Discuss Three or Four Examples of Radical Changes Brought About by Past Waves of Immigration.
What do people gain when immigrating? It’s really hard to tell. However, what we do know is that immigration brings about radical changes to society. Nowadays, many countries with immigrants have great changes. For example, skillful Korean labor and Chinese immigration to the United States are the two typical examples that can illustrate that immigration has made radical changes. From the past to the present, immigration has generated great influence—not only positive influence but also negative one. Many things have been influenced by immigration including the accelerating economy, the mixing of cultures and languages, and racist sentiments, such as anti-Chinese discrimination. The biggest benefit that immigration brings about is stimulating economic growth. Take the first wave of Korean immigration to the United States started in 1903 when Korean labors came to Hawaii as an example. At that time, Hawaiian sugar plantation owners needed labor to meet the shortage of labor resources. Labor is the key element to the development of productivity. Skillful and vigorous Korean immigrants (primarily male adults among 20 to 30) developed the Hawaiian sugar plantation and facilitated the local economic growth. (Koo, Hagen., & Yu, Eui-Young, 1981, p 2-8) With far more labor-abundant, the United States has stimulated economic growth. Immigration has brought huge economic benefits due to the labor resources which is an important factor of economic growth. Societies include a number of cultures and languages because immigrants bring their native cultures and languages to new countries. That’s the reason why we can see many Americans enjoy eating Korean food pickles and Europeans become more familiar with Korean movies A Li Lang in the 64th Cannes film festival. Edward (1999) found “Even though the majorities speak English in United States, significant portions are other language speaking, like Korean”. As we can see, immigration facilitates the current rise of
References: Koo, Hagen., & Yu, Eui-Young. (1981). Its demographic patterns and social implications for both societies. Korean immigration to the United States, 74, 2-8. P. Lazear, Edward, (1999). Culture and Language, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 107, no. 6, part 2: S95-S126). Kanazawa, Mark. (2005) Immigration, Exclusion, and Taxation: Anti-Chinese Legislation in Gold Rush California. The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 779-805