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Overview
At the turn of the century, America is both retrenching and expanding, becoming more restrictive and more expansive, more utilitarian and, more value- and religion-oriented. As was true a century ago, the flow of these changes is very much a story of immigrants, their lives in America, and the changing lives of those they join. This book examines the interaction of immigrants and the native-born in nine widely varying locales, including Richmond, VA, St. Louis, West Palm Beach, FL, Tacoma, WA, Garden City, KS, Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, and New York City.
The volume considers a broad range of immigrants from well-educated and economically successful Chinese and Indians, to legally recognized refugees, who often have more difficulty accommodating to U.S. society, to illegal immigrants, who are being Americanized to a shadow world of limited opportunity and limited protection. Through insight into the interactions between immigrants and native-born at the local level, the authors collectively sketch an America that is changing but also re-creating its past.
Synopsis
Examines the interaction of immigrants and native-born by providing insight into the dynamics of these interactions at the local level while simultaneously sketching the shape of an America that is both changing and re-creating its past.
Booknews
Provides a rough composite of what immigration means for Americans and what America requires of immigrants, examining specific groups of immigrants and particular communities. There is a dual attempt to look at specifics of these localities and to envision similarities across localities. Discusses cultural diversity among immigrants and refugees in St. Louis, Missouri; Vietnamese and Mexican immigrants in Garden City, Kansas; Cambodian adaptation in Tacoma, Washington; and the Chinese in the San Francisco Bay area. Haines teaches anthropology at George Mason University. Mortland is director of museum services at a museum in north central Oregon. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)