Ethnic Geography The Human Mosaic Chapter 9. Examples of ethnic enclaves in the United States North...

Ethnic Geography

The Human MosaicChapter 9

Examples of ethnic enclaves in the United States

North Boston Mounted statue of American hero Paul Revere

is in an Italian neighborhood Most businesses have Italian names Women lean out of upper-story windows

conversing —Naples-style — to neighbors across the street

Italian-dominated outdoor vegetable market Pilgrimage to the site where the American

Revolution began has become a trip to Little Italy


Wilber, Nebraska, bills itself “The Czech Capital of Nebraska” Holds an annual “National Czech

Festival” Authentic food, and locally made

handicraft are offered for sale Many shops are decorated in Czech

motif and ethnic music is played on the streets

The festival draws thousands of visitors each year


Other ethnic festivals held in Nebraska Newman Grove—”Norwegian Days” Bridgeport—”the Greek Festival” Dannebrog—the Danish “Grundlovs Fest” McCook—”German Heritage Days” Stromsburg—the “Swedish Festival” O’Neal—

the “St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” Several Indian tribal “powwows” are held in

other cities


An ethnic crazy-quilt pattern exists in both urban and rural areas of the United States

Same kind of pattern exists in Canada, Russia, China, and many other countries

Problems encountered when defining ethnic group

Controversy has surround attempts to formulate an accepted definition

Word ethnic derived from Greek word ethnos meaning “people” or “nation”

For this text defined as people of common ancestry and cultural tradition, living as a minority in a larger society, or host culture

Strong feeling of group identity, of belonging characterizes ethnicity


Membership in an ethnic group is involuntary He or she must be born into the group Often individuals choose to discard

their ethnicity


Main problem is different groups base their identities on different traits The Jews—primarily means religion The Amish—both folk culture and religion African-Americans—skin color Swiss-Americans—national origin German-Americans—ancestral language Cuban-Americans—mainly anti-Castro, and

anti-Marxist sentiment


Politics can also help provide the basis for the we/they dichotomy that underlies ethnicity

Role of ethnic groups

Keepers of distinctive cultural traditions Focal point of various kinds of social

interaction Provide group identity, friendships, and

marriage partners Also provides a recreational outlet,

business success, and a political power base

Can give rise to suspicion, friction, distrust, clannishness, and even violence

How ethnic minorities can be changed by their host culture

Acculturation — an ethnic group adopts enough of the host society’s ways to be able to function economically and socially

Assimilation — a complete blending with the host culture Involves loss of all distinctive ethnic traits American host culture now includes many

descendants of —Germans, Scots, Irish, French, Swedes, and Welsh

Intermarriage is perhaps the most effective assimilatory device

How ethnic minorities can be changed by their host culture

In reality few ethnic groups have been assimilated in the so-called “melting-pot”

It was assumed all ethnic groups would eventually be assimilated

The last 25 years has witnessed a resurgence of ethnic identity in the United States, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere

Ethnicity easily made the transition from folk to popular culture

Popular culture reveals a vivid ethnic component

Ethnic geography

The study of ethnic geography is the study of spatial and ecological aspects of ethnicity Ethnic groups often practice unique

adaptive strategies Normally occupy clearly defined areas

—urban and rural

Culture regions

Ethnic regions Cultural diffusion and ethnicity Ethnic ecology Ethnic cultural integration Ethnic landscapes

Culture groups typically occupy compact territories

Ethnic formal culture regions can be mapped

Geographers rely on diverse data Surnames in telephone directories Census totals for mother tongue

Each method will produce a slightly different map

Such regions exist in most countries

Ethnic formal culture regions


Two distinct geographical types of ethnic regions exist Ethnic minorities who reside in ancient home

territories Lands where their ancestors lived back into

prehistoric times Became ethnic when their territory was

annexed into a larger independent state Examples — Basques of Spain, Navajo Indians

of American Southwest Place and region provide a basic element in

their ethnic identity


Two distinct geographical types of ethnic regions exist Results from migration when people

move great distances Emotional attachment tends to be weaker

toward new homeland Only after many generations pass do

descendants of immigrants develop strong bonds to region and place

Ethnic culture regions in rural North America

Ethnic homelands Cover large areas, often over-lapping state and

provincial borders Have sizable populations Residents seek or enjoy some measure of

political autonomy or self-rule Populations usually exhibit a strong sense of

attachment to the region Most homelands belong to indigenous ethnic

groups


Ethnic homelands Possess special, venerated places that serve to

symbolize and celebrate the region — shrines to the special identity of the group

Combines the attributes of both formal and functional culture regions

Regarded by some as incompletely developed nation-states

Because of sex, age, and geographical segregation tend to strengthen ethnicity

Long occupation helps people develop modes of life, behavior, tastes, and relationships regarded as the correct ones


Examples of ethnic homelands in North America Acadiana — Louisiana French increasingly

identified with the Cajun people and recognized as a perceptual region

Spanish-American — highland New Mexico, Colorado, and South Texas

Navajo Reservation — New Mexico and Arizona French-Canadian — centered on valley of lower St.

