Louis Wirth The Ghetto Summary

In the post war years, Montreal was the core center of Canadian Jews. Its Jewish population exceeded Toronto’s, and the educational and communal structures built by the Jewish community outdid the smaller centers in Canada. Jews in Canada frequently live in cities or suburbs. Although not as residentially segregated as the Vietnamese, often neighborhoods could be considered “Jewish neighborhoods” because of the amount of Jewish synagogues, schools and Jewish population living there. In Louis Wirth’s article The Ghetto he argued that the movement of Jewish populations to areas of second and third settlement is an attempt to improve their social status, get rid of their foreignness and alienate themselves from other Jews. Assimilation is the final step in this process. While he was speaking about American Jews there is a similar pattern in Canada, Jews began to disperse in large numbers and attained a disproportionate amount of success in a variety of white collar jobs. Canadian Jews are statistically overrepresented in areas such as law, medicine and finance. They are also heavily involved in political leadership in Canada. Sidney Spivak and Izzy Asper were leaders of the Progressive Conservative and …show more content…
Access to jobs, housing, as well as chain migration, effect their geographical localization. Normally, residential segregation is high for visibly minority immigrants and the working class. Most Southeast Asians (Vietnamese included) reside in urban core areas, especially near Chinatowns. Toronto’s Little Saigon has over 300 Vietnamese businesses where pho is frequently sold. In Vancouver, Vietnamese Canadians opened up a variety of Vietnamese stores and restaurants all through Surrey. In Montreal, next to the Jean-Talon metro station there is a project being promoted to build the first ever Vietnamville. Investment opportunities are open to Vietnamese