ID #2. Short essay: Compare / contrast excerpts from Bread Givers and Slave Narrative of Olaudah Equiano as immigrant vs. minority experience

Assignment

Sample Answers

ID #2

            In this class, groups considered to be minorities include African-Americans, Native Americans, and most Latin Americans, especially Mexican-Americans.  Homosexuals and women may potentially fit into the minority category.  These lines of minority status are drawn from the differences in minority experience relative to the experiences of dominant culture immigrants.  The first difference in immigrant versus minority experience is that of choice versus force, fate, or “destiny.”  Immigrants freely and willingly choose to come to America.  Minorities are either forced into coming to America, or find America forcing herself upon them.  In either case, the minority has no choice but to deal with America, on America’s terms.  The traditional immigrant American Dream suggests that one can come to America, assimilate to American culture (the dominant Anglo culture is so heavily implied here that it does not even warrant mention by name—it is considered the only American culture), work hard, and enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  These ideals can be clearly illustrated in Yezierska’s Bread Givers.   

            In Bread Givers, Max journeys to America to “make [his] own way in the world.”  He believes in standing on one’s “own two feet.”  His story of individual effort, ingenuity, and subsequent success is so reflective of the rhetoric of the American Dream that it is almost trite.  Immediately upon getting off the ship that carried him to America, Max sees men shoveling snow and—bingo—he has found his first paying job.  He earns his first dollar and feels “the riches of all America in [his] hand.”  Max easily negotiates with a man for the job of driving a pushcart.  He roams the street, peddling wares without the benefit of speaking the language.  For Max, the language barrier is a small detail, people look at him “with wonder” as he strikes out on his own, creating his own success and destiny.  He looks enough like the spectators to arouse little or no animosity, despite the language barrier. 

            This story of individual merit, choice, and success bears little resemblance to the story told in The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, The African.  Both men make voyages on ships to arrive in America.  Already a contradiction can be seen.  While both are men, only Max is perceived as a man by Anglo-Americans.  Equiano is considered something less than human, more akin to an animal.  While both men come to a new and unfamiliar world, Max’s roots are much more similar to American culture than Equiano’s.  Equiano had never even seen white men before they began to raid his village for slaves.  The ways of white men are so foreign to Equiano that he thinks they must be bad spirits, purveyors of magic who can command the seas to their desire.  For Max, the magic of America had nothing to do with white men; rather, Max finds his individual level of immediate success to be magical. 

            Equiano’s lack of choice and voice is glaringly apparent throughout this passage.  He is “handled and tossed…by some of the crew,” which fills him with a terror he cannot voice.  He clearly does not choose to board this ship, as he doesn’t even know exactly what is taking place.  Not only can he not communicate with the white men, nor can he communicate with the other Africans.  When African slaves learn English, it is not in order to advance the success of the individual, but is rather the only means of communicating with other slaves.  If slaves are allowed to learn more than spoken English, it is at the will of the master, not the choice of the slave.  Equiano describes his situation as fate and his condition as miserable and affrighted.  Given a choice or voice, Equiano writes, “I would have…exchanged my condition with the meanest slave in my own country.”  The sight of the black slave wearing the iron muzzle to literally silence her provides a powerful image of the literal and figurative lack of voice of all enslaved Africans and subsequent African-Americans.  

            These examples demonstrate the differences between dominant culture immigrant experience and minority experience.  For the African-Americans, Equiano’s story illustrates but the first step of a centuries-long journey of oppression and denial.  African-Americans long after Equiano will struggle not only with issues of voice and choice, but also with the wrenching question, among many others, of assimilation versus resistance.  As Dr. White asks in the syllabus, “How does one assimilate with the culture that dominated and oppressed you?” [TNK]

ID #2

            The passage from Bread Givers and Slave Narrative of Olaudah Equiano manifest the difference between the experience of a minority and the experience of an immigrant in coming to America.  The two different experiences is what in fact separates the two men as one being a minority and the other being an immigrant. Equiano involuntarily came to America with no choice in the matter, he had no voice once he was on the slaves ship and then in America, and with no voice he also has no rights or hope for bettering himself. In Bread Givers, the immigrant voluntarily came to America, had a voice in society, and had the same rights the dominant culture does, enabling him to better his conditions.

