The reading states that close to one in three New Yorkers in the mid-1990’s. This is a statistic that, being in the current neighborhood I reside in, I feel has remained the same if not increased. The beauty of New York is the fact that there are so many different types of people from different backgrounds. Being in an all Jewish community, you can see their food, churches, and way of life, which is prevelant in other neighborhoods involving different types of backgrounds. With such a high ratio of immigrants throughout the years, New York plays host to various religions, cultures, and backgrounds and has been able to enlighten people on different ways of life.
Shalom!
What if the Tea Party was Black
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wie79pgiEMY" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wie79pgiEMY&feature=player_detailpage
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Chelsea
I live in the Chelsea District of Manhattan, New York.
“The industrialization of western Chelsea brought immigrant populations from many countries to work in the factories, including a large number of Irish immigrants, who dominated work on the Hudson River piers that lined the nearby waterfront and the truck terminals integrated with the freight railroad spur” (Chelsea History). During the 1960’s and after, the Chelsea District was famous for its art and theatre studios. Nowadays, Chelsea is known for its main attractions and diversity.
During the times of immigration, Chelsea transformed mainly by the people that could afford to live here. When the area first came about, it was sectioned off for the “higher class,” and people how could afford it. Nowadays, there are many different types of people who live in the area. Currently, I don’t think that immigration has much to do with what is going on in the neighborhood. But I do think that immigrants were a major part of making Chelsea what it is today.
Posted in admin only: Featured, May 11 Assignment
Tagged immigrants, Immigration, NYC
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Queens a place for immigrants
Most of the immigrants they came to New York City because New York City was considered as one of the accessible place for work and the transportation. Even though it was really hard for immigrants at that period during 1945. “Because many of were poor and lack of English language and occupational skills they troubled finding employment, so most labored in relatively low skill pay jobs.” (231, Binder)
Since, my family are not here in United States they are in Nepal but I have my relatives who came here more than 20 years ago. I came here about 4 yrs ago. I was really surprised to see different faces and culture over here in New York. Most of my relatives , they are in Queens because they said that they see a familiar faces and easy access for buses and train and for groceries. They went though a hard time comparing now because they had to tackle through different problems like racial discrimination. Even, for apartments Bengali used to rent only Bengali, Indian only for Indians. Now, New York became a place of race and ethnicity where we could see people from different countries. It is more like different salads in one bowl. Since, Queens became a major area of Chinese, Korean, Asian Indains now and they have better life comparing the past because most of the people from China and Korea the established their own business.
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From Russia with Love !
Me and my family immigrated to the united states from Russia in the 1990s. More specifically in 1992 when i was 14 months old. One of my families hopes and desires was to get away from the chaos and be free. During that period of time religious prosecution was still at its highs and Russian Jews were being abused and tortured.If you lived in Russia you had to be 100% Russian and thats that. Jews were hated and were not tolerated.I remember my mother telling me that she once had a encounter where they almost found out that she was Jewish. She said” it was the worst feeling of my life”. So we decided to come to america to avoid all the hatred and prosecution and enjoy life freely.
During the years , many relatives and friends followed my parents footsteps including my grandmother and grandfather. Our neighborhood was mostly an Albanian/Russian immigrant area.The living conditions weren’t the best but at least
we had a better chance at surviving then overseas.
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Italian to Italian-American
When my ancestors immigrated to the United States from Italy they hoped for a better life for their family. As they rode across what seemed to be a never-ending ocean, they knew that it was important to retain as much as “old-country Italian life” as possible. This was a characteristic that many immigrants shared as their lives radically changed. Yes, the hope for the “American Dream” was enticing, exciting, and scary, but remembering where one comes from is also crucial. As their lives began and minimum wage wasn’t even a thought yet, Italian families (especially mine) kept things authentic to the best of their ability. Of course, not everything can be exactly the way it was like in Italy, but it made the challenges and hardships of this new, cruel country survivable.
