Genesis of Contemporary Russian-American

Genesis of Contemporary Russian-American

Anton Gurov

En 102-6: Wasilko

May 12, 2004

Final Paper

In the 1990s the United States of America was marked with an incredible surge of immigration from the territories of former Soviet Union. "Liberated" йmigrйs decided to take a chance, leaving everything they had behind in pursuit of a better life. They brought with them education, numerous skills and talents. Their difficulties, however, including a foreign language, their age and inability to quickly adapt their social attitudes to new values, bogged down their feat to succeed in conquering the "American Dream" (Fox 79). Overcoming aforementioned obstacles, the responsibility of creating own fortunes and great accomplishments is now inherited by the second-generation of immigrants.

Russian immigration has a long history in the United States, dating back to early 1900's. Successive waves of immigration were triggered by World War I, The Russian Revolution and World War II. During a period of liberalization in the late 1970s and early 1980s, starting with Jackson-Vanik Amendment, Jews were allowed to leave Soviet Union. Even Andropov, the General Secretary of the Communist Party at a time, urged thousands of impoverished Jews to leave USSR (Khazbulatov 7). The regime however refused to allow most educated Jews and for that matter other ethnic groups especially Russian, to emigrate, despite the KGB claim that all individuals wishing to emigrate were free to do so (Khazbulatov 8). Most recently, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and opening of immigration rules, an unprecedented million Russians immigrated to the United States. As evidence, the Russian-speaking population in America surged 254 percent from 1990 to 1998. (Fox 79)

This most recent wave of immigration consisted mainly of Jewish refuges, skilled workers, elite scientists and artists. They came to the United States for a variety of reasons, but mostly to escape unbearable living conditions, constituted by a sudden collapse of the Soviet regime. Yegor Gaidar's failure of economic reforms to reincarnate Russia led to rising prices, inflation and further penury of its citizens, leading to the rise of social and political unrest (Khazbulatov 56). Anti-Semitic feelings among general population resonated and boomed as ultra-nationalists blamed the Jews for all of the country's problems (Fox 80). With scientific research halted and productivity decreasing, technological sector faced financial strain leading to massive layoffs of qualified professionals. Artists also grappled with plunge of art's value in daily life. Immigration seemed like the only solution for people who could not see themselves struggling from day to day, just barely making a living.

One of the reasons for the immigration for a specific group, especially when faced with intolerable conditions, is to immigrate to where they feel they can have a better life. Anti-Semitism which has a long history in Russia and even continues into modern times was a major factor in decision of Jewish people to leave Russia. Increased vandalism against Jewish synagogues and cemeteries and public statements by political figures blaming Zionism for Russian woes, served as compounded reason for exodus of the Jewish population following the collapse of the Soviet Union (Diversity Res.). People in their attempt to escape outright persecution immigrated even to Germany, with the surge of immigration becoming tremendous at about 50,000 per year. A lot moved to Israel, but for most Jewish families, final destination turned out to be the United States. Searching for a country that could provide an opportunity to work and religious tolerance, the United States of America served as a perfect choice for them. (Fox 80)

Another significant and clearly distinguishable group of immigrants consisted of scientists. Irina Dezhina, a senior researcher at Institute for the Economy in Transition in Moscow described the situation as an "external brain drain" on Russia. Low or nonexistent salaries, constant deterioration of scientific equipment, absence of opportunity for a career growth, decreasing prestige of scientific careers and numerous other reasons led to the situation in which brilliant and elite scientist would leave Russia with their entire families at first opportunity. A typical immigrant abroad was a man 31-45 years old, who had a Ph.D. and was engaged in theoretical research, often with a large number of publications (Dezhina). According to numerous surveys, physicists and mathematicians dominated in terms of scientific disciplines, with more than 50% of the total number of emigrants. They were followed by biologists at approximately 30% and chemists. The predominant share of emigrants came from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk -- the major Russian scientific centers. Along with highly skilled workers, artist and other talented professionals this outflow of about 20,000 per year, represented the top intellectual class of Russian citizens, the so called "brain drain" (Dezhina).

Nearly 90% of Russian immigrants settled in and around major urban centers, with large concentrations in New York City and the surrounding Tri-State area, as well as Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle (Fox 87). For these newcomers life was not easy initially, especially for those who didn't have friends or relatives in the United States. Facing language difficulties, financial problems and indifference of fellow immigrants, their everyday life was plagued by constant concern. Living in extremely poor conditions, working in the menial labor market, assimilation into the cultural and legal framework of their host country, for most part was a dismal failure. Although highly educated with approximately 16 years of formal schooling (about 4 years longer than fellow European immigrant), and despite earning about $3,000 to $4,000 per year more then other immigrant groups, they failed to realize their dream on a grand scale, settling for less (Diversity Res.). Only about 20 percent of scientists were able to become involved in teaching at universities, or further work on pure research and development at high tech companies