Chapter Introduction

Figure 5.1: Neon signs collected from ethnic restaurants in the United States by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

(Smithsonian Institution Collections, National Museum of American History, Behring Center.)

One of the enduring stories that the people of the United States proudly tell themselves is that “ours is an immigrant nation.” This story is displayed during annual festivals celebrating the mosaic of ethnic traditions in countless cities, towns, and villages across the nation. For example, the midwestern town of Wilber, settled by Bohemian immigrants beginning about 1865, bills itself as “The Czech Capital of Nebraska” and annually invites visitors to attend a National Czech Festival. Celebrants are promised Czech foods, such as koláce, jaternice, poppy seed cake, and jelita; Czech folk dancing; “colored Czech postcards and souvenirs” imported from Europe; and handicraft items made by Nebraska Czechs (bearing an official seal and trademark to prove authenticity). Thousands of visitors attend the festival each year. Without leaving Nebraska, these tourists can move on to Norwegian Days at Newman Grove, the Greek Festival at Bridgeport, the Danish Grundlovs Fest in Dannebrog, German Heritage Days at McCook, the Swedish Festival at Stromsburg, the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at O’Neill, several Native American powwows, and assorted other ethnic celebrations (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.2: Ethnic pride. (a) The town of Stromsburg, Nebraska. Proud of its Swedish heritage, Stromsburg holds a “Swedish Festival” each year in June. (b) Hispanic Heritage Festival in Nebraska. Hispanic immigrants have expanded the range of ethnic pride festivals throughout the Midwest.

(Steve Skjold/Alamy.)

Thinking Geographically

Question

Besides generating tourist income, what purposes do such festivals serve?

Today, Nebraska is still a magnet for immigrants, but since the 1990s, the state’s new arrivals have been overwhelmingly non-European. In particular, Mexican immigrants employed in Nebraska’s meat-processing industry find destinations such as Nebraska and other upper midwestern states attractive. In general, immigrants to the United States today are more likely to come from Asia or Latin America than from Europe, and they are changing the face of ethnicity in the United States (Figures 5.2 and 5.3). Indeed, ethnicity is a central aspect of the cultural geography of most places, forming one of the brightest motifs in the human mosaic.

Figure 5.3: The foreign-born population of the United States. The smaller chart shows that 12.4 percent, or approximately 37.6 million, of the total U.S. population in 2010 (304.3 million) was born abroad. The larger chart shows that the majority of these people came from Latin America and Asia.

(Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2010.)

Thinking Geographically

Question

What characteristics of Asia and Latin America might have contributed to such large numbers of people migrating to the United States?

Figure 5.4: Percent of the U.S. population by race and origin, 1990–2050. This histogram illustrates the changing mosaic of race and ethnicity in the United States. The non-Hispanic white population is projected to steadily decline through the mid-part of the twenty-first century, while Asian groups and those citing Hispanic origin are expected to significantly increase as a percentage of the national population.

(Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2010.)

Thinking Geographically

Question

What reasons can you suggest for the significant projected increase in the percentage of Hispanic-origin individuals (as compared to other population groups) in the United States through the year 2050?