Topic > Prejudice and discrimination against Africans, Asians, and Mexican Americans

Many minorities arose in the United States in the 1800s. In the early 1850s, a mass migration to the United States began, leading to the development of new minorities. Minorities came to the United States seeking a better future, while others were forced to immigrate, especially Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans. These minorities were classified by John Ogbu into voluntary and involuntary minorities based on their response to their experiences in the United States. Minorities have faced many obstacles in the United States such as discrimination, segregation, and diculturalization. However, their responses to these barriers, especially in terms of education and discrimination, were different depending on their experiences and whether they were classified as voluntary or involuntary minorities. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to Ogbu, voluntary minorities are immigrants who chose to come to the United States, while involuntary minorities were immigrants forced to enter the United States against their will. Voluntary minorities believed that America was a land of opportunity for upward mobility by adapting to society and obtaining an education. Furthermore, if they were to experience discrimination and inequalities, they would preserve them. On the other hand, involuntary minorities have adapted a negative view of American society based on their ancestors' experiences of racism, which has led to blocked mobility. Furthermore, they developed an opposing identity and culture, leading to the creation of a “why try, why bother” attitude that was tantamount to “acting white” or selling one's racial heritage. Native Americans and African Americans were one of the first involuntary minorities to experience deculturalization through discrimination and segregation. The Native Americans welcomed the Europeans into their territory, but were betrayed and considered savages by the Europeans. The arrival of Europeans brought discrimination and segregation of Native Americans to the United States. The government began to impose restrictions that forced many Native Americans to leave their land and take refuge in reservations, where many of them suffered because their land was their way of surviving. Additionally, because Europeans viewed Native Americans as savages, boarding schools were established as a way to “civilize” Native Americans according to Western culture. “Thomas McKenney believes in the power of schooling to culturally transform Native Americans. His opinion reflected the growing belief among many European Americans that education was the key to social control and the betterment of society (Spring 24).” For Europeans, education was the way to strip Native Americans of their cultural heritage and identity through school. Even though Native Americans were forced to become “civilized” or act white through education, this did not work because they were involuntary immigrants. Because Native Americans were forced onto Indian reservations, they were totally separated from American culture and were able to maintain their own culture and identity. “Continued Native American resistance led, in the latter part of the twentieth century, to calls for the restoration of tribal cultures and languages ​​(Spring 39).” Although the American government and culture tried to “Americanize” Native Americans through education, their resistance was stronger, which led to the failure of this strategy. For how longconcerns African Americans, they were also involuntary immigrants and experienced deculturalization through discrimination, segregation, and slavery. . Similar to Native Americans, Europeans viewed African Americans as an inferior race. They were completely stripped of their cultural heritage and identity and were not allowed to assimilate into white culture. In other words, they have not been able to acquire new identities and cultures related to their background. However, when they lost their identity and did not assimilate into white culture, they created a new culture and identity that was not related to their African background. “Brought together under regimes of violence, Africans from different linguistic and cultural groups devised their own language (Spring 66).” This new culture and identity focused on Christian beliefs, gospel music, dance, and storytelling as a strategy to oppose white discrimination and oppression. Many African Americans were denied education at first, but when they received education, the education was segregated. Additionally, African Americans developed an oppositional identity/culture in which African Americans opposed everything that was considered part of white culture. “The biggest indicator of “acting white” and source of strong opposition was speaking standard English.” (Ogbu 11). Many African Americans resisted and opposed anything that had to do with white culture because they were taught that if they assimilated into white culture they denied their minority identity. On the other hand, Asian Americans and Mexican Americans were considered voluntary immigrants, although they also faced many obstacles such as deculturalization, segregation, and discrimination, and their responses were different from those of involuntary minorities. Asian Americans came to the United States in the 1850s in search of gold. The first wave of Asian immigrants were mostly uneducated low-wage workers with rural backgrounds, the second wave of Asian immigrants were more urban, educated, skilled and professional. While Mexican Americans came to the United States after California became part of the United States and after the 1960s. Both of these voluntary minorities hope to do better than they did in their home countries or places of origin. “As a result, they are willing to accommodate and accept less than equal treatment in order to improve their chances of economic success. They themselves, as well as people in their families and communities, believed that what makes a person successful in the United States is education and hard work.” (Ogbu 7-8). Comparing their experiences in the United States and at home, this provides them with motivation to work hard to succeed and to seize educational opportunities as the only path to upward mobility. As stated by a Chinese parent “It is very important for my children to get good grades because the purpose for us to come is to let them have a good future and be successful. I sacrificed everything for them to come and get an American education.” (Ogbu 8). Asian American parents make education a priority for their children because they have sacrificed a lot for them so that they can have a better future and achieve all their goals. Furthermore, voluntary minorities are “willing to learn to speak English and to conform to the rules and customs of public schools and other social institutions.” (Ogbu 10). Asian Americans and Mexican Americans see learning English as an opportunity for upward mobility and as simply adding another language rather than simply replacing their native language. Here.