From The Peopling of New York City
CHC 2 - Peopling of New York
Biography
My name is Zujaja Tauqeer and I'm a freshman at Brooklyn College. I plan on majoring in history even though I'm on a pre-med track because I love studying politics and historical events. I've lived in many of New York's neighborhoods on three different boroughs, but my most complete and fulfilling experience has been in Brooklyn. While I've lived in many of this borough's neighborhoods, Dyker Heights, Sunset Park, and Bensonhurst, I currently reside on Staten Island, close to New Jersey. Because my longest stay was in Bensonhurst (about 11 months) I chose to explore the diversity and changing nature of this borough to reflect my own journey to here.
To borrow a phrase from Benjamin Franklin, a community should fit its inhabitants like a glove. Conversely, for the community to thrive, each inhabitant must contribute therein. One essential component of an ideal community is that it must be able to incorporate residents from any background. It does not have to necessarily already have a diverse population, but it must be conducive to the creation of one by having, at the very least, the absence of outward racism or racial quotas. This way, a community is available to anyone and anyone can be productive within its system. In places that are not as large as metropolises like New York City, a city usually provides as much space and resources as a borough of NYC.
Once the community becomes open to diversity, it must develop a variety of commercial and financial enterprises that can accommodate people of varying skilled or unskilled professions, allowing more groups of (im)migrants to find a job and establish a livelihood there. A city’s continuing success and future then becomes contingent on a good public educational system. Public school education is available to all, and it usually brings its students into contact with people/ideas/experiences from a larger demographic than in private school systems. A healthcare system is mandatory for obvious reasons. Furthermore, a city should accord its resources in such a manner so as to provide the basic necessities of life to all its citizens, i.e. shelter, food, and medicine,
as best as it can.
Bobby and the Rights of Immigrants
The clip I chose is from the movie ‘Bobby,’ directed by Emilio Estevez, which is about the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a very progressive politician during the 1950s who stood for important civil changes that would have improved the rights of many discriminated groups such as immigrants. In the 1-minute clip, a hotel manager, Paul Ebbers, argues with his assistant, Daryl, over the assistant’s refusal to give his kitchen staffers time off to vote. The kitchen staffers are all mainly Mexican/Latino immigrants.
Paul Ebbers, represents the kind of progressive thinking that Senator Kennedy stood for. He demands that not only the workers be given time off to vote, but should be paid for their time off in fulfilling a public service, even if they’re immigrants. Daryl represents the bigotry and close-mindedness that made immigrants second-tier citizens and kept them in the socioeconomic cellar along with other minorities and disadvantaged groups, not being able to wield enough political power to fight for reforms. He complains that most of his workers are probably illegal so what’s the point in giving them time off to vote. He stereotypes his Latino workers and because of this stereotype, denies the rights of those who came to American legally and work hard at the hotel. Ebbers believes in the equal rights of his employees and demands that Daryl respect them, then promptly fires him. This scene shows the level of discrimination immigrants faced, and the 60s polticial atmosphere which was coming to terms with immigrants and their rights.
Midterm Questions
From Ellis Island to JFK
Describe one similarity and one difference between the two waves of immigrants to New York City in terms of how they adapted to NY life.
The lives of immigrants have changed in some ways and stayed relatively similar in others, over a century. Immigrants continue to, like their predecessors in the pre-1960 waves of immigration, keep close ties with their sending home countries. These transnational ties have transcended time.
In the old days, Italian immigrants were working in the U.S. as laborers ‘putting away money in New York to buy land or houses in the home country…’ (172). Now it has extended to the point that immigrants hold dual citizenships, allowing them to reside as participating citizens in both countries which helps the sending nations because ‘a powerful economic incentive in involved in the recognition of dual nationality’ (181). Whereas before it was necessary for Jewish and Italian newcomers to keep in contact with wives and children, contemporary immigrants also maintain close relationships with extended families. As a study of New York Asian Indians showed, ‘they usually take their families back to visit India every year of two’ (177). Most strikingly, the desire to enjoy economic security still motivates immigrants to dabble in both economies, making money in one and then investing in the other. This was a factor ‘motivating Italians to travel back and forth across the Atlantic,’ and now, ‘with new international forms of economic activity in the new global marketplace…more immigrants today are involved in economic endeavors that span national borders’ (174, 178).
