Immigration is the arrival of new individuals into a new environment or population. Immigration is a process that happens every day, but there is a side effect of immigration that is observed between the parents (first generation) and their children (second generation). In history, during the nineteenth century, Chinese travel to America for financial solutions, with hopes to return to their home with money. As time moves ahead, Chinese immigrants to America searching for a better life, for instance, my parents immigrated to America, who then conceived us as the second generation. With pressure from the parents, children of the second generation were forced to perfect both the American and Chinese culture to their very best. The second generation Chinese Americans were American born, but were still outcasts of the American society because of their skin color. The lives of the children of immigrants who immigrated to America have had stressful impacts from their parents and society because of their parent’s expectations of a perfect child who succeeds in school, and the society’s rejection of their ethnicity.
From the old days until now, millions of people around the world have decided to immigrate to the United States in search of a better life. The reason why Chinese people immigrated to America due to the rumors of opportunity to gain higher wages jobs within America which would help support their families who were struggling to survive in China. According to Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1848, the Chinese immigrants came to California for the opportunity to obtain gold from the Gold Rush (32). The Chinese immigrants had not planned to stay in America, but were there only to obtain enough gold to buy land in China for their families. The Caucasians, who were already living in America, were cruel to the Chinese foreigners. Some Chinese immigrants were killed and beaten to death because of this hate. According to Robert Eric Barde, the first major law to restrict immigration to the United States was passed in 1882, called the Chinese Exclusion Act that excluded immigrants of specific ethnic group from those who are trying to enter (120). Under this act, only Chinese merchants, diplomats, tourists, students, teachers, and relatives of those already here could enter the United States. When the Chinese Exclusion Act took effect, over half of the Chinese in America decided to return to China with what they gained. After the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Hawaiian planters went to Japan to hire more workers for their fields. The racism towards Asians caused the government of America to try to limit the immigration of Japanese, but the government couldn’t just pass a law to do that because the Japanese had made weapons that can almost win any war with any country if needed. To make everyone happy, the two governments of Japan and the United States made an informal agreement called the “Gentleman’s Agreement” (100). The Gentleman’s Agreement was created to stop Japanese from coming to the United States in order to allow Japanese students to attend public schools in America. Throughout history, racism was big factor of the immigration process.
Unfortunately, American society did not consider second-generation Chinese Americans as one of their own. Even though they knew English and had American thoughts, and attitudes, they still had a physical Chinese appearance. The American society rejected the second generation Chinese Americans’ chances for better jobs and social status because they did not look "American". The Chinese immigrants did not fully embrace these second-generation Chinese into the Chinese community either because they were not actual Chinese to them. The Chinese immigrants called them "jook-sing" or “ABC” because they were not accepted on either side. Most of the second-generation Chinese Americans felt isolated and alone, as if they were stuck on a deserted island between the two countries of China and the United States. With two cultures, the children often have a duel identity when facing society.
In the article, “Legacies,” by Alejandro Portes and Ruben G. Rumbaut, who discovered that the second generation are tending to be young and growing up as an American, are changing. It’s true that “descendants” of first generation are getting much younger than before, but “the process of ‘growing up American’” with parents who are immigrant wasn’t easy at all. They also wrote, “The experiences of adult immigrants are important for the future of these ethnicities, but even more decisive is the fate of their children” (183), it has an immense impact of the way how the children think and behave. My parents were the first generation who immigrated to America from China. Both my parents told me stories of their immigration process. My father would tell us about how living in China is more difficult than the life we are living in America. He knew that we as the second generation American-born Chinese children had limited ways of connecting with the Chinese culture except through his eyes and experiences. My parents want my siblings and me to hold on tight to the tradition elements of Chinese culture. The relationship between the children and their Chinese parents was often a struggle between the two cultures, the American and Chinese culture. The values I knew and was learning were as an American child growing up in a Chinese setting. My parents’ expectation of me was an ideal Einstein, an unrealistic expectation. When I get a 96% for my final grade, they would ask me what happen to the 4% because they expected a perfect grade. I would be punished for those 4% by doing extra chores around the house or in other appropriate manner. My parents' interpretation of being Chinese was very traditional such as: posting all achievements in a hall of fame. My parents’ world was opposite of mine because their way of life is different from America’s.
The second generation encountered the distinctive problem of finding a balance between the Chinese and American ways of life. The first generation Chinese parents view education as a primary way to have a better life; therefore they push their children to be perfection. For example, children attended public schools in the United States and learned English; however, their parents saw them as Chinese children and sent them to Chinese Schools after their daily school and during Saturdays. There they learned Chinese language, history, literature, and culture. Anxious to get ahead of their classmates in the American school; most second generation Chinese disliked going to Chinese School. According to S. Karthick Ramakrishnan and Hans P. Johnson’s table 5: Percentage Distribution of Educational Attainment, by Immigrant Generation, shows that second generation tends to attain more education than the first generation. Since the first generation immigrants lack education, they are prone to obtain the same greatness in their offspring.
The second generation endures the pain while growing up in a diverse society such as America. With their parents as the first generation, they were expected to achieve what their parents could not. The society that the second generation lived in didn’t make it easy for them to achieve such goals. With the pressure put upon them, they were forced to adapt to their surroundings in order to be successful. The experiences these children had was an apprehensive trip to adulthood because of their parent’s expectation and the society’s judgmental eyes.

References
Bancroft, Hubert Howe. “The Work of Hubert Howe Bancroft.” History of California. The History Company 1848-59. 23:6 (1888): 32

Barde, Robert Eric. Immigration at the Golden Gate: Passenger Ships, Exclusion, and Angel Island. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2008.
"Immigration Study: 'Second Generation' Has Edge. (1:00-2:00 PM)(Broadcast transcript)(Audio file)." Weekend Edition Sunday (August 24, 2008): NA. General OneFile. Gale. Skyline College Library. 27 July 2009
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"The Impact of Immigration on Twenty-First Century America. ."Immigration and Illegal Aliens: Burden or Blessing?. Cynthia S. Becker. 2005 ed. Detroit: Gale Group, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Skyline College Library. 23 July 2009
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Portes, Alejadro, and Ruben G. Rumbaut. Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001
Ramakrishnan, S. Karthick, and Hans P. Johnson. “Second-Generation Immigrants in California” 2005. 27 July 2009