The Future of Ethnic Enclaves in the United States
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Authors
Zawislak, Brittany
Issue Date
2008
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Why is the study of ethnic enclaves important? There are ethnic enclaves and then there
are ghettos, but the line that differentiates them is very blurry. Ethnic enclaves can be seen as beneficial to immigrants but there are also patterns that show that immigrants are facing discrimination that inhibits their ability to move outside of these neighborhoods. Chinese and Cuban immigrants, both part of a new wave of immigration faced by the U.S., face a unique immigration experience which affects how well they get along in the United States. In the 1920'·s
University of Chicago sociologists such as Milton Gordon and Robert Park studied eastern
European immigrants and theorized about what motivated them to live in these ethnic
neighborhoods and then what characteristics were necessary for them to leave. Milton Gordon
theorized that the immigrants would follow a seven step process toward eventual assimilation
with the mainstream culture that would lead to the disappearance of ethnic enclaves. Robert Park showed that with increased socioeconomic attainment people would use capital to move further
away from these enclave areas. Spatial assimilation model, the structural inequality model, the
segmented assimilation model, and queuing which all look at more contemporary immigration
and are then applied to the cases of Cuban and Chinese immigrants.
Description
iv, 50 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College.
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.