Delimitación del contexto educativo

Occupational Category 1921 _{1 9 5 5}

1947

Employer 21

26

Self-employed _{56 56 55}

Wage or salary earner

22

16

Other

1

1

1

Total Number

Source: Commonwealth census 1921

1

02

1,152 _{1 , 0 5 5}

6.2.2 Settlement And Occupations Among Later Generations

In the mid 1920's two important demographical shifts began among the Syrians. The first occurred in Redfern when some of the more affluent and socially mobile members of the first and second generat­ ion moved into more prestigious locations in North Sydney and the Eastern suburbs. Members of the first generation often maintained

their businesses in Redfern after moving to suburbs like Coogee, Randwick and Rose Bay, while the second generation generally severed all ties with the place. The depression of the 1930* s bankrupted some Syrian merchants in Redfern and forced them to set up operations else­ where .

The second ecological change began in the 1920's, was restrained during the depression years, and then re-commenced after World War II. It entailed the movement of many Syrians from country areas to Sydney.

151

The main reason for this was the parents' desire to maintain family unity. Desirous of having their children well educated, many first generation Syrians sent their children to boarding schools in Sydney. Their second generation children were beginning to graduate from schools and universities and had no intention of returning to country

towns where employment opportunities were limited. Rather than be separated from their children, many parents sold their businesses and moved to Sydney. The decision was made easier by the fact that they were financially well off after 15 or 20 years of business in the country. Many already owned another home in Sydney or had invested in real estate there. When they came to Sydney they did not consider living in Redfern as it was seen as a slum or ghetto. They settled mainly in middle class suburbs and today, the eastern suburbs of Coogee, Randwick, Maroubra, Rose Bay and Kingsford contain many retired first generation immigrants.

In contrast to the first generation population the second generation was more urban. Although many second generation respondents were born in country areas, they either came to Sydney for schooling and remained or moved there after finishing school in the country. In turn, nearly all of their children have been born in Sydney and have never lived in non-metropolitan areas. As was noted in chapter two, these people are widely dispersed throughout the Sydney metropolitan area and do not form any sort of territorial community.

No matter where they have migrated Syrian-Lebanese have attained noticeable levels of success. In almost all countries they have exhibited similar occupational patterns. Most of the first generation

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immigrants hawked cheap goods until they accumulated enough money to rent a small store, although a few were able to operate as wholesalers. The second generation sons often consolidated and expanded their

fathers' businesses but some began to move into the professions. Most

of the third generation men (and by this time women) have entered professional and technical occupations.

In Sierra Leone the first Syrians were called "Corals" or "Coral Men" by the natives, because of the imitation coral beads and other

trinkets they sold on street corners in Freetown (Hanna 1958; van der

Laan 1975)» By World ’War I most Syrians had become shopowners.

Between the wars they branched out into other business enterprises such as the textile industry, transportation, and diamond trading, and

today monopolize these forms of commerce. In South America, the early

Syrian peddlers who carried their packs into the interior are part of

Brazilian folklore (Newsweek 1968). Their sons and grandsons are now

among the most powerful industrialists and politicians in several South American countries.

Before World War I most Syrians in the United States were hawkers

and retailers. They then expanded into the wholesaling and manufact­

uring of clothing and also into trucking, amusement, and food industries By World War II many second generation Syrians had become lawyers,

doctors, pharmacists, dentists and employed in the fields of enter­

tainment and communications. According to Berger (1960: 555)1 "most

Syrians are undoubtedly in the confortable income brackets". Similar

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If a Syrian father had been a petty merchant, labourer, or artisan, his son was to be a businessman or

professional... It was when the peddlers settled down (after they acquired more capital) that their wealth became more secure. In time the evolution of the shopkeeper into the wholesaler took place... By 1904 Syrians throughout the country were engaged largely in

the retailing of cheap dry goods and notions... By the end of the Korean Jar, Syrian-Americans had given up their ’nomadic' life and moved into quite diversified occupations. They had entered completely the mainstream of American economic and social life and are today

represented in practically every industry and profession. The immigrants' prosperity permitted their children to go into the sciences, professions, politics and the arts, and they have distinguished themselves in each of those fields... Unlike other immigrant groups who had to wait two or three generations to exert their independence

from ghetto life and to satisfy their desire for mobility, it was the first generation who amassed the wealth that their sons used as a lever for bringing themselves into wider contacts with society.

This mobility pattern among Syrian immigrants and their

descendants has also occurred in Australia. Even in the first gener­ ation many illiterate peddlers were able to improve their lot. It can be seen from Table 6-4 that although the majority of them started as hawkers, many eventually became small shopowners or wholesalers.

TABLE 6-4

FIRST AND LAST OCCUPATIONS OF FIRST GENERATION