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Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2013Professor Els de Graauw
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Author Archives: Konstantin Dukhovnyy
Posts by Konstantin Dukhovnyy
Mexican Immigration Timeline
High Expectations
From the words of my family, there are a lot of smart people in the world, and then there’s us, the people who fight to be recognized as smart. That’s a motto my family has lived by; to keep fighting till everyone recognizes that we belong. From this course I learned that this applies to a lot of immigrant families such as mine. We have come to America to not just be American, but for a better future. For everyone to look at us as equals and to say you belong in the land of the free, because everyone belongs in the land of the free. For different immigrants this simply wasn’t the case. The Irish and Chinese of the early 1900’s knew what it meant to not feel welcomed or wanted, and knew what it took to fight for that here in the United States. But over time, generation after generation, people saw the need to be more accepting, more open, and more aware of the changing times. Yet even today, Mexican-Americans are looked upon as the Irish were over 100 years ago.
In this class I’ve learned it’s too early for us as a society to say that there is an American template. Every day that template changes according to who came through JFK airport yesterday. From interviewing my family to studying and understand the changing ways of an entire immigrant group, I can see that New York is a very special place. We are always open to some one new, even though the rest of the country may not be. But of course as New Yorkers, we always have high expectations of every one around us.
Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better
Although Lilya learned English back in high school in the Ukraine, she hadn’t used it until she came here at the age of 42:
When you start life all over again, at 42 years old, it’s not easy. But I think you know, some people think that my English is not good, I understand that my English is not good, but in some way I understand that I accomplish a lot.
It’s Not Your Fault
Throughout Lilya’s 17 years in New York she never felt discriminated against by America or it’s people:
You know, I like this country. And I like to live here. Despite, you know, to be an immigrant, it’s not an easy (chuckles) it’s not an easy process. And through these 17 years, I went through many difficults. I went through many problems, but you know, I whatsoever happened to me here, I never ever blamed the country, I never ever blamed the United States.
To Leave, Or Not To Leave….Definitely Leave
For Lilya, leaving the Ukraine was an easy decision after 42 years of hardship:
I’m a Jew and it was not easy to be a Jew in that country because of umm anti-Semitism and a lot of discrimination to the Jews that I went through, and that’s why I always dreamed to live in some country that I feel freedom, that I wouldn’t feel discriminated to get the job, to get the education because I’m Jew, not because I don’t have enough knowledge, enough education, enough experience, but because I am a Jew and I don’t think that this is fair and I don’t want this life for myself and I don’t want this life as I told you, for my kids and grandkids and future generation.
Employment Among Foreign-Born Mexicans as Compared to other Foreign-Born Groups
Figure 1 Source: ACS 2009-2011
The working force among foreign-born Mexicans seems to be very different then other foreign-born Latino groups and all other foreign-born people living in New York City. As the data shows, the percentage of working males among foreign-born Mexicans is almost the same as the amount of males who are of working-age; this is very different than the foreign-born Latino and all foreign-born groups, who’s statistics are very similar. A larger percentage of male Mexicans are working than all other foreign-born groups. Yet female participation in the labor force among foreign-born Mexicans is a full 12% less than all other foreign-born groups. Part of this may be attributed to the fact that there are less Mexican females of working age among the foreign-born population, but still, there is a higher percentage of the foreign-born Mexican population of females not in the labor force compared to those in the labor force. The Mexican tradition of patriarchy also supports this data, yet other foreign-born Latino groups show to be more in line with other foreign-born groups, showing a trend of assimilation.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau. 2009-2011. American Community Survey, 3-year estimates 2009-2011. (IPUMS data analyzed by John Mollenkopf).
Konstantin Talks About His Mother’s Misadventures With a Nun
The Ukrainian (Kind of) Kid
Konstantin in Prospect Park, summer 2012
My name is Konstantin Dukhovnyy and I’m 18 years old. I was born in Ukraine and moved to America with my family when I was a year old. I grew up here in Brooklyn and learned English before I knew Russian, which is why I speak English a million times better than Russian. Most people who know me well would associate me with honesty and karate. I am brutally honest to everyone because people deserve to know the truth, and my passion for karate has been driving me for 13 years now. I know there’s a lot more in life for me to explore, but I also know life keeps going and you have to take advantage of it all, and I’m going to try my best to take the bull by the horns and ride life as long as possible.
