Sociological Analysis

As America continues to add ingrediants to its melting pot, a large portion of what makes America as diverse and culturally pluralistic as it is today is Russian Americans. They have become part of American society, not just recently but over many years. Their experiences of past forces has shaped their experience since coming to America. Demographic stastics and population trends show that Russian Americans have become a large group of todays ethnic society. Russian immigrants have come to America in steady waves for the past three centuries. It started with fur traders who crossed the Bering Strait in the 1700. The first Russian settlers in America were fur traders who crossed the Bering Strait into Alaska in the mid eighteenth century. Fur traders began to cross the strait to secure land for fur trading. Alaska soon became a frontier society with explorers searching for fur and gold (Gorman). Members of persecuted religions such as the Molokan and Orthodox crossed the strait to escape government oppression in Russia. These people converted many Eskimos to their religions, and started small communities in Alaska. The migration stopped, however, in 1867, when Russia sold Alaska to the United States (Gorman). From 1880 to 1914, there was a new wave of Russian immigrants coming to America. This included poor peasants and persecuted Jews. In 1870, a period of "Russification" began. The Russian government implemented a policy to try to stamp out different ethnic groups within the country. Basic rights were taken away from many peoples, including the Jews. Violence became a major problem resulting in many deaths. These conditions led to a huge influx of Russian Jewish immigrants to America (Gorman). In the past thirty years, a new ethnic group of Soviet Jews has joined America's "melting pot." These immigrants live on the eastern seaboard and have even formed their own communities in New York City. They have risen from a difficult past and are becoming influential members in American society (Levinson). A large group of skilled Jewish Russian laborers came to America after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. These Russians were the first major group of immigrants to bring their families to a new country. In America, these Russians enjoyed their new freedom and the economic advantages of America. Most of these immigrants settled in New York City's lower east side, an area which is still dominated by Jews. This wave of immigrations was followed by another in the wake of World War II. These people, who feared there nation after the holocaust, had no problems assimilating into society; most of them were skilled laborers, and America needed more workers of this kind after the war (Levinson). Russia has had a turbulent and violent history. This violence led to indirect population transfer, which has caused many of its citizens to come to America. The immigrants, coming for various reasons including religious oppression and poverty, have been successful in America. They assimilated very well, meaning absorbed into the mainstream culture of America. They became another ingredient of the “melting pot", which the blending of many types of foreign immigrant cultures into the American culture. The Russians were a positive valuable to the United States (Shavit). In recent census data, it is shown that Russian American demographics represent the quantitative impact trends Russian Americans have in the United States. It is estimated the Russian American population is approximately 2.9 million people. The second largest ethnic market representing 10.3% (2.9 Million people) of the total foreign-born population of 28.4 million. The leading ethnic group is Mexicans that represent 28% or 7.8 million of all US foreign-born population. The Russian speaking population in United States and Canada is estimated to be about 6 million (Shavit). Among the leading states for the most populated Russian Americans are New York, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The mosre populated U.S. cities include New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Detroit. New York State leads the nation in the number of Russian Americans. About 1.6 Million reside in New York Tri-State area. About 600,000 reside in the City of New York representing 8% of the population. In comparison to other leading ethinic groups, there are 760,000 Chinese and 620,000 Dominican Rupublicans (Gorman). There are an estimated 5.5 million Russian-speaking people in the Unites States. Most Russian speakers are bilingual but generally prefer to speak their native language at home, and turn to Russian-language media for the latest news and information (Magocsi). This is an example of pluralism, meaning the Russians were allowed to maintain their identities such as being allowed to continue to speak their own native language. Approximately 64% of Russian Americans are married with an average of 1.6 children per family. Russian American have a higher home ownerships rate and smaller family size compared to overall US foreign-born population meaning more wealth per household. The median annual household income of Russian Americans is $50,500. For New York, the median income of Russian Americans was $47,000 compared to $38,866 for the general population. Both Chinese and Dominican Republican both have lower median incomes (Magocsi). Statstics have showen that Russian Americans are well educated, with 53% holding a bachelor’s degree or higher. Approximaterly 80% have completed a HS Diploma compared to 67% for the foreign born population (Magocsi). Russian Americans are well educated community, focusing more on post collegiate work participation and are involved in higher paying employment. 67% are in managerial, professional, technical and sales occupations (compared to 45.6% for all foreign-born). 21.4% are involved in service occupations (compared to 31.2% for all foreign-born).11.9% work as operators, fabricators, and laborers (compared to 18.7% for all foreign born). 0.06% hold farming, forestry, and fishing jobs (compared to 4.6% for all foreign-born) (Magocsi). The median age of Russian Americans is 32.5 years compared to 38.1 years for all foreign-born people. Large percentage (44%)of the Russian American population is over the age of 55 years compared to 17.3% for all foreign-born people. While for ages 0-24 only 9% makes up for the populatin compared to 21% of all foreign-born people. For ages 25-54 years, 47.6% make up the populatin compared to 58.7% of all foreign-born people (Magocsi). Russian Americans constitute a uniform ethnic market with common language, culture and lifestyle. Based from census statistics, Russian Americans in comparision to other large minority groups, have a higher population, higher incomes, higher wealth, higher education levels, higher age demographics and higher lifestyle. This in return makes Russian Americans an attractive ethnic market segment for all organizations (Magocsi). The current status of Russian American’s in the United States has come due Russian immigrating in the past centuries due to social and warfare problems in their homeland. As result, Russians have establish themselves as one of the largest ethnic groups in America. However, from the well educated and skilled culture, the demographics have shown they are one of most successful ethnic cultures living in America, based on their education, employment and economic status.

Work Cited

Gorman, Elizabeth. Coming to America from Russia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986.

Levinson, David. American Immigrant Cultures: Builders of a Nation. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1997.

Magocsi, Paul. The Russian Americans. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1996.

Shavit, David. United States Relations With Russia and the Soviet Union: A Historical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993.