mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (06/25/85)
>Ghettos are caused by the fact that newly arrived members of any group, >coming to a strange environment, tend to live near "their own kind". This >was a factor for almost all newly arrived ethnic groups in this country, >and was a factor for the large black migrations from the rural South to >the urban North in this century. (Remember, Detroit was *less* segregated >by race in 1875-1899, than now.) Often true, but not true of all newly arriving groups. Toronto has MANY ethnic groups. Once I read that there are 18 languages taught as "heritage languages" in Toronto schools, and 54 languages taught or used in some manner. There are many "ghettos" where people of particular backgrounds tend to congregate: Chinese, Portuguese, ... But not Hungarian, although Toronto received several thousand refugees in 1956. These people did not cling to their own compatriots, but provided a spiritual boost to the city that turned it from a big small-town into a fine city. They opened art galleries, good restaruants, musical groups and so forth, and their example seemed to encourage others. There are other groups of whom one does not think of in terms of particular areas of the city, as well. Why, then, do some people tend to cluster with their like, and others to disperse? Are Hungarians more fearless than Chinese? Hardly likely, even though they are lingustically as far from English as each other, and most Chinese keep very close. Do Hungarians hate each other more than they hate strangers? Again, hardly likely, considering the wonderful effect they have on the life of the city. I have no explanation. Does anyone? -- Martin Taylor {allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt {uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmt
mms1646@acf4.UUCP (Michael M. Sykora) (06/29/85)
Some possible factors influencing whether or not ethnic groups form ghettos: -- cultural/religious -- the reason(s) why they came: e.g., persecution, economic opportunity -- the attitude of natives towards the immigrants Mike Sykora