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Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2013Professor Els de Graauw
ITF Benjamin Miller Log in
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Born and Raised to Sit Down and Keep Quiet
Beatrice, a 20-year-old Italian immigrant, speaks about individualism and having a voice in America:
Here, I feel like its less disciplined, like, in comparison to schools in Italy, here, I think people speak up more. For example, if students have a problem with the test, they will be more open to the teacher, saying like, oh, but you didn’t say this was on it….people speak up more, and they were taught that what you have to say matter, everyone has a voice. And I’ve never really been like that because I was taught to keep quiet and stay in my place. I feel like the ideology here is that you’re an individual and it’s very foreign to me that people fight back and say, ‘I’m an adult, I’m an individual, you can’t tell me what to do…’
A Colorful Culture Shock
Beatrice, a 20-year-old Italian immigrant, discusses her impressions of the American school system and issues of safety after experiencing the 2001 terrorist attacks on NYC:
Everyone was just white. In my class there were no Blacks, no Chinese. All my friends were just white. I mean I’m not prejudiced or anything, but here people integrate more. There, I mean everyone is Italian. There’s no one from England or France or anything. It was very—it’s just, I don’t know, it was a culture shock. Oh, and it was right after 9/11 too. 9/11 happened on my third day of school, and I didn’t speak any English. My mom sat next to me and had to translate everything because I didn’t know what was going on. And it was just, it was very scary, that’s all. I didn’t feel safe here, I didn’t like where I was, I didn’t like the people at school… I stuck out. Like I was just used to a different kind of life.
Fraud and Coming to America
Fernando describes what things pushed him to leave Guatemala:
I wanted to help my family, I wanted a better life…. I was happy and life was going great for me. I was in a good position economically. But it changed when my parents became victims of fraud… the land we lived on wasn’t ours…we had land titles and everything but they were false–We had to take out a loan from the bank in order to pay for the land […] but later we realized that we didn’t have the means to pay those loans off.
Immigration
Eliza, a 48-year-old immigrant from Belarus, has been in the United States for 23 years. Her immigration to this country was aided by a helpful nonprofit organization:
Actually some immigrate – some organization help us to – with immigration. It was Jewish organization, NYANA, which, upon arrival to this country – actually, we started with this organization, they gave us some input, how to…whatever, how to start our new beginning in new country, and this way, at least – okay, this way, we can rely on something to give us a hand.
Revolution
Neville, a 63-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, reflects on why people leave the safety and familiarity of their home countries:
Yeah, [Jamaicans] migrate a lot. It’s what they call, um, a pressure release? People migrate because if, uhm, if it wasn’t for migration, then you’d have revolution… because there would be no outlet for individuals to acquire what they’re looking for, what the government can’t give them.
Missing the Homeland
Jenny, a 20-year-old woman from South Korea, speaks about why she misses home:
I want to go back to Korea. No offense but I don’t like it here. I don’t like the way everything is set up. In Korea you can go anywhere by walking. On every street there are little stores. Where I live now you have to drive a car, I’m 30 minutes from the nearest store. Also the subways are much cleaner than here. There are also glass doors. The train arrives and there are glass doors to prevent people from falling into the tracks. Here it’s so dirty, and smelly, and there are cockroaches, and rats.
Making the Process Look Easy
Jenny, a 20-year-old woman from South Korea, briefly states why moving to New York City was easy for her family:
My dad came with a student visa and then he got a green card because his company sponsored him. So it was kind of a great thing for us. After like a year of arriving here we got our green card.
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.
Why Lucy and Her Husband Left Guyana
Lucy describes the evils and corruption of Guyana:
There’s a lot of bribes- people can commit crimes, and the rich person- if- say- like this, the rich person son do something, you c- i- to the poor one – who doesn’t have money – you can’t do anything about it. Because you don’t have the money. The judge would take the bribe, and the rich one walks free. That’s how it is with everything. You bribe people to get a good job in the government. Every- everyting is a bribe, and lotta drugs money dere. And de police and de government and de president and everybody is involved in it.
She goes on to describe the poor conditions and low standard of life in Guyana:
[My husband] didn’t have a job in Guyana, so his grandfather brought him over here. He came and I wanted to come too; me nah get food for the kids, me nah get money to spend on them, and there was a lot of hardship and no job…and I can’t even buy clothes for myself. I couldn’t even feed my children properly, couldn’t even buy books for them. Shoes, milk, anything.
Coming to America for Education
Lucy describes why American education makes America so great, and the opportunities it creates that Guyana lacks:
This country like I said, have educated all my children. Made me get houses, and cars, I couldn’t- I didn’t even have a bicycle in Guyana. I have my money- you can work over here- once you work you can buy anything you want. Like dey se the sky is the limit. You can do anything you want. You educate yourself until you are 80 years old. In Guyana there’s no way you can go to school after a certain age. You don’t have the money, the means the nothing. And after that you don’t have a job, even. But this country- God bless this country. I love- I will not trade it for anything.
Its All Worth it in the End
Jane, a 24-year-old girl who moved to America from Canada two years ago, talks about the rewards of the immigration system:
I guess my overall reaction is that it’s a pretty grueling process, with lots of intricacies, and it can be annoying and inconvenient. And there is definitely one thousand percent room for improvement in the system. But in the end of the day, the people who want to immigrate for the right reasons shouldn’t have a problem. I mean, I’m sure there are good people who get denied acceptance, but I got a green card in the end. And so did my sister, so it wasn’t just by chance. I’m grateful for that, because I get to live here and go to school here and work here and raise my beautiful baby here.
Losing Out For No Fair Reason
Jane, a 24-year-old girl who moved to America from Canada 2 years ago, talks about the frustrations of getting a green card:
The process of getting a green card just takes so long, the job wasn’t willing to wait to find out if I was approved. They were like, listen, you’re a great candidate for the job and your exactly what were looking for, were so sorry, try again next year. I ended up getting a different job, but its not as good, I get paid less and I have worse hours. So I didn’t get the job I really wanted because of the green card process.
A Welcoming Journey to America
Miriam discusses her voyage to America.
We came, uh, on a ship. And I remember coming and I could speak a little English, so I was able to talk to the sailors, and I also played the piano, and they taught me some American songs. And I would play and sing. And I remember when we came here we had to stay on the ship an extra day because we came on Thanksgiving day and the immigration office was closed. So the captain of the ship had a Thanksgiving dinner for us and explained Thanksgiving and what it meant and Thanksgiving was always a special holiday for my family because, you know, it was really a day of giving thanks for being here.
Drawn to the Land of Opportunity
Miriam and her family came to America because they heard the streets were paved with gold:
We came to New York because everyone knew at that time that this place, specifically here, in America, was the land of opportunity.
Why Come to New York City?
Sarah, a woman in her mid-seventies from Tel Aviv discusses why she chose to immigrate to New York City 21 years ago:
I have family here. My aunt and two cousins, they invited me here and I come. I decided to do a vacation for like six months….And then to go back. But I stayed [laughs]…. Because I got the job I stayed. So I decided after on year to stay for another and this is how it goes—year after year.
Return to the Mother Country
Sarah, a woman in her mid-seventies from Tel Aviv immigrated to Brooklyn 21 years ago. Here, she addresses her relationship to her home country:
That I [am] missing Israel? I knew that I will eventually [be] going back. I knew that I am not stay [in America] until I die.
