Libra
10-02-2016, 04:52 PM
^ That is usually a story filled with interstring mixed results, some good, some bad, some downright shameful in most places where it happens.
Of course, I can only talk locally, since I've only have mild knowledge about inmigration to NY and US in general.
In this bit of land, it was a very different story depending where you came from and that laregely determined whether you'd get in easily or harder.
It was not the same being Italian/Spaniard than British/French/German. If you were Spaniard, it was not the same being Galician/Andalusian than Castilian or Basque. And locally, coming from Perú or Bolivia was and still sort of is, from some kind of people, looked down upon (there are local historical issues at play there).
Palestinian and Arabs had the hardest time adapting here, for rather obvious reasons, even when most Palestinians that landed here were Christian. Nowadays some of them are part of very wealthy families. As of now, last names notwithstanding, they are fully integrated.
Germans that colonized the near south in the mid 1850s did so brilliantly...maybe too brilliantly considering some issues after 1945. They were mostly southern Germans of pre-unified Germany (Bavarians, Austrians, etc.) and therefore Catholic, which made it all the easier to not adapt but to actually deliver their cultural elements onto the rural south. Same can be said about Croatians in the far south.
British were mostly bussinessmen and their role into turning this city of mine into a trading hub and making the city grow, flourish and thrive into the golden age it had util 1914 was one of the most important developments I can think of that immigration brought. British investement payed for railroads, it made the mining industries in the north more efficient, etc (yes, that came with strings attached, but they were largely worth it).
Furthermore, Germans and British coming to this port were mostly Protestant, which was a major fact in helping to end the monopoly of the Catholic Church, the cease of the benefits they enjoyed and the transfer of their control over education and civilian registration to the hands of the State. In a side note, they also left behind architecture of their own that mixed with the local one, which is was makes this port city of mine appealing to tourists.
All of these communities, at first separated, got integrated and are now not likely different than the rest of us. If there are differences, you can dump them mostly on social status rather than origins.
When it comes to other Latin American communities the thing gets trickier. The history with our bordering neighbours is an uneasy one. As such, immigrants coming from those places would probably face some problems, but for the most part, while not integrated, they live in peace.
The most recent surge in immigration, starting around 2010, comes from Colombia. This brings about quite the culture shock, as I myself have experienced, but once you get pass those differences, all is good.
The main source of friction would come from social status. The ones that are uneducated consequentially work in cheap labor stuff and since this country LOVES to segregate people according to wealth, these peeps end up in not so nice places, and therefore engaging in the same problems that locals face when not packing enough money to live comfortably.
There are several others, though, that come with degrees, experience, postgraduate studies, etc. They have a much easier time finding good jobs and having a better life.
You wouldn't think at first that we'd have less problems taking in our own kind than peeps from Europe or the Middle East, but as it turnes out, it is quite the opposite. Nationality around these parts seems to be far more important than the overall shared culture Latin America is supposed to have. It is a strange process of "othering" but one that started even when we were still colonies.
But, as integration, at least of the late XIX-early XX century communities, is a completed process, it's only a matter of time before it happens with the most recent ones. I'd like to think that Latin America's foundations as a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society can trump the pettiness of other issues like nationalities, historical grudges bewteen neighbors, etc.
Of course, I can only talk locally, since I've only have mild knowledge about inmigration to NY and US in general.
In this bit of land, it was a very different story depending where you came from and that laregely determined whether you'd get in easily or harder.
It was not the same being Italian/Spaniard than British/French/German. If you were Spaniard, it was not the same being Galician/Andalusian than Castilian or Basque. And locally, coming from Perú or Bolivia was and still sort of is, from some kind of people, looked down upon (there are local historical issues at play there).
Palestinian and Arabs had the hardest time adapting here, for rather obvious reasons, even when most Palestinians that landed here were Christian. Nowadays some of them are part of very wealthy families. As of now, last names notwithstanding, they are fully integrated.
Germans that colonized the near south in the mid 1850s did so brilliantly...maybe too brilliantly considering some issues after 1945. They were mostly southern Germans of pre-unified Germany (Bavarians, Austrians, etc.) and therefore Catholic, which made it all the easier to not adapt but to actually deliver their cultural elements onto the rural south. Same can be said about Croatians in the far south.
British were mostly bussinessmen and their role into turning this city of mine into a trading hub and making the city grow, flourish and thrive into the golden age it had util 1914 was one of the most important developments I can think of that immigration brought. British investement payed for railroads, it made the mining industries in the north more efficient, etc (yes, that came with strings attached, but they were largely worth it).
Furthermore, Germans and British coming to this port were mostly Protestant, which was a major fact in helping to end the monopoly of the Catholic Church, the cease of the benefits they enjoyed and the transfer of their control over education and civilian registration to the hands of the State. In a side note, they also left behind architecture of their own that mixed with the local one, which is was makes this port city of mine appealing to tourists.
All of these communities, at first separated, got integrated and are now not likely different than the rest of us. If there are differences, you can dump them mostly on social status rather than origins.
When it comes to other Latin American communities the thing gets trickier. The history with our bordering neighbours is an uneasy one. As such, immigrants coming from those places would probably face some problems, but for the most part, while not integrated, they live in peace.
The most recent surge in immigration, starting around 2010, comes from Colombia. This brings about quite the culture shock, as I myself have experienced, but once you get pass those differences, all is good.
The main source of friction would come from social status. The ones that are uneducated consequentially work in cheap labor stuff and since this country LOVES to segregate people according to wealth, these peeps end up in not so nice places, and therefore engaging in the same problems that locals face when not packing enough money to live comfortably.
There are several others, though, that come with degrees, experience, postgraduate studies, etc. They have a much easier time finding good jobs and having a better life.
You wouldn't think at first that we'd have less problems taking in our own kind than peeps from Europe or the Middle East, but as it turnes out, it is quite the opposite. Nationality around these parts seems to be far more important than the overall shared culture Latin America is supposed to have. It is a strange process of "othering" but one that started even when we were still colonies.
But, as integration, at least of the late XIX-early XX century communities, is a completed process, it's only a matter of time before it happens with the most recent ones. I'd like to think that Latin America's foundations as a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society can trump the pettiness of other issues like nationalities, historical grudges bewteen neighbors, etc.
![[Image: 05onfire1_xp-jumbo-v2.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp]](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/08/05/us/05onfire1_xp/05onfire1_xp-jumbo-v2.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp)
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