continue from the writing below, and write a 1800 word research paper on why there is a lack of job opportunities for Chinese immigrants? Include researched sources. The smells of the damp concrete and freshly baked desserts make an interesting mixture of scents flowing through Chinatown’s narrow streets. The uneven sidewalks and caved potholes made it difficult to walk. The narrow paths stretch toward an urban sanctuary—the grandiose Boston Public Library. Along the walls adorn multicolored country flags swaying slowly in the winter breeze. The soft glow of lights illuminates my face as I pause to observe the activity within a particularly crowded bakery. From outside the windowpane, I hear the muffled sounds of conversations in Mandarin coming from inside. My dad swings the door open, and the conversations are now at full volume. I hear cashiers shouting an order, “Yi ge yue bing, Liang ge dan tuan!” — one mooncake and two egg tarts!
My eyes scan the tiny placards perched in front of each delicately baked confection—Sweet bread: $1.20, Red bean bun: $1.40, Pork floss sandwich: $2.00. I stand there for a while, astonished, feeling a mixture of awe and delight. I had never seen such low prices in my life! I thought to myself, I was going to buy up the whole store!
Intrigued by the prices, I turn to my father with a question tinged with naivety, “How do they make ends meet if they charge so low?” My understanding of the immigrant’s journey, sacrifices, and aspirations was limited then. I couldn’t fully grasp why someone would traverse oceans and continents just to open a small bakery. It was a moment of discovery where my curiosity about the immigrant experience grew. Why has there been a lack of job opportunities for Chinese immigrants?
Just as the bakery is secluded in the alleyways of Chinatown, so are Chinese immigrants in America. The isolated bakery juxtaposed the sentiments that many Chinese immigrants face in their search for jobs. Frederick Leong, Professor of Physocolgy, outlines Bogardus’s social distance theory that identifies six degrees of social distance in response to racial groups– “a) would allow to live in my country, (b) would have lived in my neighborhood, © would have several families in my neighborhood, (d) would work beside in an office, (e) would have as regular friends, and (f) would marry.” At the fourth degree of social distancing, Americans feel the need to exclude immigrants from the workplace. For me, it is confusing as to why someone would need to express their need to exclude immigrants from their colleagues without knowing the social and economic consequences that it can cause. There is a myriad of systemic barriers affecting a specific immigrant group and it is useful in an essay examining immigration and employment issues. The theoretical framework provides a structured approach to discussing how these barriers exist in systems affecting the career prospects of Chinese immigrants. Director of the Center for Multicultural Psychology Research, Leong, highlights that Chinese immigrants were at the top of the list in terms of social distance and xenophobia during the resurgence of anti-Chinese sentiments in the United States. There are many career hurdles faced by Chinese immigrants in the U.S. Systemic barriers include societal, community, educational, and workplace contexts, which include stereotyping, language issues, social support deficiencies, workplace discrimination, and the ‘model minority’ myth.