Name: Alazar Hashelit

Course: ICS 8; Women of Color in the U.S.A

Instructor: Julie A. Lewis

Date 11/05/09

IMMIGRATION FOR FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY

So many people are immigrating to U.S as I did to find freedom and prosperity in life. The

U.S.A is one of the most desired countries in the world where people want to immigrate. For the

past hundred years, millions of people have been immigrating from different corners of the world

to the U.S.A. Most immigrants, except non-colored people experience similar challenges in life.

Even though they have provided America with cheap labor for the hardest jobs that Americans

would not think of doing, in some ways their presence in the U.S has been considered as a

problem by the Americans.

One of the first and biggest groups of immigrants into the U.S is Chinese immigrants.

Most of these immigrants arrived to Angle Island after long and difficult journey, and provided

Americans with submissively cheap labor services, such as sugar plantation, farm works,

housekeeping, and janitors, since they came to the U.S for better life at the mid of the nineteen

century. These migrant workers have worked in a position that demanded great effort and

patience doing jobs that Americans didn’t like to do. For example the Chinese immigrants were

best known for their contribution to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, the

completion of which united the country economically and culturally.

In spite of their crucial role in the development of the American infrastructure and other

aspects of life, the Chinese suffered severe exploitation by local citizens and government. The

local citizens believe that the Chinese taking their jobs by proving cheap labor and the

government disliked them for not assimilating to the American culture. I disagree with these
ideas because the Chinese used to work the works that the local people did not like doing.

However, if the Chinese didn’t work hard, America wouldn’t get at the present stage of

civilization. Also the government discriminated and segregated the Chinese because they were

not assimilating to the American culture; this is hard to believe because culture is the

fundamental base of one society that holds the community together. Even though sometimes

assimilation seems good, its consequences are big loss of society inter connection. We have

Native American’s good example consequence assimilating for their original culture to another

one.

Fewer than ten thousand Chinese women were entered the U.S during the initial

immigration, but later they were banned from coming to U.S by the government because most of

them were enslaved prostitutes. They originally were entering the USA by arranged marriage but

when they couldn’t afford staying at home after marriage and couldn’t find jobs, they started

working as prostitutes. The primary goal of the Chinese immigrant women was to stay at home

and do the domestic work such as housekeeping, Nanning, motherhood and so forth until the

Gold Rush work was over. After the Gold Rush work was over, they started helping their

husbands to increase the household income by working in several low waged jobs.