In terms of immigration transforming my ancestors’ area, the influx of different nationalities created smaller ethnic groups. I used to talk to my grandparents about what it was like when they immigrated from Italy and they would tell me that it was like traveling with one, big family. Since Italian culture focuses a great deal on this value of family togetherness, it was vital that when they arrived at Ellis Island, they continued these beliefs. My grandparents would reminisce about what it was like to live in a neighborhood where everyone around them came from the same place with similar goals. As time grew on, however, Italian neighborhoods began to become more ethnically diverse.
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Tagged American, Italian, To
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Protest: Then and Now
Throughout the years, citizens of the United States have expressed their beliefs and rights through protests. This can be especially seen through the art of musical expression. For example, the song “Universal Soldier” by Buffy Sainte-Marie was used to protest war. The “soldier” in the song represents every soldier of every war ever fought. The purpose of the song is to show that if soldiers and people in general did not blindly follow orders, there would be no wars. This may be a little naive to believe, but it is definitely a form of protest of the 1960’s. The style of this song differs greatly from protest songs of today, but the purpose remains the same.
A verse from the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYEsFQ_gt7c
“But without him,
how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
Hes the one who gives is body
as a weapon to the war.
And without him all this killing cant go on”
This verse goes on the emphasize that without the soldier, being used as a weapon for war, the leader who is the true evil cannot carry out a war.
This day and age, things are done a little differently. There is more thought and effort put into the entertainment aspect of the song while withholding the purpose of the song- protest. An example of this would be John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change.” This protest song calls out the American people for being idle and just “waiting” for things to happen instead of taking action.
A verse from the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBIxScJ5rlY
“Now we see everything that’s going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don’t have the means
To rise above and beat it
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change”
As i previously stated, this song was created more as a form of musical entertainment. It does still provide a social reform that needs to take place. Mayer expresses his disgust with people for their lack of action. The expression of protest and reform through music has withstood the grueling test of time, as we see with “Universal Soldier” and “Waiting on the World to Change.”
Posted in admin only: Featured, May 4 Assignment
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From Black and White to Multicolor
My family came from South India around 25 years ago. My dad got the visa because of my uncle who was already a U.S. citizen. My mom got hers with her brother. They told me when they first came to the United States, since the Indian currency is valued so less, it was hard for them to make a living here. True to Binders, they settled in Queens where many Indians decide to live when they first immigrate. My parents told me when they arrived they were shocked at how diverse America was compared to India. There were many races they saw, especially their “neighbors,” the Chinese. They first got a taste of different cuisines in America because of the different cultures it represents.
The immigration was transformed from the previous immigration wave because there was more diversity during the 1960 wave. Many from the Asian continent participated during this wave as well as the Hispanics from the Eastern Hemisphere. Many white left the area causing there to be a complete mix and “equality” among the races. It goes without saying that blacks were still treated worse than others even though they settled in America for a long time.
and Similarities at the same time (NumbersUSA)
Assignment due 5/11
1) Read Binder and Reimers.
2) Write a post explaining in 2-3 paragraphs how your family, friends, or current neighborhood was transformed by immigration between 1960 and the present day. Include at least one image or video to highlight your points. Indicate how your post relates (if at all) to the waves of immigration discussed in the reading.
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African American
In Gang of New York, even though Jimmy Spoils is not a main character in the movie but i can see and understand a lot of things from him. Jimmy as a black is very hostile and his death made my feel so sorry for him. During the last battle, Jimmy is killed by strangers who he might not even know on the street only because his is a black. I can tell how American treated blacks at that time, they could just kill a people by no reason but just his skin color. I know blacks suffered because of inequality for hundred years but i couldn’t really realize and image how their situations were like before i watched this movie. Although Jimmy is not such important in the movie but besides main characters, the one i remember most is him, a sad black guy.
Posted in April 4 Assignment
Tagged blacks, Gang of New York, inequality, killed
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