I really liked the approach Daniels used I this chapter in grouping the New Asian Immigrants together. It allowed them to be discussed individually, yet it very impacting to consider them as a whole. The comparison of the Japanese and Chinese experience presented information about their communities that I didn’t fully appreciate. The bifurcated nature of the Chinese American community, the ABCs and the FOBs versus the more uniform Japanese experience were important factors that effected their acculturation to America. The “silent” Chinese of San Francisco is not surprising if you have spent any time in Chinatown there, but I am sure many people reading this text who don’t have the chance to visit there would be surprised. I wonder if other Chinatowns across the country this same dichotomy.
Education is such an important factor in the successful immigration of any group and we see it often in this text. Groups who either come here better educated to begin with or make it a priority for their children to have a good education seem to see more upward mobility and economic stability in the next generations.
I am always shocked at the total number of Vietnam War refugees and their children in the United States. I did not realize that our treatment of them was not uniform across the country - that programs such as federal Aid to Families With Dependent Children is administered by the states. There are so many very poor and not well-educated among them and it is very difficult in these economic times to find the resources to support them and give them what they need.
Until these New Asian immigrants were presented together in this chapter, I didn’t have an appreciation for this group as a whole and their patterns of immigration when put in this context and much more clearly seen, at least to me.
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