Foner: How Exceptional is New York?

QUESTION

1. On pg.1008, it states that there is a dominance of Cubans who are phenotypically white or light skinned in the Miami metropolitan area. When they identify themselves as white, how does the census account for this? How are they are able to report that actual native Cubans claim to be white? Does the government essentially take the reported data in the returned census forms with a grain of salt? Do they send out workers to estimate the validity of these forms?

2. If someone is born from an interracial couple, how do they factor in when they are included in the population count via their census forms? Isn’t there just as many interracial individuals as there are people born from parents of the same race?

Comments:

-New York, the mecca of America, is the quintessential immigrant city with a long history of ethnic succession and immigrant inclusion. New York’s history shows that foreign-born individuals help to add diversity to our country and people in hindsight seem not to mind. People from all walks of life always gather for events such as the West Indian Day Parade, as the article mentioned. As a result, I don’t understand why political leaders refuse to agree on national immigration legislation. Congress passed the Dream Act. Why can’t the same be done for immigration laws?

-Although their actions were very subtle, Mayor Bloomberg and former Mayor Fiorello Laguardia helped pave forth the New York welcoming way. Mayor Bloomberg didn’t necessarily have to hold a campaign spot in Spanish but understanding the demographic make-up of the city, he accommodated. Likewise, former Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia didn’t just speak in the native language of the immigrant population; by visiting Israel, Italy and Ireland, he showed his intentions were pure by going firsthand to learn the culture of his newly migrated citizens.