Maintaining Race and Ethnic Identity Essay

The world we are living is very dynamic and exhibits various types of movements for both plants and animals including humans. History insinuates that man practiced considerable movements from one place to another since its first existence. This movement from one locality to another is referred to as migration. Migration can be 1) internal which is within the country, state or continent and maybe 2) international which crosses boundaries to other country, state or continent. With the development of technology and globalization, international migration continues to increase over the past decades. In 1960, there were 76 million international migrants and increased to 191 million international migrants in 2006. It was noted that a relatively high migration rate is from 1985 to 1990. Generally, ethnic identity diversifies according to the length of distance and therefore international migration increases the gap of connectivity in relation to ethnicity. Human migration can be classified as permanent or semi-permanent depending on their reasons which maybe voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary migration is generally practiced in search for a â€Å"greener pasture† and satisfaction of one’s preferences. This includes employment, climate, food supply, self development like education, religion and family. Involuntary migration, on the other hand, includes migration due to calamity, political conditions like when in war or in exile, slave trades or human trafficking and ethnic cleansing. (Boyd, 2003) Refugees can eventually be immigrants. Based from Human Migration Guide of the National Geographic Society, â€Å"A refugee is a person who is residing outside the country of his or her origin due to fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. † (â€Å"What is Human Migration? † 2005) . This involuntary migration results to a hefty impact on self identity rather than voluntary migration. Human migration has taken a major participation in shaping and honing the present status of the population. It allows the diffusion and combination of the structures, cultures, beliefs, ideas, principles, religion, and other traits which results to the modification of each others traits. Rejection of the integration, however, sometimes results to conflict that may cause decline of socio-cultural capital and values. Although immigrants tend to maintain their ethnic identity and cultures at home, the children of the second, third generation is common or comparable with generations of the host country. This means that these generations are highly acculturated to the host community and country. Intentional or not intentional, this is in response to their quest for belongingness. On the other hand, some immigrants give high regard to their culture which is linked to nationalism. Some may even believe that there is no other culture than theirs and fail to recognize cultures of other immigrants within the community. Some host countries like Western European nations and Japan are deeply concern about the effect of these immigrants on their culture and ethnic identity which can be compromised. Oftentimes, conflict such as racial discrimination exist and become the subject of debates. Different countries have their own policies regarding immigration. Other countries begin to recognize immigrants with different race and cultures. They are respected in preserving their respective cultures and interact peacefully within one nation. This official policy is known as multiculturalism and can be seen in Canada, Australia and the U. K. It is also called as the cultural mosaic of different ethnic groups. Nevertheless, immigrant groups are still encouraged to learn the language of the host country and participate in the activities of the major society including labor force. However, this policy gained many criticisms such as it divides the people even there is a need to be united on certain social issues and justices. Debates on immigration law and racism are still on-going issues of every host country.