Chris Choi
English 098
27 October, 2015
Socioeconomic status of Immigrants In the novel, Almost a Woman, there are a lot of distinct differences and problems the author talks about. Distinct differences and problems in that the author, as an immigrant, faces many difficulties and cultural changes from when she migrated to New York City from Puerto Rico. As we go into the book, there are some key aspects of identity that are played in Esmeralda’s family and herself. One aspect of identity is the socioeconomic status of her and her family in the big, well known dynamic city of New York. This aspect of identity is a big concern throughout the book and in real life because it’s what most immigrants have to deal with from their movement from their native country to a foreign country. Socioeconomics is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local or regional economy, or the global economy. This is a monumental matter for Esmeralda as she is a middle school student going onto high school and as everyone knows, high school can be four years of highlight or four years of straight torture and since she’s an immigrant with no knowledge of American culture, this is a big concern for Esmeralda. Esmeralda, coming to America at a young age, is flustered with emotions and doesn’t have anyone to talk to because she is limited with who she has. She has her siblings, but she can’t relate to them because they’re too young, and she has her mother and grandmother, whom she can’t relate to because they lived in a different generation and grew up in a different country but Esmeralda is starting fresh and is at her prime stage of life where everything is a make or break for her self-esteem and confidence in whatever she does as a teenager. As an immigrant, her living conditions aren’t the greatest when compared to the white residents. She lives with her family, her grandmother, and her grandmother’s boyfriend all of which she can’t connect to. They live in an apartment with a huge family and not much room for privacy. “An alley between our bedroom window and the wall of the next building was so narrow that I stretched over to touch the bricks and left my mark on the greasy soot that covered them” (Santiago 6). These are the problems Esmeralda and her family are facing when coming to America and that goes for other immigrants as well because of their economic status. Usually, people who migrate don’t have a great deal of money to help them be comfortable in their new living conditions. “Tata and Don Julio went into her room and drew the curtain that separated their part of the apartment from ours” (13). “It’s time for bed… Delsa and I on the top bunk, Norma and Alicia on the bottom, Hector on the sofa, Raymond in the upholstered chairs pushed together, Edna and Mami in the double bed” (13). Because of her family’s economic status, and with the minimum work her mother and grandmother have, they are forced to live like this and it’s challenging for her because she wants a change in her life that’s different from her life in Puerto Rico.
Socioeconomic status has many meanings and one of them has to deal with income and social status in the community. Esmeralda is financially challenged in that she can’t do what she wants or have what she wants; she can only have what she needs. “Children in immigrant families also have limited health insurance” (Clark and King 293). It’s troubling to hear that children have limited health insurance. There are a majority of families, not just immigrant families, but native families in America that don’t have health insurance. Immigrants such as Esmeralda must be frightened by the fact that people don’t have the essential needs that one must have to survive. Esmeralda and her family must’ve expected to have a better change from Puerto Rico and have things they couldn’t have had there but that’s not the case. “We should buy you a graduation dress” (Santiago 51). Esmeralda’s mother stated that “we should buy you” a graduation dress to her. This is something Esmeralda needs, for her graduation, not a want because since moving from Puerto Rico, Esmeralda didn’t have much with her. And since she’s graduating from middle school onto high school, this is a new start for her because she’s the eldest in the family and it’s a big moment for her. Esmeralda talks about how she wants to go shopping with her friends like how the white girls do and she gets jealous but that’s what she has to deal with since her family is not financially stable and she must come to realize that those are the things that aren’t important for her and her family.
Puerto Ricans who come to the United States are solely looked and based upon their socioeconomic status. Current statistics show that early migrants came largely from agricultural backgrounds (Goode 42). Because of this, today, Puerto Ricans are predominantly located in factory labor (42). With that being said, the immigrants are either poor and uneducated or rich and successful. If poor and uneducated, they are heavily criticized and looked down upon. They are put at the bottom of the city social hierarchy in terms of education, income, housing, and health system (42). This can be seen in current events all throughout the news around the world. One just has to go to an underdeveloped city or neighborhood to witness this. Those immigrants who are rich and educated, or even middle class immigrants, can make use of their assets and take part in the world. Most of them are located in the suburban area and take on a different identity from what they previously had had. That is, the “American Identity” in which they “look” white and act like how society conforms them into (43). This is in contrast with Esmeralda because her family is not rich, not educated well enough, and not housed well. Her family lives with her grandmother in small concealed apartments with minimum room, and is on public welfare. She didn’t have much interest in these situations when she was in her native country but since she moved, she’s changing into that “American identity” that her mother and grandmother were much worried about. For example, Esmeralda wanted to eat American food to thicken her blood like the Americans but Tata was unresponsive and only cooked Puerto Rican food (Santiago 24). Another example is, “Mama grabbed my hair. “Who do you think you are?” she screamed, “talking back like that?” … “Don’t think because we’re here you can act like those fast American girls” (25). It’s a placebo effect. Everything is slowly starting to change in Esmeralda’s view of her identity just like those immigrants who are rich and educated are changing to the “American identity”.
