The Shaping of a nation -lecture 1

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The Shaping of a nation -lecture 1

a.      From 2010 to 2020, persons of color increased from 36% to 41% of the total U.S. population

b. Non-Hispanic white population decreased from 4.9 % to 58.9% during this same period.  

c.      Largest gains made by Hispanics account for half of the growth in the past decade

a.      Increasing to 19.1 % of the population

b.      Asian grew almost by 2%

c.      Blacks remained relatively constant

d.      Multiracial category saw growth from about 1.8% to 2.4%

A.      10 states with the highest diversity index (highest demographic changes)

a.      Found in the West (led by Hawaii, California, and Nevada

b.      Followed by the South (Maryland, District of Columbia)

c.      And the Northeast (New York and New Jersey

d.      Hawaii was top of the list with a diversity index of 76

e.      Largest diversity gains in the state of Maryland (increased by almost 7 %

1.      A Nation of Immigrants

a.      The United States has historically been defined by our racial and ethnic diversity

                           i.      Immigration fuels this diversity

                            ii.      Worldwide, we are not at the top; the United Arab Emirates with 88% of its population comprising its population, but sixth when compared to considering the total immigrant population (8.7 million)

                iii.      Countries on the Arabian Peninsula fill the top of the list

1.      Qatar, where 3 out of 43 people are immigrants, has the highest number of foreign workers

a.      Largest gender imbalance where 75% of the population are males.

2.      Yemen is the only country to buck the trend

3.      Other Asian countries outside the region, such as Singapore (43%) and Australia (30%), round out the top countries based on the proportion of immigrants in their total population.

2.      While in terms of percentage of the population, the U.S. does not make this list. It does lead all other nations when it comes to the total number of foreign-born persons -at 46.2 million, but this only accounts for about 13.9 percent of our population

a. Percentage-wise, our all-time high was reached in 1809, when 14.8 percent of our population were foreign-born.

b.      Our percentage of foreign-born has been rising since 1970 and is expected to continue to rise.

    

3.      Forty % of the world’s immigrants live in the U.S. or Europe

a. Our national increase (i.e., the difference between births and deaths) has decreased over the past few decades; our population continues to grow due to immigrants (mostly from Europe, Germany, and Italy). During 1890 and 1919, 90% of our immigrants came from Europe.

                      i.      As of 2018, 1 million immigrants arrive in the US per year

 b.      Today, most of our immigrants come from China (149,000), Mexico (120k), and the Philippines (46,000)

                             i. The rate of migration fluctuates by year and race

1.      More Asian immigrants compared to Hispanics arrived since 2009

2.      Asians expected to become the largest immigrant group by 2055

a.      Comprising 38% of all immigrants; Hispanics 31%, Whites 20% and Blacks -9%

                   ii.      51.3% (23.3 million) of immigrants in 2021 were women

                  iii.      OVER A THIRD WERE 25 OR OLDER WITH B.A.  OR MORE EDUCATION

                  iv.      Women from India are the most highly educated

                       v.      Women from the Philippines, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, and Vietnam are more likely to be in the labor force than U.S.-born women

                      vi.      Immigrant women play a vital role in health care, social assistance, and hospitality

                        vii. They still make less than foreign-born men or even less than U.S.-born men or women.

4.      Understanding Immigration

a.      Why do people immigrate

                        i.      Seeking economic opportunities (52%)

                      ii.      Fleeing violence or insecurity (18%)

                     iii.      Reuniting family (2%)

b.      Decision to immigrate is not simple

                         i.      28% cite multiple reasons

                       ii.      Pull factors -economic and educational opportunities and desire to reunify families

                     iii.      Push factors -weak institutions, corrupt government officials, chronic unemployment and poverty, rising levels of crime, an illicit drug

1.      Increase insecurity and erode confidence in governmental institutions

                            iv.      Refugees are forced to leave their country to avoid war, persecution or natural disaster

                           v.      Sometimes, they are targeted because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a specific social group

1.      Cannot return home or afraid of reprisals if they do

c. Mid-1990s, an average of 116,000 refugees -many from the former Soviet Union, entered the U.S. each year

d.      From 2008 to 2017, an average of 67,000 refugees entered annually

                         i.      Half from Asia, with many from Iraq and Bruma (formerly Myanmar)

                        ii.      Since 1980 =55% of all refugees come from Asia

                       iii. By the end of 2018, 70.8 million persons were forced to relocate worldwide because of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations.

