curious about prejudice towards immigrants

[cbd2cai 0]

well, i am curious to find out what will happen when my husband gets here. I think I live in a fairly diverse part of Dallas, but you never know how ppl react. Thought maybe he would want to go to one of those classes to help with his accent, but he knows english fairly well and I have a feeling that he'll be watching a whole lot of TV!!

I went down to the Hong Kong Market yesterday to look for some items to make Tom Kha Gai Soup (not just from the box, hehe) and noted the wide variety of folks down there (hey, I was a minority in this place, but not the only one). . . thought to myself "hubby is going to get to do some shopping here!" . . . nice selection of different veggies (oh, japanese eggplant, yeah!!!) . . . it is within half a mile soooooooooooo, he'll have some time to spare for awhile . . . he'll be doing some cooking for sure!

Edited December 10, 2006 by cbd2cai

[Nizzy 1]

Where we live it is pretty diverse so hubby hasn't run into any sort of problems. We are moving to a part of virginia where there are a lot of Afghans so don't expect anything there either.

[LaL 418]

only when jobs applied for require citizenship.

[Garfield fan 0]

JMHO, but from what I can see, it's a lot easier if you're a white immigrant.

Agree with that also. As an Asian myself, I've never had any problems with neighbours, people at work, etc, but I've heard some of my ex-coworkers cursing about the "mexicans" and that "they are all illegals and trying to steal our jobs", etc. I've also heard of some places that don't want to rent/sell to "non-white" people, and we did get some "reactions" from our prospective landlord once when hubby was exploring other job options in another town. He made the calls and everything, then we both went there to see the place and you can just kind of tell that the woman was a bit "allergic" to immigrants, non-white one to be exact.

[peezey 0]

This is a good topic.

I wondered about this because my husband is Arab. All of my friends think he looks more American than I do.

I think because of where we are (California) in a very small and non diverse college town that when people find out that my husband is from Morocco they say "oh that's sooo cool".

He was shy about it when he first got here in terms of being embarassed to pay at the grocery store because he was worried people couldn't understand him but now whenever he talks people ask him where he's from.

Much better than I expected although none of my friends or family have ever shown any signs of discrimination so I guess it's what I expected. They respect that he is working and trying to make a good life for us.

Sarah

Your husband seriously looks of Greek or Italian decent..

He actually totally looks Moroccan. But Morocco is on the Med, so contrary to what one might think a Moroccan might look like, there are lots of similarities in features with other Med ethnicities.

[pedroh 21]

JMHO, but from what I can see, it's a lot easier if you're a white immigrant.

Agree with that also. As an Asian myself, I've never had any problems with neighbours, people at work, etc, but I've heard some of my ex-coworkers cursing about the "mexicans" and that "they are all illegals and trying to steal our jobs", etc. I've also heard of some places that don't want to rent/sell to "non-white" people, and we did get some "reactions" from our prospective landlord once when hubby was exploring other job options in another town. He made the calls and everything, then we both went there to see the place and you can just kind of tell that the woman was a bit "allergic" to immigrants, non-white one to be exact.

@sshole landlord for sure.. i'd sue her ### OMGWTFBBQ

[Identity 0]

I am curious as to whether or not any of you have experienced any pejudice in US as to immigrants. My own experience has been there is very little towards those that come here legally and make a effort to assimilate into the society, learn the language, work, etc. In fact from what I see Americans welcome and readily accept them bt then i may be wrong.

I can say that I've met many good Americans. However, I've also encountered more than my fair share of paranoid Americans doing things that range from direct accusations of "you're here for the green-card", to googling my name, to doing FBI background checks on me (which I regarded as very invasive). They are the stuff of jokes now.

[pedroh 21]

I am curious as to whether or not any of you have experienced any pejudice in US as to immigrants. My own experience has been there is very little towards those that come here legally and make a effort to assimilate into the society, learn the language, work, etc. In fact from what I see Americans welcome and readily accept them bt then i may be wrong.

I can say that I've met many good Americans. However, I've also encountered more than my fair share of paranoid Americans doing things that range from direct accusations of "you're here for the green-card", to googling my name, to doing FBI background checks on me (which I regarded as very invasive). They are the stuff of jokes now.

lol well that never has happened to me, except u know, in my job, being checked by the fbi.. lawl.. that'd be funny as hell.. i'd go straight to beat the sh!t out of that jerk

[Identity 0]

I am curious as to whether or not any of you have experienced any pejudice in US as to immigrants. My own experience has been there is very little towards those that come here legally and make a effort to assimilate into the society, learn the language, work, etc. In fact from what I see Americans welcome and readily accept them bt then i may be wrong.

I can say that I've met many good Americans. However, I've also encountered more than my fair share of paranoid Americans doing things that range from direct accusations of "you're here for the green-card", to googling my name, to doing FBI background checks on me (which I regarded as very invasive). They are the stuff of jokes now.

lol well that never has happened to me, except u know, in my job, being checked by the fbi.. lawl.. that'd be funny as hell.. i'd go straight to beat the sh!t out of that jerk

It's incredibly ignorant of them (which is very widespread in America) especially when you consider that a full background check has already been carried out for us to get our visas in the first place.