Lawrence River in Quebec Some include Deseret— Mormon homeland in the

Great Basin of the Intermontane West


Some ethnic homelands have experienced decline and decay Pennsylvania “Dutch” — weakened to almost

extinction by assimilation Southern “Black Belt” — diminished by collapse of

plantation-sharecrop system resulting in out-migration to urban areas

Mormon absorption into the American cultural mainstream

Non-ethnic immigration has damaged the Spanish-American homeland


Most vigorous homelands are the French-Canadians and South Texas Mexican-Americans

Ethnic substrate Occurs when a people in a homeland are

assimilated into the host culture and a geographical residue remains

The resultant culture region retains some distinctiveness


Ethnic substrate Geographers often find traces of an

ancient, vanished ethnicity in a region Italian province of Tuscany owes both its

name and some uniqueness to the Etruscan people who ceased as an ethnic group 2,000 years ago

Massive German presence in American Heartland helped shape cultural character of the Midwest, which can be said to have a German ethnic substrate

Ethnic Island: Westby, Wisconsin


This small town is in America’s ethnically diverse rural heartland.

Westby was a Norwegian pioneer and the town’s population is primarily Norwegian.


Although traditional events such as the fall lutefisk dinner and the May 17th Norwegian Independence Day celebration are celebrated, this ethnic group has essentially assimilated with the host culture.

Note the various popular cultural organizations and activities in this community.


Ethnic islands in North America Small dots in the countryside Usually occupy less area than a county Much smaller than a homeland-serve as

home to only several hundred or several thousand people

More numerous than homelands or substrates

Many found in large areas of rural North America


Ethnic islands in North America Crazy-quilt pattern found in some areas of Midwest Germans form the largest group found in ethnic

islands—southeastern Pennsylvania and in Wisconsin Scandinavians — primarily Swedes and Norwegians

—came mainly to Minnesota, the eastern Dakotas, and western Wisconsin

Ukrainians settled mainly in the Canadian Prairie Provinces

Slavic groups — mainly Poles and Czechs —established scattered colonies in the Midwest and Texas


Ethnic islands develop because “a minority group will tend to utilize space in such a way as to minimize the interaction distance between group members”

The desire is to facilitate contacts within the community and minimize exposure to the outside world

The ideal shape of an ethnic island is circular or hexagonal

People are drawn to rural places where others of the same ethnic background are found


Survive from one generation to the next because most land is inherited

Sale of land is typically confined within the ethnic group, helping to preserve its identity

Social stigma is often attached to sale of land to outsiders

Small size makes populations more susceptible to acculturation and assimilation

Urban ethnic neighborhoods and ghettos

Formal ethnic culture regions occur in cities throughout the world

Minority people tend to create ethnic residential quarters

Ethnic neighborhood — a voluntary community where people of like origin reside by choice showing a desire to maintain group cohesiveness


Benefits of the ethnic neighborhood Common use of language Nearby kin Stores and services specially tailored to

a certain group’s tastes Presence of factories relying on

ethnically based division of labor Institutions important to the group —

churches and lodges


The ghetto — traditionally been used to describe an area within the city where a certain ethnic group is forced to live An involuntary community and as much a

functional culture region as a formal one Discrimination decides whether a ethnic group

lives in a ghetto or voluntarily forms its own neighborhood

American society discriminates more against blacks and Asians

Jewish Ghetto: Salzburg, Austria

The name of this street is Judengasse – Jew Street.

Here, as in many European cities, Jews were forced to live in a specific walled and gated area.

Jewish Ghetto: Salzburg, Austria

Judengasse had 3000 residents by 1610.

Virtually all of Salzburg’s Jewish population succumbed to the Nazi Holocaust.

The term ghetto derives from the Jewish quarter by the Ghetto Novo or New Foundry in Venice.