Because of their socioeconomic status, the immigrants are highly dependent on welfare provided by the government. Welfare use in the Puerto Rican community of New York City has increased tenfold due to the unemployment rate within the past 10 years (Allegro 223). Puerto Rico’s relationship to the United States has resulted in a pattern of dependent industrializations, massive displacement of the labor force, and large-scale outmigration (223). Many of the immigrants who migrate to the United States are not wealthy and cannot support themselves like they did in Puerto Rico. United States is a diverse country when compared to Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, the businesses are totally different from that of America. For example, in Puerto Rico, there may be a large percentage of farmers and if agriculture is all they know, then it’ll be extremely difficult for them to live in New York City. Another example is if the family doesn’t have a dependent figure they can rely on to support them, such as a guardian, a mother, a father, a wife, or husband. “If Papi had come with us, Mami would never have fallen in love with Fransisco, he wouldn’t have died, and we wouldn’t be on welfare again” (Santiago 45). The struggle for Esmeralda and her family is beyond what words can describe. She lives with her family, her grandmother and her grandmother’s family in a small apartment. They are constantly moving because of their lack of income and support. “A few weeks later, the landlord told us to leave because too many people lived in the three rooms he’d rented to a women and two kid. We moved for the fifth time this year” (34). The reliance of welfare isn’t enough for the family and it is costing them tons of pain and stress towards the family. How can Esmeralda and her siblings continue schooling and create relationships with friends and teachers if they keep moving?
Adding on to the notion of her socioeconomic status as an immigrant, it is most likely that she will be treated differently and more on the prejudice side of the treatment. Since she’s new to the country and constantly moving, it’s hard to be part of society and make friends within her development and at school. The problem with not just our country, but the whole world, is that everyone is very prejudice and hostile with others. Oscar Handlin states, “In addition to the specific challenges that Haldin sought to connect across generations of migrants, he reminded his readers at several points that prejudice against newcomers (“panic at the presence of strangers”) was also constant” (Thomas 47). “I didn’t realize I was smiling until Lulu passed me… Lulu clicked her tongue at me, pushed me hard enough to let me know she could hurt me… Lulu’s insults and threats became more frequent. Lulu and her gang stepped from the door of one of the abandoned buildings down the block from the candy store. They surrounded me, pushed me, and punched me…” (Santiago 46, 50). Esmeralda got into a performing arts high school and others jealously has turned into violence and that is horrifying. Also, due to her family’s economic income, she isn’t the wealthiest nor is she even close to being in the middle and because of her status of being poor, she’s challenged in that she can only get things only they are needed, and she is also challenged in that students are always making fun of her and teasing her when she just wants to be at peace due to constant moving and not knowing what to do.
With the continuation of the topic socioeconomic status, living in a different country will gradually change the person’s view and personality to fit the social norm rather than having their previous personality. The socioeconomic profile of Puerto Ricans in Orlando is much more favorable than that of New York City (Duany 87). A large number of well-educated professionals and managers, most of whom define themselves as white in the census (88). Since the dominant race in America is white, they practice to be like them in most categories because of its significant benefits that come along with forming to the social norm. They run their businesses, work places, employees in a way that is more familiar with the Americans rather than how they would’ve in Puerto Rico. Of course, there are some negative points that result in changing oneself, such as losing one’s true identity. For example, in Almost a Women, Esmeralda is looking for a graduation dress and says, “I narrowed my eyes to get a different view in the mirror, tried to see myself as a stranger might, and saw a young woman with dark brown hair…” (Santiago 55). This is signaling that she is trying to view herself differently as a new women in a new country with a new personality and identity. “I like this one. I sensed both of us brace for an argument. It’s my graduation, I should wear something dressy” (55). This is another example of how her personality is changed. She is talking back and standing up for her own opinion to her mother rather than being idle and submissive. By being in a new country with new ideas and new opinions this could have been the catalyst to her change in identity. The one aspect of identity chosen for this essay is the socioeconomic status of Esmeralda in the novel and the comparison to the real world. There are many obstacles that are presented in Esmeralda’s life as a teenager in this novel because this is her first migration from her home country, Puerto Rico. Her status in the community is still yet to be known because she is conflicted with her Puerto Rican lifestyle and of her turning more Americanized. She must come to a clear cut conclusion of what she is because Mami told her that she is Puerto Rican and not to forget that. Once Esmeralda figures that out, one can assume that the socioeconomic topic doesn’t really matter in terms of Esmeraldas view point. She should be proud and happy to be with her family in a foreign country and make the best out of it with her family.

Works Cited
Allegro, Linda. “Welfare Use and Political Response: And Second-Generation Puerto Ricans And Dominicans In New York City.” Centro Journal 17.1 (2005): 221-241. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
Clark, Rebecca L., and Rosalind Berkowitz King. “Social And Economic Aspects of Immigration.” Annals Of The New York Academy Of Sciences 1136.(2008): 289-297. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.
Duany, Jorge. “The Orlando Ricans: Overlapping Identity Discourses Among Middle-Class Puerto Rican Immigrants.” Centro Journal 22.1 (2010): 84-115. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
Goode, Judith. “The Contingent Construction of Local Identities: Koreans And Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia.” Identities 5.1 (1998): 33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
Santiago, Esmeralda. Almost a woman. Reading: Perseus Books, 1998. Print
Thomas, Lorrin. “Oscar Hadlin, The Newcomers: Negroes and Puerto Ricans in a changing Metropolis. “Journal of American Ethnic History 32.3 (2013): 46-52. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.