Polish Immigrants Now

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/world/americas/21iht-poles.1.16331188.html?_r=0



Here's an interesting article that talks about the rate of polish immigration and then back immigration in recent times. Well they don't have very recent datas but the article talks about fairly recent 2006-2007 datas. It says that the polish community in new york is shrinking because of their immigration back to their country. After being admitted to european union in 2004 polish migration has diminished largely which created job opportunities for them back home.there are other factors such as tighter regulations and aging of people that are here. There is a significant decline of polish people in Greenpoint, Brooklyn which was a centre for polish migration. The article gives stories about different people. Its a good read.

Ethnic enclave

Even from the earliest times we see people settling in area where there are people with similar background, like same country, similar language and culture. We read in chapter 6 that ethnic enclaves established throughout the history of America. And even today we can  find these enclaves throughout out own community. Its a funny story that we (me and family) used to live in northern California before and we moved down to south bay because there are more people from Nepal living here although we didn't know any of them anyways. I think having people from the same background and same origin gives a feeling of security, togetherness and community in a land that is not theirs. I do find that here than when i was living in the North but i don't want to be confined in that community. May be this is what everyone feels and they settle where the people from their own country settles and venture out after a generation or when they become successful.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-francisco-oakland/1255801-bay-area-ethnic-communities.html

On the other note i found this in the web and i am not sure if this a credible website or not but it gives the population data of most of the ethnic groups from the bay area. It was nice to look at the numbers and probably we can all tell who is the majority and who is the minority groups but still its good source.

Discrimination against Germans

Discrimination against germans

The chapter 5 of book "Ethnicity and Race in American Life" talks about the discrimination against German in Pennsylvania where they were one third of the population. They were considered as unassimilable alien bloc. We saw the racial prejudice against Germans in Benjamin's Essay as well. i wonder if it is just because they retained their culture and stayed as a group rather than assimilating was the factor for the discrimination or is they any other political or economical reasons behind it. Was german a threat to British empire during that time and expanding its territory further in Europe. is this something to think about? there will not be any kind of prejudice or discrimination without anything right. if anyone knows about it let me know.

I have only been in United States for 5 years now so i don't know much about the struggles of the immigrants from the earlier eras. I came to one of the liberal and racially diverse place in the country so didn't have to go through any racial or ethnic crisis of any kind. I am sure it still exists in some parts of the country. I just took this class because american history is one of the required classes and i am glad that i chose this class to some straight on history class. So far reading the first three chapters of the book i came to realize that this will be an interesting class. it would be more resourceful if we get to hear people's stories about immigration and the reason behind it. If an immigrant from colonial times could rise from their grave and come to class and tell their story that would be even interesting but unfortunately zombies don't exists in reality. Looking forward in the semester i would love to hear or watch documentaries about different eras and people immigrating in those eras. Sorry i am more of a visual person.