1. Increase of 2.3 million forcibly displaced over previous years, a record high for the USA.

2.      For most of the past 40 years, the U.S. led the world in refugee resettlement; since 2017, it has trailed

a.      Why in 2019 capped refugees to 30k

b.      Then, in 2020, set the cap at 18,000

                                 i. The lowest level in the U.S. has been since 1980 when Congress first created the resettlement program.

                               iv.      In the early 1990s, the US. Became one of the first nations to grant refugee status to LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers being targeted for sexual orientation or gender identities in their home countries

1.      Recently, we have reversed these policies, refusing to grant LGBTQ+ individuals asylum

a.      Most impacted were from countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala in Central America, where sexual and gender-based violence is the highest

                      v.      Immigration has produced a diverse landscape that influences our nation in very clear and subtle ways. We will discuss these in later chapters

5.      Undocumented Immigrants:

a.      Before the pandemic, an estimated 90 percent of illegal border crossings came from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador - the four closest countries to the border

b.      Today, half that cross our southern border come from more distant countries

                          i. For example, Columbia's border crossings went from 400 in 2019 to 154,080 in 2023.

                        ii.      Large increases occurred in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

1.      Migrants from Mauritania -northwest portion of the African continent, in 2099 there were just 20 migrants apprehended, but in 2023 there were 15,260

2.      Almost 50 different countries saw apprehensions increase more than a hundredfold.

                     iii.      Contrary to myths perpetuated by social media and some political pundits -there are no links between undocumented immigration status and crime

1.      Research along border states demonstrates that undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit felonies than either legal immigrants or native-born U.S. citizens.  

2.      No evidence that there has been an increase in criminality among undocumented immigrants over the past few years

6.      Concealed Story -Crescencio Oliveira, Dionisio Maldonado and Vincente Aguilar

a.      Between 1910 and 1920, xenophobia and racism resulted in the extralegal killings of thousands of Mexicans orchestrated by the Texas Rangers, local law enforcement, and civilian vigilantes

b.      Period part of a longer history targeting Mexicans and Mexican Americans with lynchings and other forms of violence, which mirror the experience of Black Americans.

c.      Control of land in these border areas, a central reason for the violence

                i.      Thousands of acres of land stolen from Tejanos farmers and acquired by arriving Anglo farmers and ranchers

1.      Between 1900 and 1910, over 187,000 acres of land were transferred from Tejano and Anglo hands

2.      Resulted in the Tejano being reduced to farm laborers working for extremely low pay for the new owners

d.      This is where our story begins; in April of 1920, several men were on their way to a wedding and   stopped near the Texas-Mexican Border to rest their water horses

                i.      Confronted by a group of Texas Rangers who suspected that they were smuggling liquor

1.      Texas Rangers ambushed and opened fire

2. During the battle -three travelers, including the groom, were killed by Texas Rangers.

3.      Two others were wounded but survived.

4.      The official or stock story told by the Texas Rangers is that this was a smuggling operation, and they were fired upon first

5.      The story told by the descendants is totally different

6.      For more than 100 years, the family still awaits justice

7.      According to historians, between 500 and 5,000 ethnic Mexicans might have been killed as they approached the border

8. While Texas Rangers officially deny the story, the Duval County Historical Commission declared that “The Rangers killed three men a century ago; now Duval County says it was murder.” The family waits for an official apology and justice a hundred years later.

7.      The Impact of Social Media and Technology

a.      The digital age has produced slurs, assaults, bigotry, and prejudice across race, ethnicity, gender, class, and social groups due to social media

                      i.      Most people between 18 and 29 are active on social media

                     ii.      Universities across the age are discovering that the digital age has opened a new door for racist, sexist, homophobic, and other forms of bigotry

            iii.      It is now a new platform for reproducing racial hierarchies.

b.      In 2018, Facebook decided to take action to combat toxic messages

                      i.      After activist groups such as Women, Action and the Media, the Everyday Sexism Project, and representatives from historically marginalized groups, including Jewish, Muslim, and LDBTQ+ communities –

                         ii.      The algorithm that screened words, representations, and hateful, cruel, insensitive, or prejudiced content