 Equiano’s experience is an example of Objective 1b. Equiano did not choose to come to America; he was forced to via a slave ship.  Equiano recalls how “indeed such were the horrors of my views and fears at the moment […].” Equiano is experiencing the American Nightmare, so to speak. In The Last Days of Socrates, Socrates explains the idea that since he chose to live in the city of Athens, he was choosing to live under and abide by the city’s laws. He introduces the idea of a social contract. A social contract is a voluntary agreement between both parties. Equiano however does not voluntarily go to America or voluntarily go into slavery. He must abide by the laws he does not believe in, if he wishes to live. His is a forces contract he had no say in.

As a minority, Equiano has no voice and no choice in the decisions that affect his life. He literally cannot speak the same language as anyone else, as he explains when he could not find “one soul who could talk to me.” However even if he had been able to speak English from the start, he would still have no say in the decisions dictating his life. He saw early on that even if a slave had the ability to communicate with others they could lose their voice entirely by “the iron muzzle.” Along with no voice, Equiano has no choice, or rights as a human being. This is another important distinction between an immigrant and a minority. Equiano is a slave. It is not a matter really of whether or not he upholds the idea of the American Dream; he could not achieve it or try to achieve it if he wanted to. All the money he will ever earn will go to his master. He will never be able to own anything, let alone his own self. He has no rights, and must follow whatever orders his master tells him. He must live exactly in accordance to how someone else lets him live.

On the other hand, the boy in Bread Givers voluntarily came to America. The immigrant falls under the standard social contract of the American city and the country, because he chooses to live in America. Unlike Equiano who is wishing he were back home in Africa even if it were to be under the servitude of the meanest African master, the immigrant “felt the riches of all America” his very first day in the city.  

The Immigrant also has a voice. He does not speak the dominant cultures language in the beginning, so in this regard he shares a similarity with a minority. However, the importance here is that he is allowed a voice, even if nobody understands him at first. The speaker recalls how his “voice was like dynamite, thundering out into the air all that was in my young heart. The immigrant has the right to a voice, which is his tool in achieving the American Dream. He can yell loud, so he is able to hold a paying job. Unlike a minority, the immigrant also has the right to pursue the American Dream. He is his own master. Whatever wages he earns he can keep. Like Equiano, the immigrant starts out with nothing. The immigrant is able to keep what he gains though and have something to show in the end for all his hard work.

By comparing and contrasting the two passages from the two stories, one can further understand a “minority concept as a power relationship modeled primarily by some ethnic groups’ historical relation to the dominant American culture”.  Equiano had no power. He did not voluntarily come to America, nor did he have a voice or any rights as a human being. The white slave owners held complete power over him and his life. The Immigrant speaker in Bread Givers on the other hand, chooses to come to America. Although he had to obviously abide by the city’s laws, he was free to do as he pleased. He was able to assimilate into the dominant culture all he wanted to because he was given the freedom of a voice and the right to pursue the American Dream. [NC]

ID #2:

            Bread Givers and The Slave Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, representing the immigrant narrative and the slave narrative, have interesting similarities and differences.  On one hand, the selected passages share a great deal, including the arrival to America and the discovery of American work.  Fear is felt by both speakers, for being a new location, but the way in which the issue is handled is vastly different.  For the immigrant, assimilation is simple, and work for pay is readily available.  For Equiano, assimilation is impossible, being maintained as a subclass.  At the same time, he is surrounded by strangers that are equally afraid, a fact that quickly scares him into submission.

            To begin to understand the two texts, one should consider what the two passages share in common.  On one level, the experiences are in fact similar.  Both Equiano and the Immigrant come to America unsure of what to expect.  Work is quickly made available to the two men, and they are thrust into their positions.  The Immigrant finds his first job shoveling snow, where he is pitied by the Foreman and paid.  At the same time, Equiano is taken to a home, where he experiences the new job.  Of course, this is essentially the only time that the two stories share real similarity.

            The central issue between Equiano and the Immigrant is that the Immigrant is participating voluntarily.  His decision to come to America and to work is performed of free will.  As a result, he is paid for the work of shoveling.  At the same time, the Immigrant looks forward to the potential for new jobs.  Even when he pushes the cart, citing gibberish English, he is happy with the development.  After all, this is the nature of the American Dream.  Through hard work and ingenuity, the Immigrant should be able to make himself into a respectable American citizen.  Beyond standard barriers of language, there is really nothing to prevent the speaker or his legacy to live as normal Americans.

