by Alan Czaplicki
Before reading this article, think about the immigrants who live in your country.

The United States is called a "nation of immigrants." The hard work of many people from many different nations helped create the United States' current political and economic system, its industry, cultural values, and make-up of cities and towns, and was important to the history of its art and literature. Sometimes the assimilation of different people into US society was quickly and easily done; other times it was and still is very prolonged and difficult. Even in a country as diverse as the United States, minorities still face many problems gaining the freedoms granted to them by the Constitution. Nevertheless, minority groups still contribute significantly to American culture and have a very strong presence in its daily workings.

African-Americans, or black Americans, make up the largest minority in the United States. Originally brought to the USA as slaves, African-Americans have fought for their freedom since these early days. In the 20th century, they won many of their rights in the Civil Rights movement, which took place in the 1960's. Segregation and biased, unfair laws were abolished in the United States, and affirmative action was established to create equal opportunities in employment and education for all minorities. African-Americans now have organizations that promote their ideas and concerns, such as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). These groups promote African-American representation in the sciences, arts, and politics, and try to create a more tolerant and fair attitude in business and industry. Unfortunately, too many African-Americans still suffer from poverty and poor education, a problem that is still to be solved. Black churches and other aid organizations currently work to help poverty-stricken people and to raise the level of income and education in poor African-American areas.

Latinos, or Hispanics, are the second largest minority, and suffer from some of the same discrimination and poverty as African-Americans. A growing community, Latinos have large populations in the Southwestern United States and in large cities like Miami and New York. In fact, Spanish is a common language in these areas, as Spanish is the first language of many immigrants from Puerto Rico and Mexico. Latino communities are usually very close-knit, and many new Latino immigrants bring family members with them to the United States after they have found a job. This can be a problem, though, as the United States government is unhappy with the large numbers of illegal immigrants who come into the country, especially from Mexico. While many Latinos born in the United States work in all sectors of business and industry, many new immigrants labor in factories or farms while they attempt to adjust to American society. These new immigrants are sometimes not appreciated because it is believed that they are stealing jobs from native citizens. Many times this is not true, but this belief persists among some Americans, causing some racial tension.

Many new immigrants also came from Asia and South Asia, especially from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and India. These people also form tight-knit communities with people of the same ethnic group, who were born in the United States. Asian minorities in the United States are stereotyped as being very intelligent and likely to enter into medicine or science as professions. This, however, is not completely true, as many new Asian immigrants work in factories or with small, sometimes illegal, clothing manufacturers. In these situations, new immigrants of any ethnicity are paid low wages and are forced to do extremely difficult work for long hours. Still, Asian minorities do well in the United States, building large communities in large cities (particularly in the western United States) and opening many restaurants and stores in these areas.

Lilo Zsolnay - USA Country Studies