If you’re an immigrant who is black, you’re likely going to end up playing professional sports or leading a life of petty crime. Asians who arrive here from elsewhere will either work in Asian food restaurants or do something with math, and Mexicans will do whatever they can because they just arrive to steal our jobs.
THESE ARE HORRIBLE STEREOTYPES AND NONE ARE TRUE. As a proud black immigrant from Haiti who is now a naturalized US citizen, I have faced many ignorant stereotypes from people, and I suspect I will for the rest of my life.
I have faced stereotypes because of the color of my skin, the way that I speak English – which is not my first language – and about my country of origin. There is nothing I can do about the color of my skin, and it doesn’t stop me from doing anything, but it doesn’t mean I’m better at sports or anything silly like that. I believe I speak English well, but it will never be my native language. Because I learned a different language first, I will always speak with an accent. That doesn’t mean I have any less brain power or any less to offer than someone with perfect diction. As far as Haiti goes, the government, unfortunatel,y goes through spells of corruption and has experienced great devastation from earthquakes, but it’s a beautiful country full of good people who have a rich heritage.
For those who don’t know my story, I came to this country, took a remedial English course, spent months before I found a job as a hotel housekeeper. I rode buses for 3+ hours to get to work before I saved up enough money to buy a car, Additionally, I was able to get promoted to security full-time, took on an additional full-time job, and spent a decade putting myself through college, earning two masters’ degrees. During this time, I married my childhood sweetheart and had two terrific sons. I am also a homeowner, currently serving my country as an officer in the US Navy, and I am now a business owner with several big projects in my future.
Ask college professors and those in big business if they subscribe to the stereotypes about immigrants in the US. Most will tell you that they don’t. They’ll also you the stereotypes are wrong because immigrants are becoming more successful than ever.
Statistics show that immigrants are becoming more educated, getting better jobs and contributing more to the country than at any other time in history. Take California for example, where the rate of 19-year-old Hispanic-born citizens with high school diplomas has increased from 74 percent to 86 percent since 2006. When it comes to education, study after study has shown that children of immigrants statistically perform better in school than children of people who have been in America for many generations.
Why is this? What drove me and continues to drive people who leave their homeland, many certain never to return? It’s the promise of a better life.
Growing up, my friends and I knew we’d have to either go to Europe or the United States if we wanted a good life. Like the slogan says, I saw the US as the land of opportunity. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say it always felt like a good life. When I was falling asleep in my car between work and school, barely able to see my family, and on the verge of exhaustion, it was rough. But I thought about where I came from and how if I had stayed there, I wouldn’t have been given the chance to succeed.
I believe many immigrants are able to focus on their gratitude for being given opportunities as many come from places where there are none. My sons will never feel what it is like knowing they have to leave their country to have an opportunity to succeed. They are being raised in a place where opportunity is a given and is expected. I think being born and raised in a country where that doesn’t happen gives one a different perspective. I’ll examine this concept more in the next blog.
Gratitude is something that needs cultivation. Recognize how much worse things could be and the chances you’ve been given that others haven’t. I believe this is why the immigrant work ethic is considered by many to be so strong, despite the negative stereotypes we face.