Migration and Integration: African Americans and Mexican Americans in the U.S. Essay

A number of African Americans and Mexican Americans gradually migrated into the United States with the growth of agri finishing in the country. Although the reasons for their migration were different, the African Americans and Mexican Americans share mistakable situations as they tried to integrate into American society. The choice to migrate into the US was mainly attributed to their need to tone of voice for better opportunities, new lives, admiration and obstacles. Migration has a different meaning among African Americans, who had to go through a lot of suffering when they came into the country.They initially migrated into the United States as slaves and make to work in plantation and homes in the new world. They were as well considered as commodities to be traded in the market. The working conditions of African Americans on the plantations were horrible purge though they formed the installation of the entire cotton industry. The conditions that African Americans had to go t hrough when they migrated into the United States were dilate and explained in the book In Motion The African American Migration Experience. The book gives a list of the branch African Americans who arrived into the United States during the 1500s through the Caribbean and Mexico. This account is different from common knowledge, which indicates that they arrived through Jamestown in 1619. They settled in a number of southern states such as South Carolina, Florida, and Texas. A dangerous number of slaves erect safe haven from their owners in the marshlands and the Bahamas. Some of them even started to live with Native Americans. They started to adjust and embrace the culture of the place where they established themselves. They learned the local languages and early(a) dialects. The twentieth century saw a good number of African Americans increase their influence in history.They contend a significant role the development of industrial areas, even as racism continued to remind Afric an Americans of their suffering in the past. A movement was started that saw a number of laws being altered to integrate equality in society. The organisation was compelled to allow in African Americans due to the legal system that they were able to establish. The views and contributions of African Americans were included in the organization of cultural and social policies.The Harlem renaissance during the 1920s and the 1930s was the most significant input that resulted to the acknowledgement of African American NEW IN AMERICA PAPER 3 culture and connected their culture with other cultures. The talents of African Americans in art, music, and literature started to emerge during the period. A number of authors were able to demonstrate their talents, which describe the witness of African Americans. It also resulted to the establishment of a number of African American political interest groups. These authors include Neela Larson, Zora Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston.Three of these political groups that emerged include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Nation of Islam, and the Negro overture Association. The African American culture also started to spread from the south. The culture and arts of American society were influenced by African, Haitian, and Caribbean cultures. The situation further enriched the culture of the African American population despite the adversity they faced along the elbow room. This demonstrated the experience of African Americans when they migrated into the United States. At the start of the twentieth century, Mexican Americans were able to advantageously enter into the United States.An emergency quota act that was ratified by the United States allowed Mexican Americans to travel freely into the US. This act also limited the migration of citizens coming from countries in the Eastern hemisphere. Special allowances were even given to Mexicans by the US government due to the immigration law enact ed by the US. The implementation of the immigration law gave sufferance to the significance of the labor provided by Mexicans, which enhanced the US economy. The act invalidated the literacy test that was enforced on Mexicans by farmers.However, this special allowance was cancelled following the economic crisis that affected the United States in 1929. Americans found it difficult to be employed due to the Great Depression, which resulted to an anti-immigration sentiment and compelled many Mexicans to go back home. Barricades were also set up between Mexico and the United States. However, the Second World War resulted to a labor shortage, which resulted to the entry of a bracer program that allowed Mexicans to work in the agricultural industry in the United States. A good number of Mexicans were able to receive allowances along with minimum wages.The situation was temporary and was only enforced while many American men were out in the battlefield. The United States did non allow the families of the braceros to juncture them to guarantee that they would return to their homeland. However, many Mexicans were NEW IN AMERICA PAPER 4 compelled to become irregular immigrants since they did not want to go back to Mexico. These black-market immigrants were able to stay employed and eventually made enough money due to the bracer program. By 1954, the United States was compelled to handle the increasing number of illegal immigrants.Operation Wetback was started together with a naturalization service and border patrols that immediately deported illegal immigrants. However, the action was stopped due to a number of issues that included maltreatment of Mexicans and violence. The children of the illegal immigrants that were born in the US were also deported together with their parents. The labor shortage that was still prevalent among companies resulted to the establishment of factories in Mexico. The factories were called maquillas or maguiladoras, which was undecom posed for both the United States and Mexico.Among the benefits that Mexico received were the sending of equipment for the factories. The value of equipment was untaxed. The equipment was also sent as a full instead of being transported one component at a time. The border between Mexico and the United States was the eldest barrier that illegal Mexicans had to deal with if they want to go into the US. The border extends from Tijuana, Baja calcium and Imperial Beach California along the western side until Brownsville, Matamoras and Tamaulipas, Texas along the eastern side.It goes through different terrains that included major urban areas and harsh deserts. Most of the Mexicans who were able to cross the border settled in the states of Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, and Colorado. Mexican Americans played a role in the development of cities along the southwest, including Tucson, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Although a good number of Mexican Americans were not able to go through formal education, they were able to contribute to the development of the Midwest, from Michigan all the way to Kansas. They provided labor for the steel factories and railroad system.Since the Mexicans were willing to provide labor in the valley in the south states, their culture had a significant influence in these areas. Their contribution allowed the valley to become one of the richest valleys in the world. Mexicans also made some significant contributions in sports, language, demographics, fine arts, and politics. REFERENCES WWW. GWU. EDU GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY BY A ETZIONI 2000 reporting 1964-2008 (Vols. 51-95) Links to External Content 2009-2012 (Vol. 95, No. 4 Vol. 99, No. 1) Published by Organization of American Historians NEW IN AMERICA PAPER 5.