Early American Immigration History

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The history of United States has involved immigrants coming to the country for a variety of reasons. It began with the English settler and eventually the country would attract immigrants from countries all over the world. The appeal of a better life is generally what draws immigrants to the country, however the immigrant experience has included difficulties in many aspects of life. There are many cases of immigrants being targeted by the public as scapegoats. My thesis is that despite the long history of immigration in America, immigrants have faced difficulties related to the perception held against them. The difficulties includes the targeting through legislation, public perception, and overall place in society. The perception of threat …show more content…
This statement reveals a general sentiment of the fear possessed against foreigners as they were seen as a threat to American society. The fear stems from ignorance though, as it focuses on the differences of the incoming group. The groups that were looked down upon in early American history were the other European groups who may not have shared identical beliefs. However as the groups of European immigrants integrated themselves into society, the fear was shifted to other groups. In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion act was passed and it initially barred Chinese immigrants but was eventually extended to exclude most amount of Asian countries and the act was extended indefinitely in 1902 (Shaw 158). This direct rejection of foreigners reveals how fear hinders equality as some are wrongfully viewed as dangerous. The xenophobia that exists in the United States as a result of policies that reject those who may be in need and contributes to further issues after …show more content…
Intersectionality focuses on the complexities that exists in a person’s life. In a description of racism impacting different races in their economic standing, groups can occupy a subordinate racial position, intermediary social position, or superordinate racial position (Shaw 386). Groups fit into each position with the least advantages to groups in the subordinate racial positions and most advantages in the superordinate racial position. This can show how race impacts other parts of an individual’s life by determining the difficulties faced. By learning there is a larger role that race plays it can help understand people in different groups. It can help understand the struggles faced by the Latino community in the difficulties they have socially and economically and the issues Asian Americans have in how they are perceived. In addition to looking at the impact race may have another use of intersectionality appears in Tim Wise’s suggestion “to practice what he calls illuminated individualism, whereby we do not assume that any characteristic ‘automatically tells us what we need to know about a person” (Shaw 398). This practice can help the progression and acceptance of groups as it requires the understanding of an individual and their relation to the groups they identify with. By understanding intersectionality, pathways can be created in order
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