            On the other hand, one finds Equiano, who is participating involuntarily.  From the beginning, language is an issue, because the other Africans on the ship spoke many different languages.  When brought to America, where English is predominant, Equiano finds himself completely cut off from any language, an issue already under duress.  This dissociation creates a debilitating alienation, which prevents pleasure from work.  At the same time, the work is not chosen, as with the Immigrant, but assigned, which stymies it further.  Furthermore, in his first American working environment, Equiano sees a woman covered in an iron headpiece, which horrifies him.  From this beginning, it is impossible to imagine one even attempting to elevate one’s self socially.  There is no voluntary action at any moment, and each change is met with a new terror.  By removing home, community, language, and humanity, so too is the Immigrant-style dream removed.

            In conclusion, the arrival and discovery of work share some similarity between the Immigrant of Bread Givers and Equiano in his narrative.  At the same time, the two are divided over the issue of voluntary participation.  Since the Immigrant actively chooses the events in which he will participate, there is a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.  Equiano, meanwhile, is removed from community and humanity, limited to a subclass.  His lack of voluntary participation removes any satisfaction from his task.  As seen, if one is not allowed the active abilities of the ruling group, one can never assimilate to said group. [RL]

Minority Versus Immigrant Experience

In the two quoted passages we get a clear view of the vast differences and few similarities between the minority experience and the immigrant experience.  The similarities seem to end with the arrival into a strange country by ship under horrific conditions.  After this the similarities seem to end.

For the immigrant he wants to come to America (voluntary participation) in hopes of living the American dream.  That dream is to work and be allowed to enhance one's own existence.  For Olaudah he is kidnapped from his homeland (involuntary participation) and given no hope of having any control whatsoever over his own existence or future.  This is the American Nightmare.  The immigrant wants to work but the African will be forced to work.  While both will do back breaking manual labor the immigrant will be allowed to profit from his work while the African will see all his profits go for his master.  The immigrant is the owner of his own fate while the African is merely property.  Thus the social contract for the immigrant allows him to begin to work and assimilate into the American culture while the African will find himself set apart and denied any sense of assimilation.  This social contract and denial of identity as a human is simply enhanced by the color code (obj. 1d).  For European immigrants being white meant they blended in but for Oladuah, black, categorized you as a slave and separate from the rest of society.

Olaudah is alone and afraid.  He has no sense of understanding the situation through experience or words.  The Africans had never seen ships or people like this nor did they even speak the same language of other Africans so communication was impossible.  While, in the immigrant passage the two people immediately identify with one another and language is not an issue.  The immigrant story says, "you and I are so much alike."  While the minority story is, "I was now persuaded that I had got into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me.  Their complexions, too, differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language they spoke, which was very different from any I had every heard."  The language barrier for Africans left them isolated while immigrants came in contact with other immigrants that spoke the same language giving them "voice" over the Africans.  When the immigrant arrives in America among many other immigrants he finds that there are others who speak his language and only know, "as much about English," as he does.  The language and cultural differences lead to extreme degrees of isolation for Olaudah but are easily overcome in a day or two by the immigrant.

Having a voice in the new dominant culture brings us to voice and choice.  For the African all he can do is survey his surroundings.  He has no framework to understand what he sees or hears.  While the immigrant can immediately go into the street and ask for a shovel and work the first day off the ship.  By the second day he is going through the streets yelling for business.  He is empowered through his voice saying, "my voice was like dynamite."  While Olaudah says, "not one soul could talk to me ...I was now exceedingly miserable."  Both characters speak to the feeling of being alone but for the immigrant the aloneness seems to signal independence and hope, "thundering out into the air all that was in my young heart, alone in a big city...by the end of the week he was in business for himself."  Yet for Olaudah he has no voice, no confidence just despair.  He recalls, "countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted my fate."  For the immigrant his voice allows him to have hope and to begin to survive in the strange country.  But for Oladuah not only is the voice restrained because of language the masters also force the slaves to be silent as is seen in the woman wearing  the iron muzzle.  Even if Oladuah could learn the language and culture he is denied any participation that extends beyond what his master allows.