                            iii.      But evidence seems to indicate that the algorithm increases the targeting of Black, Hispanics, and other minority users

c.      Racial minorities on social media are more likely to experience cyberbullying, insults, and racist posts

d.      Social media exposure to racial discrimination increases the likelihood of mental health issues

e.      Blacks and racialized groups are using social media as a platform demanding change and social justice

f.        Thousands of college and university students responding to George Floyd's murder have used anonymous accounts on Instagram to share their experiences of dealing with racism on their campuses.  See announcement

g.       Racial incidents covering nearly 70 universities have involved thousands of followers who demonstrated how to change and hold peers, faculty, and institutions accountable

h.      Since Oct. 7, 2023. There has been an increase of over 300% to 500% in antisemitic and Islamophobic online incidents

                    i.      On such platforms as X and Gab and Bit chute

                     ii.      The mass shootings at the Topps grocery store on March 30, 2022, were attributed to a man who frequently listened to right-wing extremism on the online platform - Bit Chute

8.      Resistance Story

a.      Omar Wilson, a professor at Princeton University -helped create a social media platform called BlackPlanet

                  i.      Publicized police brutality and foster public protests to bring about change

                   ii.      Social media was a radical way to simplify organizing and coordinating large groups of individuals

                     iii.      Social media allowed a new kind of protests

1.      Where even dealing with chronic health issues and other forms of isolation can be not only informed but involved

a.      Using sites such as Facebook and Twitter

                                                                                                                   i.      All kinds of people can engage, learn, and hopefully change

b.       

9.      Anna M Wong, a phenomenal Asian American Actor in 1959, stated

a.      When I die, my epitaph should read, I died a thousand deaths as she recounts the times her character died a tragic death in her movies

b.      Over six decades later, the same thing happened.                                                          i. In 2019, the top 100 box office hits -over a fourth of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander characters died by the end, and except one died violently.

            ii.      While they only comprise 7.1 % of the U.S. population, they only constitute 5.9 percent of characters

10.  We are a nation of Immigrants, and while English is our dominant language, we speak more than 300 different other languages.

a.      U.S. has no official language

11.  Our Racial Divide

a.      Race is defined within our society to justify privilege, inequality, access, success, and work.

b.      Often, a person’s racial identity influences how they perceive racial discrimination and how much progress has been made.

c.      2021 survey revealed that most Black adults (75%), Asian American adults (64%), and Hispanic adults (59%) believed that they should spend more time exploring slavery and racism that has occurred in our history

d.      Fewer Whites (46%) held the same view

e.      Biggest divide concerning how much racial progress we have made

                            i.      58% of Blacks believe that laws and major institutions need major transformations

1.      Compared to 30 % of Hispanics and 24% of Asians

2.      Only 18 % of white adults held this view.

12.  Concealed Stories: Indigenous Peoples in the Americas Before Columbus

a.      In 1492, Columbus sailed the blue -our stock story

                         i.      A brave, daring Christopher set off from Europe with three ships to find a shorter route to Asia

1.      Columbus was portrayed as a scientific and astronomical genius who found a way to circumnavigate the world, demonstrating that it was round

                            ii.      Recent historical revisions have challenged this story of discovery and have stated it was more of an invasion

b. Though vastly outnumbered by the natives, the Europeans benefitted greatly by guns, germs, and steel

                  i.      Superior weaponry and disease-causing microbes brought from Europe led to the genocide, domination, and exploitation of the Indigenous Americans

13.  America Before Columbus

a.      Inhabited by over a thousand Native American civilizations

                      i.      Groups tied to the land hunted and gathered

b.      Organized geographically into Northeastern Tribes, Northwestern Tribes, southwestern tribes, Southeastern Tribes, and the Great Plains tribes

                      i.      Their knowledge systems, religions, culture, and farming techniques helped form what has become known as the United States

1.      The influence continues to be vital to who we were, who we became, and what we will become.

c.      When Columbus arrived, the Native Americans were highly efficient at cultivating land

                       i.      They planted and harvested foods that were native to their region

                        ii.      They were also making improvements in agriculture, selecting the best seeds from plants that were most productive

d.      In 1493, Pope Alexander issued the Papal Bulls that declared the lands in the Americas to be free and open could be claimed in the name of church and nation

                        i.      Thus, the Native Americans lost their sovereignty, lands, and peoplehood

                        ii.      This is because our nation was shaped through the lens of Europe and its desires to colonize, control, and define history and reality.

e.      As Europe colonized much of the world -it also laid the foundations for structural racism in all of our major institutions, politics, family, economic systems, religion, and education

                          i.      This structural racism resulted in a long history of othering, which involved the active marginalization of minorities by individuals and institutions alike

                          ii.      Deliberate actions that created racial boundaries and realities were normalized

                       iii.      This process started in the Americas and targeted the first Americans, who are our indigenous people.