According to the article “A force of history” from the BBC NEWS more people than ever before are crossing borders. In the article, we get a personal overview by BBC presenter George Alagiah. He was born in Sri Lanka, moved to Ghana and settled in Britain. In search of a better life, they start a journey, which sometimes can be long and dangerous. The journeys are often illegal, expensive and offered by smugglers. Some people claim a sanctuary even if they aren’t entitled to. These are economic migrants and not people who genuinely seek a safe place from persecution. The challenge is not how to stop it but how to manage it. Historically the net effect of migration has been a good thing. Where would America be without the unparalleled movement of Irish People in the mid-to-late 19th century? Where would modern Australia be if it had continued to rely entirely on the flow of people from the “mother” country? “I am where I am because I’ve been able to take advantage of the opportunities offered by a Britain at its best – a land of hope that is open and confident”. “To deny these chances to a new generation of migrants would be an injustice to the individuals concerned but, more important, it would mark a profound loss of faith in our nation’s place in this century of globalisation”, he says.
In the article “The Cult of Ethnicity – Good and Bad” by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., we read about how racial and ethnic diversities haven’t been working in other countries and it is causing other countries to fight. “But what happens when people of different origins, speaking different languages and processing different religions inhabit the same locality and live under the same political sovereignty? Ethnic and racial conflict – far more than ideological conflict – is the explosive problem of our times. On every side today ethnicity is breaking up nations”. U.S has until recently been one of the few countries to actually accept these differences without conflicts like other countries have. “”No other nation”, Margaret Thatcher has said”. The point of America was not to preserve old cultures but to forge a new, American culture. The creation of a brand-new national identity made the U.S. escape the divisiveness of a multiethnic society and that was a brilliant solution. “In a world savagely rent by ethnic and racial antagonisms, the U.S. must continue as an example of how a highly differentiated society holds itself together”. Schlesinger’s main assertion is that the key to America’s success it how it has historically mixed people of diverse ethnicities into a single, brand-new American race. The U.S. are examples to other countries so they need to continue leading them.
“Dinner with Dr Azad” is part of Monica Ali’s first novel “Brick Lane”. In this extract, we read about a marriage between two immigrants from Bangladesh living in London’s Tower Hamlets. The wife called Nazneen and her father arranged the marriage when she was a teenager. Nazneen is 18 years old and she feels isolated and lonely. She can’t speak English and that makes it difficult for her to talk with other people. The husband called Chanu is working to earn money. Nazneen is also shy and Chanu often dominates her. Nazneen is making dinner for Chanu’s best friend Dr Azad and at the table Chanu and Dr Azad talks about how a lot of immigrants look forward to come home someday when they have earned enough money.
Today Globalisation and migration/immigration is part of the world we are living in. It can be difficult to be part of a new community as an immigrant and it can be difficult for a country to know how to manage the problems around migration/immigration. In the article by George Alagiah, we get the picture that there comes a lot of economic migrants across the borders and that “The challenge is not how to stop it but how to manage it”. Britain should continue to offer opportunities to migrants because it could grow to be a win-win situation. In the article “The Cult of Ethnicity – Good and Bad” by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., we can see that the U.S. has succeeded about the subject and they should continue to be a good example and lead other countries. In the extract “Dinner with Dr Azad”, we see the story from an immigrant’s side. Immigrants find it hard to fit in between their own religion and it is often complicated to integrate in a community.
essay in here…