The comparison of these passages is a prime example of how two people dropped alone in the same foreign land could have vastly different experiences.  One is allowed to participate in the dominant culture while the other is stripped of all humanness.  One understands how to survive in the new world and the other has had no prior knowledge that this new world even existed.  Their paths seems destined to move further and further from one another for many generations to come.  For the immigrant he looks forward to a bright future and the minority looks back to a better day (home). [NL]

ID # 2 

            Comparing Bread Givers with Slave Narrative of Olaudah Equiano is both figuratively and literally like comparing black and white. The immigrant’s story is full of hope as an exhilarating success story that embodies the American Dream and sharply contrasts with Equiano’s American Nightmare. Max’s story told of his mangling of the English language when he first arrived in America in a self-depreciating style of humor. Max has made the choice to learn a new language and proudly shouts in the streets with his new voice. Conversely, Equiano was kidnapped and sold so he had no choice. Equiano was equally horrified because no one spoke his language; in essence he had no voice. Equiano expresses his sadness at losing the ability to converse with his own countrymen. With no voice, Equiano therefore had no choice but to learn English. Where Max’s story is humorous, Equiano’s story is intensely horrific in his American Nightmare.

            Both Max and Equiano travel to America via ship. Max’s story has a nostalgic tone in which he tells how he excitedly  “jumped off the ship” and into the land of opportunity almost as an afterthought. Equiano had never seen the sea or a ship before he was kidnapped by slave traders and was amazed at the sight of it, but his amazement soon changed to horror when he was brought on board. Undoubtedly, Max had willingly and anxiously boarded the ship he journeyed upon as a passenger to America. Conversely, Equiano was loaded onto the slave ship against his will as just another piece of cargo to be evaluated, classified as sound, and stuck into a cargo for transport and eventual sale. 

            Upon arrival in America, Max bounded into the streets and eagerly searched for and found a job to perform for pay. More frightening scenes awaited Equiano. Equiano did not “jump off the ship” but was unloaded and brought to his master’s house. In his master’s house Equiano did not find the “pity” that Max’s employer bestowed upon him, nor did he find others equally vying for a chance to perform a job. Equiano was forced into his master’s room to work and saw another African slave laboring in the master’s kitchen wearing an iron muzzle on her head. The muzzle most likely prevented her from eating any of the master’s food that she was preparing, and simultaneously it took away whatever chance she may have had to use her voice. It was a striking symbol of the slaves’ voiceless and choiceless condition in American, and it highlights the great difference between the immigrants’ American Dream and the Africans’ American Nightmare.

            Another striking difference in the selections is what is only implied. Max was assured of a better life in America, but Equiano was only assured a life of pain and forced servitude. Max was his own man, beholden to no one; Equiano was not even considered a person, as he was a commodity to be bought and sold. Max arrived like many immigrants with white skin and was mostly indistinguishable from other Americans; Equiano’s black skin was an unmistakable, striking trait that resounded he had no more worth than his dollar value. Max’s life would improve and his voice and choices would multiply, while Equiano’s life was sure to deteriorate along with his voice and choice. [SL]

ID #2

            The Minority Concept, Objective 1, explains the position of African Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans in a society established by the Dominant Majority.   The Dominant Majority is formed by immigrants who willingly came to America in the hopes of finding a better life.  Immigrants often left behind deplorable living conditions, rampant famine, political unrest, or religious persecution.  In this search for a better life, these immigrants eagerly joined the fabric of America.  Early immigrants would “Americanize” their names and then endeavor to rapidly learn to speak English. Often complete assimilation would occur by the second or third generation.  That is, the language, traditions, and culture ideas of the original country would be forgotten and replaced by the American culture.

            The immigrant story is illustrated in the selection from Yezierska’s Bread Givers (1925).  In this passage the idea of choice is reflected in the statement, “I, too, wanted to make my own way in the world.”  From the very beginning, the immigrant has a choice.  Perhaps the choice is obvious such as starving verses coming to America; but it is a choice nonetheless.  As Max tells the story of his arrival, his “eyes twinkle” and “the story flow[s] on like magic.”  There is a hope for a better future and this hope is often called the American Dream.