I feel for you, Pedro! I'm home now so I don't have to deal with that anymore.

[pedroh 21]

this area isn't that bad, there has been a lot of latinos in this southeastern NC area.. so they're tolerant of them now.. u know.. sometimes u hear the typical 'they are in america they should speak english' BS and I've been so close to tell them 'oh yea, why don't u go and teach them by urself #######'.. but other than that.. its cool..

although the poor latinos have it tougher here.. they live in small trailer parks and they are robbed constantly, of course the police knows about this sh!t, hell even cops have done it.. but u know, no ingles, they can't call the authorities about this..

oh and heck no, I won't feel pity for a dumbass that tries to do the background check or pull some racist ######... I'm not gonna be soft... sue their arses and kick them too..

[KarenCee 3]

I am curious as to whether or not any of you have experienced any pejudice in US as to immigrants. My own experience has been there is very little towards those that come here legally and make a effort to assimilate into the society, learn the language, work, etc. In fact from what I see Americans welcome and readily accept them bt then i may be wrong.

JMHO, but from what I can see, it's a lot easier if you're a white immigrant.

yeah.. i agree

I agree with that too.....to a point. I do think that all the hoopla over illegal immigrants working here in the US has made some employers leery of hiring anyone that is an immigrant. At least that's the impression I've gotten over the last couple months. Joel has put out over 50 apps...he applied for jobs that he was well qualified for and some that he was more than qualified for. Not ONE got back to him, even when he emailed them two or three times. He submitted a copy of his EAC to prove he is authorized to work in the US. The one place that finally hired him after two months of constant applying? UPS.

Of course, all that is just MHO.

[Identity 0]

I am curious as to whether or not any of you have experienced any pejudice in US as to immigrants. My own experience has been there is very little towards those that come here legally and make a effort to assimilate into the society, learn the language, work, etc. In fact from what I see Americans welcome and readily accept them bt then i may be wrong.

JMHO, but from what I can see, it's a lot easier if you're a white immigrant.

yeah.. i agree

I agree with that too.....to a point. I do think that all the hoopla over illegal immigrants working here in the US has made some employers leery of hiring anyone that is an immigrant. At least that's the impression I've gotten over the last couple months. Joel has put out over 50 apps...he applied for jobs that he was well qualified for and some that he was more than qualified for. Not ONE got back to him, even when he emailed them two or three times. He submitted a copy of his EAC to prove he is authorized to work in the US. The one place that finally hired him after two months of constant applying? UPS.

That would be only *some* employers. On the whole, U.S. Employers do value diversity in the workplace. Many grassroots Americans even have a positive natural curiosity towards immigrants, so it would be incorrect to say that employers are leery of hiring foreigners. I'd say it'll work in the favour of the immigrant.

Submitting resumes with qualifications is not enough these days. Perhaps your husband should join some voluntary organisations to expand his network of contacts. Oxfam has done some wonders for me here in Australia.

[Dr_LHA 3]

My employers ran an FBI background check on me, and wouldn't let me in certain parts of the building. Plus one time I was working in Florida for a week and the place I was had a guy follow me to the toilet "because I was a foriegner".

[KarenCee 3]

I am curious as to whether or not any of you have experienced any pejudice in US as to immigrants. My own experience has been there is very little towards those that come here legally and make a effort to assimilate into the society, learn the language, work, etc. In fact from what I see Americans welcome and readily accept them bt then i may be wrong.

JMHO, but from what I can see, it's a lot easier if you're a white immigrant.

yeah.. i agree

I agree with that too.....to a point. I do think that all the hoopla over illegal immigrants working here in the US has made some employers leery of hiring anyone that is an immigrant. At least that's the impression I've gotten over the last couple months. Joel has put out over 50 apps...he applied for jobs that he was well qualified for and some that he was more than qualified for. Not ONE got back to him, even when he emailed them two or three times. He submitted a copy of his EAC to prove he is authorized to work in the US. The one place that finally hired him after two months of constant applying? UPS.

That would be only *some* employers. On the whole, U.S. Employers do value diversity in the workplace. Many grassroots Americans even have a positive natural curiosity towards immigrants, so it would be incorrect to say that employers are leery of hiring foreigners. I'd say it'll work in the favour of the immigrant.

Submitting resumes with qualifications is not enough these days. Perhaps your husband should join some voluntary organisations to expand his network of contacts. Oxfam has done some wonders for me here in Australia.

My husband did volunteer here in the county. For the school system in which I teach. He volunteered with the Technology Department knowing there were no jobs available, he just wanted to keep his IT skills up. He has excellent letters of reference from former employers AND the school system here where he volunteered. And you're right...it IS just *some* employers. It just seems that most of those employers are around here in the good ol' deep south.

[Identity 0]

My employers ran an FBI background check on me, and wouldn't let me in certain parts of the building. Plus one time I was working in Florida for a week and the place I was had a guy follow me to the toilet "because I was a foriegner".

I would expect that kind of thing in Missouri.

Perhaps he followed you into the toilet because, as they say, "what happens overseas, stays overseas."