The Political Incorporation of Immigrants, Then and Now by Gary Gerstle and John Mollenkopf mainly discusses about two major waves of “new immigrants”. They discuss significant similarities and differences of these two waves of immigrants. The first wave of 27.6 millions of “new immigrants” was mainly composed of eastern, central, and southern Europeans. They arrived during the recovery time of the Civil War when the economy of the United States had started to develop and stabilize through steam, rail, electricity, and numerous other industries.
After World Ward II and Great Depression, the new “new immigrants” arrived. Unlike the previous wave, this group of people was mainly composed of Asians, Latin Americans, and the Caribbean (fewer Europeans). Since 1965, 20 million immigrants have arrived in the United States and a huge portion of them settled gateway cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and etc. This new generation of immigrants also arrived at the time of economic prosperity and development. Also numerous immigrants with professional skills were present since the standard for the jobs has been raised.
The crucial difference between the old and new “new immigrants” are the problems they face. The newer immigrants face the wall of education. The requirements for jobs have been getting stricter and stricter. Although the immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century were fairly uneducated, the society did not require for them to have high degree of education. Finally, the later immigrants enter “a more culturally relaxed, multicultural, and perhaps less prejudiced society”. Although there have been anti-immigrant acts, the immigrants weren’t greatly affected by it and eventually, the practice of holding dual-citizenship became popular.
What’s really distinct about the second wave of “new immigrants” is the diversity of race. The older immigrants were able to assimilate to the American society eventually. After a certain point, they were considered “white”. The newer wave will have harder time assimilating into the mainstream society because of the color of their skin.