But times have changed and immigrant women are an example of just how much. In the early 1900s (and late 1800s) peasant immigrant women could expect only a life of harsh work with no results. For example ‘Italian and Jewish daughters understood their wages to be a part of the family fund. They customarily handed over all their earnings…’ (112). Thus, economic participation did not translate into economic independence. Furthermore, ‘for the vast majority of Jewish and Italian immigrant women, marriage…spelled the end of factory work’ (115).
After several civil and social reforms, women’s rights have reached a point where immigrant women can take better jobs as ‘woman’s ability to obtain labor certification enabled many to lead the way’ (124). Young girls are less likely to give up the prospect of education to work for the family or to help their brother’s get an education. Women can now make equal to their husband’s pay and continue to work even after marriage and kids, though some times that is out of necessity.
Class Notes
Discuss multiculturalism, cultural pluralism, and assimilationism. Which one most accurately depicts New York City?
New York City is a culturally pluralistic society. This is evident by the ethnic makeup of the city. White the other two ideologies, Multiculturalism and Assimilationism are applicable in some areas of this country, there are several reasons why they do not apply to New York.
Multiculturalism is a theory that advocates a society where distinct ethnic groups hold equal rights with no culture predominating. It allows different groups to maintain their distinct identities in peace. In New York City, while many distinct groups are present, all groups do not hold the same rights mainly because they exist in different sizes and larger proportions enjoy economic and political stability in some groups than in others. Latinos, Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and South Americans to a degree, are so great in number that, despite not having that many business and white-collar professionals as, say, Jewish or Indian immigrants, they have many services catered to their group as well as great political relevance. Signs in the subways and most businesses have Spanish translations; most major service industries have speaking/listening options for Spanish-speaking customers. Local governments, as well as state governments, are occupied with tailoring policies to the Latino population, such as immigration services, welfare services, aid societies etc. But everyone does not get an equal piece of the pie. No such services exist for smaller groups such as West Indians, who live in less recognized enclaves (such as along Flatbush avenue).
Assimilationism, apart from being, in my opinion, a utopian theory, may seem to some a little racist. It has been advocated by residents in the New York neighborhood of Douglaston-Little Neck whose residents, predominantly white, have formally encouraged all newcomers to refrain from standing out, and to adopt the prevalent customs to become ‘Americanized.’ An assimilationist society shows complete disregard for the ethnic variety that immigrants provide, and that is not true of New York. Heritage parades, posters, brochures and flyers in foreign languages, ethnic stores with limited to no English signs, and even the names of neighborhood (Chinatown, Little Italy) are a testament to the extent to which this city is not such a society.
Cultural Pluralism explains all the factors that prove the other two theories lacking in their description of New York City. While white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestantism is still the status quo, smaller groups ‘merge, but they do not fuse.’ The differences that cultural groups enjoy between themselves and their refusal to lose distinct foreign flavor makes this a culturally pluralistic society.
The World In A City
Describe how specific neighborhoods have shifted populations over time. Give two examples of different immigrants in different neighborhoods.
In Joseph Berger’s words, ‘America’s melting pot is bubbling briskly.’ As new immigrants squeeze into the metropolis and other leave for greener (more suburban) pastures, neighborhoods are changing and adapting. Oftentimes, the change is relatively peaceful as with the Latino influx into East Harlem in the wake of Italian migration. But as the small flare-ups in Douglaston-Little Neck show, it can leave some people annoyed.
Italians who lived in an increasingly tough East Harlem neighborhood eventually moved out. For Italian barber Claudio Caponigro ‘when the neighborhood got rougher around 1969, he moved his wife and three daughters’ (47). The Italians settled to the outer fringes of Queens and Brooklyn, even the Bronx to live in nice homes with driveways and backyards. The cheaper housing attracted Dominican and Mexican immigrants and Puerto Ricans who wanted to return to the homes of their parents, in search of artistic authenticity. In describing the neighborhood, some have said, ‘there is an incredible renaissance here’ (44). The Italians left voluntarily in search of their own pursuits and the Latinos simply filled the gap.
