In Hermans short piece, Ethnic Succession is defined as “the process by which one racial/ethnic group displaces another ethnic/racial group from an established residential, occupational, or political niche.” In many ways this is a very valid point because over the years this has become a very obvious occurrence. Neighborhoods are constantly changing as more and more people move to the United States. One ethnic group may dominate a neighborhood and in the next few years another group may start to take over that same area. Unfortunately, this usually creates a lot of tension and anger between the two ethnic groups, over who be “allowed” to live where. Not only does this cause tension, but it causes people to commit violent acts because they believe that is the way to get their point across. In our classes we are constantly learning of the many tensions that are present between different racial groups. Even today they are present, especially in the job fields, many white americans blame mexicans for taking all the jobs. They claim that because they are here illegally they are taking all the jobs and this is the reason why there are so many people unemployed. I feel that while there is constantly blame and tension going around many of the ethnic groups, this is not always the case. At times the transition is one that happens over a long period of time, one group moves and another comes in. Other times the blame shifts from one minority to the next. Puerto Ricans were one of the first hispanic groups to come to the United States, and they were met with hate, but over time the tension slowly shifted to another ethnic group, and the cycle goes on.
In Anbinder’s book on Five Points he mainly speaks of the more violent aspects towards the abolitionist movement, and the feelings of the anti-abolitionists. It shows a lot of the darker sides connected with the anti slavery movement, and all the efforts that had to be put in to keep it alive. This mainly highlights the main problems between whites and blacks and their fight for freedom.
– Roxanna Rahgozar
