What color is the melting pot?
Immigrants are important to the political debate because their success says a lot about the society they immigrate to. Conservatives point to the success of immigrants, including black immigrants, to prove that racism or bad schools does not cause poverty. But second generation immigrants often struggle compared to first generation immigrants. Liberals sometimes bring up second generation immigrants as proof that America is indeed racist, or at least classist. In short, that poverty is caused by external factors and thus can only be cured by external factors. But understanding the nature of the struggles of second generation immigrants provides a powerful insight into the importance of culture.
Here is a representative article about West Indian blacks:
Waters’ research shows that West Indian immigrants do have an economic advantage over African-Americans, but this is largely because, as immigrants coming from poor countries, they are more willing to take low-end jobs and to work harder at them.
But by studying two generations, Waters shows that the differences soon disappear, particularly among working-class immigrants living in all-black neighborhoods.
If racism or external factors are causing second generation immigrants to suffer then why is this problem worse in all-black neighborhoods? If racism is the cause then West Indian blacks would face more of it by moving to white neighborhoods. But if culture is the problem then it makes sense that West Indian blacks have bigger problems in all-black neighborhoods.
Next let’s take a look at the cause of the problems:
Recent research shows, says Waters, that as immigrants spend more time in the United States, the quality of their lives goes down, not up. The divorce rate climbs, families split up, the percentage of female-headed households increases. There is even evidence that the health of immigrants decreases the longer they remain in this country.
West Indian families who avoided downward mobility in the second generation tended to be those who emphasized their identity as members of a distinct culture, like the young woman who wanted to acquire a West Indian accent. Waters believes that this strategy of emphasizing one’s foreignness, of resisting the melting pot, is part of a widespread trend, and that it suggests a new model of immigration in America.
This is important. Second generation immigrants that struggle tend to live in all-black neighborhoods and adopt black culture, including the high rates of divorce and out of wedlock childbirths. Those that succeed resist the melting pot.
Now the article takes a wrong turn:
“Putting teeth into the Fair Housing Act, going after employers who discriminate, dealing with racial profiling by the police – these are the sorts of things we need to do to ensure that we still have a fair society,” she said.
This reminds me of the conservative joke. A son goes to his dad and says “Dad, I have a problem.” The father replies, “Well, have you tried throwing money at it?”
The research shows that the culture of immigrants can be protective compared to the culture in America - particularly black America. That protection keeps immigrant families together. How will putting teeth in the Fair Housing Act prevent out of wedlock childbirths among second generation immigrants?
What we need to instead is realize what a powerful indictment of our culture is provided by second generation immigrants. White people that have already made it can afford to dabble with sexual liberation and promiscuity. But when you are poor and trying to pull yourself up by your bootstraps a sexually immoral culture is a sentence to entrenched generational poverty.
“In the past, many immigrant groups have enjoyed great social mobility, and that has been a source of strength for our country. If we’re not able to provide that for the immigrant groups who are coming now, I think there’s going to be a real backlash that will affect us as a society.”
I agree. Let us return to our moral values of several generations ago, when immigrants to the United States had an easier time working their way up the middle class. Past immigrant groups such as the Japanese and the Jewish probably faced much harsher discrimination and yet had an easier time making it in America.
It’s the culture, stupid.
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