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FROM THE MARGINS | BY PATRICK AZADIAN
Los Angeles Times Valley Edition | Glendale News-Press | February 25 2006

An eccentric type of immigrant

After a long absence from college, I returned to UCLA in 1995. By then, I had made a lateral leap from physics to sociology.

In 1999, I had an opportunity to take a class with Mehdi Bozorgmehr, who co-edited the book "Ethnic Los Angeles" with Roger Waldinger. It's a book full of useful facts, some confirming my suspicions about the new immigrants in the Los Angeles area, and others, which made popular wisdom look not-so-wise.

I revisited the book recently. I figured living in Glendale may have given me a new perspective on the readings. I'd like to share some findings along with my thoughts.

Although immigration is not a new concept to America, the flow of Armenians into Glendale is a relatively new phenomenon.

The first wave of Armenian immigrants began in the late 19th century and ended in the beginning of the 20th. It comprised of refugees fleeing massacres in Ottoman Turkey. Like many immigrants of that era, these immigrants were of humble origins. Many settled on the East Coast, but some found their way to Fresno. In 1965, changes in U.S. immigration laws rejuvenated emigration which had been dormant for decades. Conflict in the Middle East provided further impetus for this flow. By 1991, Armenian immigrants had established a solid network in Glendale.

As rate of settlement of immigrants is directly proportional to the ethnic concentrations established by their past compatriots, it is not surprising to find enclaves of ethnic concentrations everywhere in California. Armenians have gathered in Glendale, many Iranian Jews have ended up in Beverly Hills and many Russians have made San Francisco a favorite landing spot.

Once friends, family and compatriots make a home for themselves, the existing networks draw future settlers.

In many ways, the new wave of Armenian immigrants differs from their co-ethnic predecessors as well as immigrants from other parts of the world.

Contrary to popular belief, the new immigrants are not low-skill laborers. Unlike their predecessors, many of them possess financial means, education, professional skills and some English proficiency. According to Portes and Rumbaunt in "Immigrant America": "there are two ways to 'make it' in America, at least legally." Armenians generally fall into these two modes: salaried professionals and entrepreneurs. Thus, they are unlikely to follow the traditional immigrant pattern of starting out at the bottom of the socioeconomic latter.

Existing sociological thinking and popular wisdom suggests that economic progress should enhance assimilation for the new immigrants. Entrepreneurs and the self-employed, however, are the exceptions to this case. They heavily depend on their co-ethnics in doing business, thus retarding the rate of assimilation. In addition, their experiences as ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East serve as barriers to assimilation. Armenian immigrants are also different from their predecessors in the fact that they are often bi- or tri-lingual. Ninety-two percent of first generation Armenians speak their ethnic language at home. This is not too far from first generation immigrants from Israel (80%) or Iran (84%). Meanwhile, 60% of Armenians claim equal proficiency of English. A fact that can be a hindrance for this generation to successfully integrate into mainstream America and pursue institutional job opportunities. Despite these numbers, the loss of ethnic language at home for American-born Armenians is high. Only 31% of American-born Armenians speak Armenian at home.

Along with immigrants from the Middle East, Armenians represent a somewhat unique group of immigrants.

But Armenians remain surprisingly unassimilated. The immigration, convergence of Armenians from within the United States to Glendale, their experiences as minorities in the old world, as well as their choice of professions, have retarded assimilation for now. But the second generation will be a different story; as some data suggests, they are highly susceptible to rapid assimilation.

We live in a city in transition. A few decades from now, Glendale may surprisingly be more homogenous.

Copyright 2006 Glendale News Press