One concept that struck me from this chapter was the frequent contrast between one’s job in the home country and in the country of immigration. One’s economic, and therefore social standing in the mother nation can completely change when he or she immigrates. I know someone who was a very successful, educated high-end business manager in his native Columbia who then ended up as a janitor in the United States unable to acquire work that matched his training. This change of position most certainly challenges a person’s identity. We as humans are accustomed to identifying ourselves by the usual standards: ethnicity and religion as well as profession. Being in a position of power and authority gives us a sense of worth. When we go to work every day, using the knowledge and skills we studied for years, we feel like the time spent educating ourselves was worth it and that we are important enough to hold such a position. To go from a job that evokes such a feeling to one that the most unskilled person could perform adequately must be awfully degrading.

I always thought of immigrants as coming to America (or even New York) having very little education or meaningful work experience in their homelands. I viewed the notion of their finding any work in America, even the most unskilled of jobs, a huge success. If these people hadn’t gained the tools they needed in their own countries, surely acquiring any job was a triumph for them, right? The reading stresses that the centuries-old image of the poor “huddled masses” is dated. Although some do come to America unskilled and starving, the more common reality is that many immigrants held respected jobs in their home countries. I think it is important to recognize this when studying immigration because times have changed and the way we view (and treat) immigrants is subsequently altered.

One last thing that I found interesting was because immigration to America became so common in countries like Russia and Jamaica, “children played at emigrating”. While American-born kids like me in the United States were playing “house” and “school”, children in other countries were playing what they knew: moving. Sheltered American children who knew nothing but their comfortable house, town, school, etc, were happily playing “house” in their own, somewhat permanent house and constant life. Soon to be immigrant children were re-enacting a very grown up activity: changing lifestyles completely. Immigrating as a child forces a person to grow up very quickly.