Douglaston, being an affluent suburb with a very wealthy, elite history, has been and still is, predominantly white. The immigrants who live there are all white and have assimilated fully. They are white European immigrants, Irish mainly and some Eastern Europeans such Ukrainian, who assert, ‘All we would like people to do is don’t stand out’ (64). Asians, Koreans and Chinese, have worked their way up from low-paying jobs, long hours, and cheap tenement-style housing in cheap neighborhoods, and can now afford the expensive homes in Douglaston which can cost up to $4 million. As they are moving in, they are making small ethnic enclaves where they can preach and shop in the same language. ‘Another barrier is the unifying Korean language’ (66). As their ethnic stores and congregations have cropped up, it is raising concerns in this white neighborhood about how different the newcomers are. Emphasis is being made on assimilation ‘from immigrants who feel they worked their way up by sticking to the old rules and wonder why the newcomers shouldn’t do the same’ (63).
Beyond the Melting Pot
Pick one group and describe its assimilation process. Has this group truly melted in the pot?
By the time that Nathan Glazer wrote Beyond the Melting Pot, the grandchildren of the initial great waves of Italian immigrants were rising to prosperity. Through his description of several facets of Italian life, a very thorough portrait of their assimilation process is painted.
The most important factor that hampered Italian assimilation was the family-centered orientation of the community. Children (second-generation) were most likely to follow their parents in terms of education (or lack thereof). Italian immigrants were peasants and landless laborers with no literacy skills; their culture looked down on sons and daughters who left family work to go to school. Glazer used statistics to show that first-generation Italians were laborers and workingmen, just like their immigrant parents. Only second-generation Italians were finally becoming professionals (graduate school) and getting white-collar jobs. This hampered the assimilation process for this ethnic group of immigrants. They did not join the ‘American’ culture as they still chose to identify with and remain close to their community enclaves and conduct all business matters within the family. This characteristic was made infamous by the crime families and other illegal businesses that Italians headed, which were controlled by and handed down to family. Furthermore, another peculiar Italian quirk was alienation from strangers. Leaving outsiders to their own business and dealing with their own, they did not come into contact as readily with the dominant social structure as assimilationists would have liked.
The Italians did assimilate eventually by sending political representative to Congress, renovating their disintegrating neighborhoods, accepting the middle-class Catholic religion, and, eventually, entering the white-collar sector. By focusing on change for the better within their own ethnic enclaves, they were able to (albeit slowly) assimilate into the melting pot. As Glazer writes, ‘the Italian Americans have moved from the working class to (in increasing measure) the middle class, from the city to the suburbs, and from secularism to Catholicism’ (216). But because they still retained that family-advancement, rather than self-advancement, ideal, they still added a distinct flavor to the American pot. The verdict? ‘The rich content of the old proletarian, city life…is disappearing, and is being replaced by a new middle-class style, which is American Catholic more than it is anything that may by called American Italian’ (216).
