BY STUDENT
Within the past decade, research on the
rising amount of Latinos in America has increased. With the booming numbers of
minority children being born one may assume soon these minorities may no longer
be considered a minority. According to a list made by Nate Berg, highlights the
minority population under five years old. Many of these metropolitan areas have
far surpassed the fifty percent mark and even eight of the metros are above
seventy-five percent. Mike Davis states in his book Magical Urbanism, Latinos have surpassed African- Americans as the
second larges ethno-racial; group in New York City. These findings show just
how significant minorities, and Latinos, are in the population.
Not only are Latino populations growing
in cities but they are also growing in rural areas such as the South Fork of
Long Island. “The Hamptons” as some would call it attracts people looking for
work at farms and landscaping businesses as well as maids for the very lengthy
tourist season. The South Fork can be seen as a hot spot for immigrants who
wish to raise their children in a spacious environment. An article written by
the NY times explains the life of a Mexican Immigrant named Juan. Juan is among
the many immigrants coming to the South Fork to settle. According to the NY
Times, some immigrants believe that a place like the South Fork is better than
a city due to it being less crowded and a better place for their children to be
raised. Growing up near the South Fork, I can agree that it is a great place to
raise a family. There is a large sense of community in this area. There are
also many activities to do as a child and teenager.
With this growing number of immigrants
coming to the South Fork, there have been criticisms that they are “taking jobs
from Americans”, but this is just not true. Many of these immigrants are taking
jobs that Americans would not. When I was younger I can remember passing the
7-Eleven in Southampton and seeing Latino men just standing on the corner. I
would ask my dad what they were doing and he would tell me they were looking
for work. At such a young age I did not really understand what my Dad meant,
but now I do. Many Americans would not stand on a street looking for work. I
think this goes to show how hard working Latinos are. They just want to see
their family succeed no matter how hard they have to work. I believe this is
what makes them so respectable and important to the economy. They are
especially important to the economy on the South Fork. Many Latino men come to
the South Fork to work in landscape. Latino men can also be seen building some
of the very large estates on the South Fork. I believe that as Latinos continue
to surpass many other minorities in terms of size, their voices will be heard
and they will be more represented in government. They will also be more
understood by the people in their community. I hope to see people change their
attitudes towards Latino’s and realize that they are just trying to make a
better life for their children, just like everyone else.
Works cited:
Davis, Mike. Magical Urbanism:
Latinos Reinvent the US City. London: Verso, 2000. Print.
Meryl Spiegel, “Hispanic Population
Making Inroads on the South Fork”, The New York Times, February 1996, assessed November 1, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/25/nyregion/hispanic-population-making-inroads-on-the-
south-fork.html
Nate Berg, “U.S. Metros Are Ground Zero for Majority-Minority Populations”,
City Lab, May 18, 2012, assessed November 1, 2015, http://www.citylab.com/housing/2012/05/us-metros-are-ground-zero-majority-minority-populations/2043/
Growing up on Long Island I too have personally witnessed Latinos standing outside in specific locations, sometimes as early as 6:30am, in hopes of finding work. Their willingness to wake up so early and wait outside all day with no guarantee that they will get hired is very admirable and is a clear example of the extent that Latino immigrants will go to provide for themselves and their families. With that being said, I do not necessarily agree that most of the jobs that Latino workers take on are "jobs that Americans would not," but at the same time I doubt that many Americans would take them for the same competitively low wages. For many of the undocumented immigrants, accepting much lower wages is key to earning a living in the United States.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the comment above. I do think that latino immigrants do take jobs that americans wouldn't do. Ive worked in many restaurants where latino men were doing the hardest jobs for the lowest pays. and i do think that your average americans wouldn't work in a restaurant washing dishes or sweeping up floors.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to note in chapter 11 of Mike Davis' "Magical Urbanism" he talks about how cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and New York, which are the five metropolitan areas with the largest foreign born populations, have seen employment niches that were created by immigration itself, like restaurants and apparel factories, and that jobs that are typically Latino workers are jobs that have been abandoned by native workers en route to better jobs in the suburbs. That they have not displaced the American worker, they have replaced the American worker. He also notes that immigration has affected a relatively small fraction of California's labor force, which I find interesting. I don't believe that all of these jobs are jobs that "Americans won’t do" and I actually agree with Davis' point in the sense that Americans have, as we know, gone to the suburbs and chased those better jobs. This also plays into Adam's point that Latinos are willing to work for lower pay than American's but because they have to. All in all I find Davis’ view point interesting and worthy of noting!