            Now contrast the immigrant’s story with that of the minorities.  Dr. White’s class notes succinctly states the situation by saying, “Instead of coming to America, American came to them.”  As a consequence, Native Americans and Mexican Americans lost their lands and their way of life as the immigrant population continued to expand and flow westward.  Additionally, the African American’s arrival is the antithesis of the immigrant’s story as it was not voluntary or even desired by the early Africans.  The African people are captured and sold by fellow Africans into a life of slavery.  Like cattle, these human souls are shipped to America’s shore to be poked, prodded, inspected, and then bided upon. Equiano relates this very experience in The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, the African (1789).  Instead of feeling an aura “magic,” he is filled with astonishment and then terror. Instead of seeing “eyes twinkle,” there are “countenances expressing dejection and sorrow.”  There is no American Dream awaiting these new arrivals.

            To help in adjusting to America, immigrants have the advantage of being able to pool together and form a support system. However, African Americans did not have this kind of support.  Communication is difficult within the slave population because of the different tribal languages and because families are separated from each other. Equiano feels this loss when he states: “I now totally lost the small remains of comfort I had enjoyed in conversing with my countrymen.”  Equiano feels isolated and “miserable.” Because he does not know the language and has no control over his destiny, Equiano is voiceless and choiceless.  This concept is poignantly illustrated in the scene with the “iron muzzle.”  However, the African American is not without hope.  He may have not been able to access the American Dream upon arriving at America’s shores, but he does have a Dream—one that is rooted in the American Dream.  This Dream is that one day things will change.  There may be setbacks, but there is a hope that one day all men will be recognized as being created equal. [EB]

The experience of the immigrant and that of the minority were vastly different.  An immigrant is someone who came to this country on their own free will.  One literary example of this type of person can be found in the selection from Yezierska's Bread Givers (1925).  In this story, Max chose to board a boat and leave “home” behind.  He actually ran away because he “wanted to make (his) own way in the world”.  Of course there were those who just can’t be called immigrants.  They had no say in being brought to American as found in selection from The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, the African (1789).   He was instead “carried on board” and describes his experience as being “handled and tossed” by those providing his transportation.

            Once in America, the experiences of these two continued to be very different.  First and foremost they had to deal with the language barriers.  Olaudah felt separated and cut off from people due to the different languages.  Even when met with other Africans, they were unable to communicate because they had already adapted to their surroundings and were now communicating with each other.  Max, on the other hand, found the language barrier to be easier to deal with.  While he did not understand it, he embraced it and “sang” out words in the street and even used those words to make a living for himself.

            A very interesting similarity in both stories is when they mention the iron tools they find in their new land.  Max sees men working with “might shovels” and begs for one and uses it to earn his first pay.  Olaudah sees the iron tools too, only they are referred to as “iron machines” and a source of bondage.  There would be no fortune in having these pieces of iron.  With these differences in mind, we can clearly see the why an immigrant and a person brought here as a captive, can not be labeled under the same category. [AC]

ID #2

            In the text, Bread Givers, the speaker is an immigrant to the United States.  His enthusiasm is obvious in the text as he tells the story with obvious nostalgia.  He came to America and jumped right in, ready to get a start on the American Dream.  This is in strong contrast with Equiano’s narrative in The Slave Narratives.  Equiano’s story is full of fear and dread as he is forcibly brought to America.  The speaker in Bread Givers is embarking on the dream of his lifetime as opposed to Equiano who is living his worst nightmare.  While they are both new to this country, and share some common issues, their views, and subsequent issues, are very different.

            Both of the speakers are coming into a brand new country, a new world for them, very different from the world they came from.  The first and most important difference, however, is their reason for being here.  The speaker in Bread Givers is a voluntary immigrant, much like the majority of immigrants that have come here.  He is here by choice, and although he may have left a life, and probably friends and family, behind in his native country, he chose to do so in search of a better life.  Equiano had no choice.  He was perfectly content in his native country, and in fact stated that he would have chosen slavery there to slavery here.  He is scared to death and has no one to talk to because the Africans that have been kidnapped and brought here speak so many different languages that it is impossible to find someone that can understand him.  This difference in voluntary and involuntary immigration has had an impact that has echoed throughout the generations ever since.  African Americans were looked at as property, as just so much chattel, and not as human beings, and this impression endured even after they were given their freedom.  It was thought to be unnecessary to educate them by the same standards as whites and that has had long-term effects on their ability to assimilate fully into the culture of the country.