Brooklyn: Stat Line
Percent Foreign Born in Brooklyn
Percent Receiving Public Assistance
Percent Less Than High School Degree
Percent With Professional Degrees
Percent Living In Poverty
Bensonhurst: Stat Line
Population - Bensonhurst
Total Population - 172,129
Single Race, Nonhispanic:
White 111,651
Black / African American 675
American Indian and Alaska Native 125
Asian 39,547
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander 43
Some other Race 282
Two or More Races, Nonhispanic 4,734
Hispanic Origin (of any race) 15,072
Single Race, Nonhispanic: (by percentage)
White 64.9%
Black / African American 0.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%
Asian 23%
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander 0%
Some other Race 0.2%
Two or More Races, Nonhispanic 2.8%
Hispanic Origin (of any race) 8.8%
Population - My neighborhood
West 4th street, Brooklyn, New York, 11204
Total Population 3,529
Single Race, Nonhispanic:
White 2,290
Black / African American 15
American Indian and Alaska Native 2
Asian 771
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander 0
Some other Race 6
Two or More Races, Nonhispanic 91
Hispanic Origin (of any race) 354
Single Race, Nonhispanic: (by percentage)
White 64.9%
Black / African American 0.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%
Asian 21.8%
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander 0%
Some other Race 0.2%
Two or More Races, Nonhispanic 2.6%
Hispanic Origin (of any race) 10%
There to Here
Planting the seed
My parents worked in Kano, Nigeria, as voluntary as well as royal physicians. Because of their profession and experience in working abroad, they had obtained visas to the United States in 1984-5. While many people at that time were fleeing to America, my parents, enjoying economic prosperity, decided to return to Pakistan to establish their own medical practice, thinking that the opportunity to go to America would surely return again. The idea of going to some Western country and practicing medicine there became a part of their plans then.
There
After I was born in 1989, a large movement against Ahmadis (a Muslim sect) renewed in the province of Punjab, where my family resided in the city of Lahore. Because of threatening situations, my family soon decided that leaving the country was the best option. Faced with violence and propaganda in the province aimed at Ahmadis doctors especially, my father took the entire family to Islamabad to apply for visas. While it is a very difficult process, and it is rare to get a visa, we were granted asylum to the U.S., spending our last few days living with relatives.
Getting Here
While many physicians who had left the country usually left their profession because it was difficult to start over again in the U.S., my parents really wanted to return to medicine despite the jobs they had to take along the way for wages. In search for residency in medicine, the family went from Houston to St. Louis, to Baltimore to New York City finally.
While I was in these places, my brief stays there did not allow me to assimilate into the society. Furthermore, places like Houston, and Baltimore did not have large immigrant populations and so there was some discrimination present. Being a Pakistani and being Muslim, I felt very isolated because these communities are not very prominent in those areas. Because we always found ourselves packing up our bags every summer, I became closer to family, usually shunning school friendships for more family time.
Here
In 2001, my mother came to Queens, again in pursuit of residency, and the whole family followed. We were all awed by the amount of immigrants and different types of people in New York, me especially. While I had lived in many different places, I had never actually seen so many different people in one place. The street graffitti, the cracked sidewalks, the large skyscrapers and looking projects were all very overwhelming for me.
In school, I finally began to assimilate into the 'salad bowl'. While in places like Baltimore and Houston and St. Louis the focus was on immigrants to make themselves like the natives, here the immigrants stayed truer to their roots and it wasn't so bad to be foreign, because almost everyone else was or knew someone who was. I learned the cultural slang, became more interested in American movies, songs, and music. I was finally able to communicate on the same frequency with the rest of my classmates. It was a long time coming, but even though I was here for about 2-3 years, moving from Queens to Dyker Heights, I felt that the openness of New York City made my assimilation possible despite my uncertainty as to the future.
After I got into Brooklyn Technical High School and my sister at Amherst College, my parents decided that they would take their chances in New York City, not moving anymore (unless circumstances were dire). As my parents got higher paying jobs, we soon moved to Sunset Park because we could afford a better apartment. This neighborhood had very new immigrants from Mexico and China, and even though communication was difficult, the experiences transcended cultural and language barrier. Then, we moved to Bensonhurst because my mother also got a higher paying position in medicine. I lived the longest there, about 11 months, in a neighborhood that had a very similar Chinese flavor. All of Bay Parkway was Chinese shops and grocery stores, and there's a bakery, Bo Sing Bakery, which was just like this bakery on 45th street in Sunset Park that I would visit all the time. I would place my order in English, they would confirm in Chinese, and in between we would experience several complications in understanding what exactly I actually ordered.
With the incremental wage increase, my parents were finally able to buy a home, something they had desperately wanted, away from the congested and costly borough of Brooklyn, but also close enough to their workplace and to the convenience of the city. Staten Island seemed ideal. Now, we live in a very suburban neighborhood in Staten Island, Mariner's Harbor, which is very close to Elizabeth, NJ.