ReplyDeleteI agree to disagree with your idea that minorities are taking the jobs that Americans wouldn't do, only because speaking from personal experience, I know people who have done jobs that some may feel they won't ever want to do. But it all comes down to, doing what you have to do. At the end of the day if minorities had the opportunities to work in other fields they would. However, because of the policies and social injustices in America, they simply can not. They are doing whatever they have to do to give their families a better life. I do also think that if Americans were put in the predicament that they had to go "stand in the corner looking for jobs" they would. ONLY because again, if you care enough about your family, you would do anything for them or even for yourself. I know many who are American Citizens and have taken on jobs that "others wouldn't take" because they had to. They had no other choice but to work and continue working until they were stable enough to do something else.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a lot of Latinos and other "minorities" do take on jobs that many of your average Caucasian American wouldn't. I say this only because a lot of these Americans have had better opportunities at jobs and careers. Immigrants have to face discrimination, reforms, and backlash from American society before being able to get a good opportunity. This in turn leaves them with little choice but to take on these low-wage, hard labor jobs in order to support their families.
ReplyDeletei personally do not like the saying minorities/immigrants are taking the job from americans, and even though it is usually targeted towards latinos, i still in a way take offense to it because i myself am an immigrant. These are the jobs that has always been there but may be "to good" for them to do, they are offered higher paying jobs, and usually never want to settle for the low-wage hands on jobs.
ReplyDeleteFirst hand I have seen Latinos take jobs that a lot of others would not. However I don't think it is discrimination that facilitates this, I believe it is the fact that many times these Latino's may not have the proper papers or access to schooling that others are. My mother was an immigrant from Peru and she was able to get a good job that would not necessarily be a stereotypical low wage job as described above. I feel it is more of a by product of how the government regulates how immigrants obtain working papers, and the access to schooling and opportunities to get better jobs.
ReplyDeleteIt really upsets me when people say that immigrants are taking away the jobs of americans because they are always doing jobs that many americans won't do because they would like higher positions or more pay since they are citizens. Many americans feel superior to immigrants and they believe that they should lower themselves to do construction work, or delivery guys or even a waiters. I feel like every job is equally important and respectful. Many think that having an office is job is the most respectable but what exactly do they do for our community.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this post, i could relate to a lot of it. Latinos are indeed filling positions in jobs that many Native-Born Americans would never think of taking. I have worked in various fields from food service, to landscaping, and the lack of Native-Born Americans does not surprise me. Landscaping does not have the best pay, and it is one of the hardest works. Not many would settle for this, but Immigrants that are looking for a source of income will settle for just about anything in order to make sure that they are able to provide for their family in this country where they have no professional ties.
ReplyDeleteI love that you point out that Latinos a god for the economy. People who criticize illegals seem to forget that immigrants run this country. with out them the country would not flourish as much as it is.
ReplyDeleteAlso as we saw in the film in class,when Mexicans were deported a lot of business and homes where forced to close or were foreclosure.
ReplyDeleteI also do not agree that it is because of discrimination that certain Latinos take jobs that wouldn't otherwise be done. Undocumented people are more willing to take the jobs that documented people wouldn't do and for less pay simply because it is a paying job. The discrimination then can be seen because the majority of undocumented people are people of color. But the facilitation of these jobs being given to people of color has nothing to do with discrimination
ReplyDelete