To answer Eden’s question if the differences outweigh the similarities, I would probably side with Foner in saying yes, that the more recent immigrants have more variety in skills, and higher education. They have held higher status jobs, and gotten higher level education in their home counries before coming to America. Old immigrants did not have these opportunities in their home countries, pushing them to America. Like Praveena says in her post, the world moves forward, and there are always going to be changes occuring as we move on in time.
As time goes on, immigrants move up on the social ladder, creating what Chin calls a “social network” of immigrants. The very first people to migrate to America in search of better opportunities didn’t know anyone here, and were therefore forced into a new world, to suffer alone, to search for work alone, and to build a status for themselves alone. These immigrants didn’t expect any help from anyone who lived here, wanting only to provide for themselves and for their families back home. However, as time went on and more people migrated here, families branched out, friends met up, people connected. Newer immigrants came and met up with a mother, a sister, a brother, an uncle, a distant friend…anyone. And these already situated immigrants would get their daughter, sister, brother, nephew, friend a job-through reccomendations.
Some already employed immigrants would bring their relatives/friends to work and find them an open seat, or they would take them and reccomend them to their employers. However, some were too afraid of this because of the reflection it would have upon them(if the person they suggested was not good enough). So they would instead just make a suggestion to their relative/friend as to where he would be able to find work. Many employers found it helpful, as I presume it must be, to hire people who his employees are already aquainted with and get along with. This way, there wouldn’t be very many disturbances in the work place. However, Koreans especially despised this idea, not trusting their employees to make the right decisions.
In terms of employment, as Anbinder and Chin mention, immigrants have a slight power over the natives when it comes to getting a job, because immigrants are willing to work more hours for less pay. This is unfair to native people because they are now out of a job, and are now getting no money. However, in Lee’s article, entrepreneurships are compared, and it is found that immigrants tend to become self-employed more than natives do because they don’t have the same “high-priced salable skills.” This argument can lean either way, but as a native, I tend to side with the natives, because they were here first, and really should have first choice at jobs.
In response to Eden’s first question about women’s status at this time, I think it’s easy to say that the status of women was much higher than at any other point. Because the times were hard, it was oftentimes necessary for a woman to work to support her family. Many young girls beame hot-corn girls, in order to make a few extra cents a day for her family. Older girls worked with their mothers as seamstresses, also in order to supplement the family income. Although having women in the work area has always been a gray area, when it has been needed, like after WWII, it has been relied on.
In order for any immigrant to get a job, like Jacqueline says, he needs a variety of skills: the ability to speak English, to get along with ohers, employee connections, and the indifference to being paid lower wages than natives. Most immigrants were so overjoyed to be getting money at all, that they didn’t care whether or not it was a fair wage. Today, not even an immigrant would stand for that. There would be a strike…or the employer would be sued: yet another example of the progression of immigrants
