obese; black
women account for nearly 36 per cent of all abortions performed in the United States.
All of this is made worse by a police and judicial system that seems not just imbalanced against blacks
but actually designed to put more of them in prison. The War on Drugs and mandatory sentencing has
gone hand-in-hand with racial profiling to send large numbers of African-Americans to jail for small
infractions: they now account for around 40 per cent of the prison population. For a sense of how, for
many blacks, the police are an agency of state repression, consider this alarming fact: in Ferguson, 67
per cent of residents are black but 94 per cent of the local police are white.
Why has electing a black president not changed all of this? One answer is that while Obama is a
president who is black, he has never sold himself as an expressly black president that is, he tries to
operate outside of the racial narrative rather than play a leadership role within it. He is evidence to the
young black child that, yes, anyone can make it in America.
But what he was never going to be was someone who would confront racism head on or seek a
substantial redistribution of power and money of the variety that many civil rights leaders feel is
necessary to help the poor.
President Obama has tried on occasion to talk about race, but its political consequences have tended
to be negative. When Trayvon Martin was shot dead by vigilante George Zimmerman, Obama
remarked that he could have been his son and it did nothing to help convict Zimmerman. On the
contrary, many conservatives took exception to the remarks for it seemed like an inappropriate
injection of national politics into a case facing the courts.
Obama has commented on Ferguson but mostly to appeal for calm and ask for a proper investigation
of what happened.
If there is hope for real change, some of it might come from the Right. In general, they have been
horrified by events in Ferguson not so much by the looting (condemned by almost everyone) but by
the obvious iniquities in the law-and-order system. Jonah Goldberg, a highly respected Right-wing
columnist, argued that the idea that police forces shouldnt take into account the racial or ethnic
make-up of their communities when it comes to hiring [is] bizarre.
Senator Rand Paul, a libertarian Republican who would like to be president, has condemned both the
militarisation of the police and the countrys drug laws. Meanwhile, many Republicans are embracing
prison reform.
Of course, it will be the black community that will lead the fight for change. Fortunately, there is an
expanding black middle class to offer a model of self-improvement and the black church remains a
beacon of activism and uplift. Sadly, what they have discovered since the days of the civil rights

movement is that government isnt always their best friend and the promises of the Left can be empty.
Change will come from within towns like Ferguson, not from within the White House.