The Plight of Mexican Immigrants (Essay Sample)

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Mexican Immigrants and Identity in the U.S
Mexican American immigrants in the U.S date back to around the 17th century and first Mexicans in the U.S are registered in the city of Santa Fe. The defining moment of this whole Mexican immigration came during the U.S and Mexico war that occurred in the 19th century. The U.S emerged the eventual winner of this war and that is what led to the U.S taking charge of New Mexico which came about as a result of the signing of the Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty which promised American citizenship to former Mexican citizens. This led to more Mexicans flocking into the U.S on the belief that they would obtain automatic citizenship as indicated in the treaty. This however did not exactly happen as they had expected. They were still not fully accepted as citizens of the U.S even after the treaty. Their property rights within the U.S borders were not fully recognised and they did not receive equal treatment in the courts. It was not long before they became a sidelined lot in the U.S. All this factors contributed to them being very poor people. Another key aspect that contributed to the influx of Mexicans in the U.S is the construction of the railway system in the U.S. This led to the U.S bringing in workers from Mexico to do the job as it did not have sufficient labour force to achieve the task. This in-turn led to an influx of Mexicans in the U.S. Currently statistics show that the largest percentages of immigrants into the U.S are Mexicans. With that short historical overview of Mexican Americans in the U.S this paper is going to look at how these Mexican American immigrants have come to construct their identify as Mexican Americans, their assimilation in the U.S, acculturation, ethical/racial/national identities, expressive cultures and finally the impact of this immigration on their identity.
Construction of identity among Mexican Americans
Mexican immigrants in the U.S have over the years created an identity for themselves regardless of the factors that are against them. Various things have contributed to them being finally able to identify themselves. The process of turning immigrants into citizens is informally referred to Americanization. It incorporates a number of stages; cultural assimilation, this is where the Mexican American immigrant takes up American culture and intertwines it with their own culture. This leads them into changing certain aspects of their own original cultures so that it conforms to that of the Americans as they are now part of this society. The key purpose of this is to enable the Mexican American immigrant feel a sense of belonging within the American society. Mexican Americans have over the years practised American culture and also upheld their own culture, this has enabled them to still retain there unique identifying factor of being Mexican while at the same time obtain a new sense of belonging in the American society. This is the first step that they have taken towards being Americanized. Mexicans quickly embraced American culture when they settled in America. They have learnt to practise the American way of life while at the same time they still maintain key attributes of their own roots. Thus they can be identified as Americans while at the same time still not losing their Mexican identity.
The other step that Mexican Americans have taken towards gaining their identity is to intermarry with the Americans. For a while they were regarded as a different people within the U.S. The Americans did not really identify with them from the start. However as time went by the Mexican Americans got accustomed to American culture and began to intermarry with the Americans which facilitated the rate at which they began to be identified within this society. This further contributed to them obtaining a sense of belonging in this society thus playing a golden role in them constructing their identities in the U.S. Intermarriages have helped them feel more pronounced and accepted in a society that hardly took notice of them at first. The Americans have started to loosen up towards them and relations between them have improved. They have shifted from a point where they were viewed just as mere workers in the U.S to a level where someone actually takes notice of their presence. This has worked positively towards helping the Mexican Americans feel a sense of belonging in America regardless of their Mexican origin.
Lack of discrimination from the Americans is another important aspect that helped Mexican Americans to identify themselves within this new society. Originally when Mexican Americans were still new in America the level of discrimination against them was at a very alarming rate. They were looked at as people from another place whose mere objective in the U.S was to do hard labour. However as time passed by the Americans began to accept the Mexicans as a people in their society. This has led to them into reducing the level of discrimination that they had developed towards the Mexicans in the beginning. They now treat them better and view them in a different way. Thus the Mexican Americans now feel much more appreciated and accepted in the U.S which has worked towards helping them construct their identity in this society. Discrimination against Mexican Americans is however still prevalent in some parts of the U.S to this very date. This serves to show the degree to which it had prevailed in latter years seeing that it has drastically reduced.
Lack of prejudice is another factor that has enormously aided the Mexican Americans gain an identity. The American government has been of invaluable help to the Mexican Americans in helping them gain their identity in this society. This has happened since the government started to make laws and legislations that protected the Mexican Americans from harassment. Thus it has contributed in giving them a sense of belonging. The American government started by allowing the use of public amenities to the Mexican American immigrants as they recognised them as a part of their society. This was however not the case with other non-whites. This played a chief role in helping the Mexican Americans gain an identity in a society where they were simply foreigners (Villone 7).
Assimilation
Americans after some time are beginning to accept the fact that Mexican Americans are among them and they have assimilated them into America as Mexican Americans. This has not been a one day affair as it may sound. It has taken a long time before they can be assimilated and accepted in the American society and for the most part the process is still on going as they are not yet fully accepted. Various reasons have been purported as to why Mexican American assimilation has been perpetually slower that of other non Americans. Statistics from the 2000 U.S census indicate that about 80% of non Mexican immigrants are very fluent in English and can well communicate with the locals. For the Mexicans the number is only 49% who can comfortably converse in English. This makes it virtually difficult for the American Mexicans to communicate with the people and thus the locals still view them as outsiders.
Another factor that is working towards the slow assimilation of Mexican Americans is low wage for Mexican Americans. According to records, the average income for non Mexican immigrants working in the U.S is about $21000 per annum while for the working Mexican American the average is $12000. Thus Mexican Americans are viewed as poor people in America and thus assimilated slowly.
Level of education is also another factor that plays towards the slow assimilation of Mexican Americans in the U.S. While the average non Mexican immigrant has at least a high school diploma under there belt the Mexican American immigrant has less than an 8th grade education. This is a very limiting factor as it makes them be viewed as uneducated people (Lazeur 1-7). These are some of the factors that play towards a slow assimilation of Mexican American immigrants.
There are a myriad of factors that have played well towards there assimilation. These factors include; integration into the education system. The idea of Mexican American immigrants joining American systems such as the education system was a very viable one as it has worked towards their assimilation into the American society. School is a major contributing factor in their assimilation. As the Mexican American immigrants began going to schools with other Americans they began to slowly integrate into the system. They learnt ways of the American people and they adopted what suited them. This has worked towards bringing them closer with the Americans as it has lead to them changing different aspects of their own ways to conform to those of the Americans. Thus this way they have been easily assimilated.
The American government also has contributed towards the assimilation of the Mexican Americans. It has done so by incorporating Mexican American immigrants in their constitution during the law making process. This has helped protect the immigrants within the constitution thus the Mexican American immigrants have further been assimilated into the American system. Protection by the constitution has helped them be recognised by the law as citizens of the country and thus giving them fair treatment as the rest of the citizens. However not all American citizens have proven ready to embrace Mexican Americans in their system. They are however bound by the constitution to uphold the rights of the Mexican Americans. Thus protection by the constitution has been of key significance that has helped in the assimilation of Mexican American immigrants into the American system.
Employment is another very imperative factor that has been of invaluable contribution to the assimilation of the Mexican Americans. As Mexicans Americans get employed in ...