Study of Cleveland, Ohio, by John Kain Blacks are confined to a ghetto by

discriminatory housing practices Blacks more highly segregated

residentially than white ethnic groups Italians, Poles, Jews, Appalachian folk, and

other white ethnic groups occupy neighborhoods rather than ghettos

These other white ethnic groups disperse to suburbs more readily than African-Americans


Ethnic clustering survives relocation from neighborhoods to suburbs Example of the Chinese in the San Gabriel

Valley near Los Angeles In ancient times, conquerors often forced

vanquished native people to live in ghettos Religious minorities usually received similar

treatment Sometimes walls were built around ghettos Islamic cities had Christian districts Medieval European cities had Jewish ghettos


North American cities are more ethnically diverse than any other urban centers in the world Ethnic neighborhoods became typical after

about 1840 Immigrant groups clustered together instead of

dispersing Ethnic groups generally came from different

parts of Europe than those who moved to rural areas


North American cities are more ethnically diverse than any other urban centers in the world Catholic Irish, Italians, Poles, and East

European Jews became the main urban ethnic groups

Other non-European groups later came to urban areas — French-Canadians, southern blacks, Puerto Ricans, Appalachian whites, Amerindians

Other ethnic migrants

As immigration laws changed, the ethnic variety in North American cities grew even greater

Asia, rather than Europe, is now the principal source continent for immigrants in the United States and Canada Chinese, Koreans, and Vietnamese comprise

the most numerous immigrant groups Asia supplied 37 percent of all legal immigrant

to United states in mid-1990s Japanese ancestry forms the largest national-

origin group in Hawaii

Chinatown: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

A key link in a pattern of chain migration, Victoria’s Chinatown is Canada’s oldest, the earliest gold-seekers coming by boat via San Francisco in 1858.

Between 1861 and 1884, nearly 16000 Chinese railroad workers funneled through Victoria to the mainland.


Discrimation concentrated the community and by 1910, Chinatown was the nation’s largest, comprising six city blocks and 3000 Chinese.

Second to Vancouver until 1950, it now ranks eighth.

Decline followed the 1923-47 prohibition of Chinese immigration.


However, in the 1980s, it became the first to undergo a comprehensive rehabilitation program and to have a Chinese arch. The Tong Ji Men – Gate of Harmonious Interest, replete with Animist, Buddhist and Taoist motifs, symbolizes Canadian multiculturalism.


Many West Coast cities have acquired sizable Asiatic populations

Vancouver Eleven percent Asian in 1981 Has absorbed more immigrants,

particularly from Hong Kong


Latin America, including Caribbean countries, has surpassed Europe as a source of

immigrants to North America East Coast cities have large numbers from the

West Indies Miami has become a West Indies/Caribbean

city As early as the 1970s, New York City was receiving large numbers of immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Jamaica

Image of Canada and the United States as predominantly “European” may change


We need to be reminded not all emigrant ethnic groups live in North America About 28 million ethnic Chinese reside

outside China and Taiwan Most live in Southeast Asian countries Indonesia has over 7 million Thailand has nearly 6 million Malaysia has more than 5 million


We need to be reminded not all emigrant ethnic groups live in North America Auckland, New Zealand, has the largest

Polynesian population of any city in the world

Germany, The United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain are home to millions of Africans, Turks, and Asians

Ethnic Neighborhood:Sao Paulo, Brazil

This torii marks entry to Liberdade, a Japanese community.

Japanese were initially recruited to work on coffee fazendas and by 1924, 34,000 had been subsidized by the Sao Paulo state government.

Ethnic Neighborhood:Sao Paulo, Brazil

After 1920, emigration was subsidized by Japan and arrivals peaked in 1933 with 25,000.

Highly successful farmers, especially in market gardening, many eventually moved into cities to form distinctly Japanese communities.


Urban ethnic neighborhoods tend to be transitory Ethnic groups remain while undergoing

acculturation Central-city ethnic neighborhoods experience a

life cycle Often one group is replace by a later-arriving one Example of Boston’s West End

Mainly an Irish area in the nineteenth century At the beginning of the twentieth century Jews

replaced the Irish Poles and Italians replaced Jews in the late 1930s


Urban ethnic neighborhoods tend to be transitory In Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood Central

Americans replaced Cubans Chicago’s Adams area provides an almost

complete history of American migratory pattern

First came the Germans and Irish Next Greeks, Poles, French Canadians,

Czechs, and Russian Jews Soon the Italians pressed those listed above The Italians were challenged by Chicanos and

a small group of Puerto Ricans


Urban ethnic neighborhoods tend to be transitory Older groups often established new

ethnic neighborhoods in suburban areas

Ethnic mix and national character

Any country is the sum of its cultural parts

Each country has its own unique mixes of national origin and ethnic groups that help shape national character

Russia has less diversity and a largely different array of minorities than the United States


Canada is also strikingly different from the United States

Far higher proportions of English, French, Scots, and Ukrainians

Far fewer Germans, Africans, and Hispanics


Most persons in the United States claiming German origin have in fact been acculturated and assimilated They have become part of the host

culture Massive absorption into the

mainstream culture Major factor in shaping a national

character distinct from that of Canada

Ethnic Geography The Human Mosaic Chapter 9. Examples of ethnic enclaves in the United States North...

Documents

Transcript of Ethnic Geography The Human Mosaic Chapter 9. Examples of ethnic enclaves in the United States North...