The concept of segmented assimilation presented in the Zhou and Portes article as being shaped by systems of class and racial stratifications has several connections with Foner’s two chapters focusing on transnationalism and education for recent immigrants. Transnational immigrants are defined in the first chapter as individuals who sustain multi-stranded social relations that connect the societies of their place of origin and settlement. The second chapter explores the discrepancies and consistencies in education and schooling between the first great wave of immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century and the most recent wave of immigrants. Within this context, it is evident that education can severely constrain a recent immigrant in society as well as advance them significantly.
A transnational immigrant is fulfilling a greater purpose than just looking out for themselves when settling into the United States. They are concerned with the situation back home, whether it include their families, their work, or their government. Furthermore, they are pressured in one form or another to adapt to their new ‘home’ culture and to assimilate into the desired American culture that the Zhou and Portes article suggest is associated with the white middle class. With this in mind, they are likely to follow a path of assimilation unlike the traditional upward mobility path of severing ethnic ties and embracing white middle class culture as well as the downward mobility path that would include them adapting to native subcultures at the bottom tier of the social class structure. Instead they may be more selective about which aspects of the new culture they end up adapting to and intent on preserving immigrant behavior and values. Although transnational practices are generally seen in a positive light nowadays by keeping options open for migrants and allowing them to cope with the discrimination and prejudice they may face in their new societies, they also have some drawbacks. Financial obligations may drain resources essential for advancing in the new society, family separation may be a constant emotional burden, and the possibility of focusing more on the political landscape and its effect on the immigrant community in the new society than on the political needs back home.
An important socioeconomic indicator of the concept of segmented assimilation and the different paths an immigrant may take during the process of assimilation is educational attainment. In the chapter, Going to School, immigrants of the most recent wave tend to get seen in a negative light when the topic of education and schooling comes up, especially in comparison to their Jewish and Italian counterparts from a century ago. They are often seen as receiving special treatment and still not being able to excel academically. Moreover, the new institutions put in place to help immigrants adjust including ESL and Bilingual courses prevent immigrants from becoming real Americans. This may be the case for some immigrant individuals, but as education becomes the key to mobility in the United States, it is clear that most immigrants arrive to America with a positive attitude toward education and high hopes for their children. With that being said, some things are out of their control. One of them is overcrowding in public schools, especially on the grade school level where the chapter points out a significant problem in the immigrant neighborhood of Corona. Another problem is the public racial perceptions of new immigrants that can severely constrain their prospects. For instance, West Indians are commonly associated with native blacks and as a result find themselves in low-income neighborhoods without good schooling.
Whatever the case may be, education is essential for second generation immigrants and often determines their success and failure in their new society. It follows that an indicator of downward mobility is a child dropping out of school and in the process significantly lowering their occupational options. In response to education being so important, many Chinese and Korean children are driven by their parents to excel in school so that they can be successful as adults. By enrolling them in educational programs and study classes that come at no small cost financially, the hope is that they will be able to get ahead in the new society and experience upward mobility when they are of age.