            Both of the speakers came to this country poor and downtrodden.  They had neither money, nor the contacts to work and make money upon their arrival.  The speaker in Bread Givers was in a much different situation than Equiano, though.  He was able to obtain work, however low paying the job may have been, and keep the money for himself.  He was white, and therefore able to fit in and walk about looking for employment.  When he was hired, he barely made enough to cloth and feed himself, but as long as he persevered, he had the chance to better himself.  People were willing to give him a chance, as a young and eager white man out to better himself.  Equiano did not have the same choices or options.  He was unable to go to work for himself.  He was in a position that he could only work for his master.  Anything he earned belonged to someone else and was not his to keep.  Even if he were allowed to get outside employment, the money went directly to his owner and he was not in a position to better himself.  He also did not have the ability to blend in.  He was a different color and race, and people did not trust or want to work with him.  Even if he had had his freedom, and the opportunity to work and keep his own money, it would have been very different for him as employment would have been nearly impossible for him to come by.  He would not have been as welcome as the speaker in Bread Givers would.  This is still true in some situations today, as the prejudices continue to affect the lives and financial situations of minorities. 

            Another difference between the white immigrant and the African slave immigrant is the perceptions of whites here and the lifestyles they encounter.  Although the European immigrant is coming to a new country, and has language barriers, he is more used to the way of life.  The culture he is coming from is different in some ways, but there are many similarities.  The technology in Europe is very similar to what he encounters here, so he is not unfamiliar with it.  Coming from African culture, Equiano is in awe of the things he encounters when getting off the slave ship.  Not only does he have to learn a new language, he has to learn a completely new way of life.  He perceives many of these things as magical, and the citizens as the magicians that control them.  This is an additional hindrance to him, as it gives him one more reason to see himself as powerless against his own fate.

            Opportunity is the most compelling difference for these two men.  The speaker in Break Givers has many opportunities to assimilate into the culture of the United States.  He is the right color, the right age, and is given the opportunity to educate himself in the language and ways of the country.  He has made the choice to come here and hopes to better himself and his way of life.  Equiano is none of those things.  His color makes him stand out.  He is too young to take care of himself as he was forcibly brought here as a child.  It is against the law for him to be educated.  He is seen as less than human and is treated as such.  Society is afraid to educate him for then he may start to see himself as human, rather than as an animal.  All of these things make it nearly impossible for him, or for his decedents, to make their way here in the same way those voluntary immigrants from Europe can. [KD]

This course treats African American, Mexican American, and Native American ethnic groups as minorities because of the way they have been treated throughout history.  Compared to immigrants who came voluntarily, African Americans were brought to America involuntarily on slave ships (Objective 1).  The dominant culture overpowered them because without a voice African Americans could not fight for themselves (Obj 1b).  They were not allowed to read or write which would give them the knowledge to unite and fight against the slaveholders (Obj 5c).  Because of the color of their skin, they were treated as unequal by the dominant culture (Obj 1d).  They were thought of as property and had no human rights.  They were not protected by law or by the constitution (Obj 5f and 2c).  

In Slave Narrative by Olaudah Equiano, Equiano is an example of a minority by his experiences and mistreatment by the slaveholders.  Equiano was “carried on board [a slave ship] and immediately handled and tossed up to see if [he] was sound.”  He has no choice in the matter.  He is involuntarily put on board the ship and treated as someone else’s property which is dehumanizing.  He is later confronted with the problem of communication when he is placed with others who do not speak his language.  He says, “For they could talk to each other, but I had no person to speak to that I could understand.”  Not only has Equiano been taken captive, but he is voiceless and choiceless in the matter.  He cannot take comfort in the situation by conversing with others or learn more of his condition.  He also cannot speak out against the slaveholders and use their words to express himself.  Without a voice, he cannot rise up from his condition.   

When Equiano arrives in America, he is met with the horrors of slavery.  He sees a girl with an iron muzzle “which locks her mouth so fast she could scarcely speak.”  The iron muzzle is another example of the slaveholders taking the voice and human rights away from a minority and treating them as objects or animals.  

The experiences of immigrants contrasted greatly to that of minorities.  Not only did immigrants arrive voluntarily, but they were able to assimilate into the dominant culture.  They dropped their language and culture to follow the American Dream.  This was not allowed for African Americans during Equiano’s time because they were prevented from finding their own work or becoming independent just because of the color of their skin.  The man in Bread Givers by Yezierska came to America voluntarily.  He tells the girl, “I, lived worse when I ran away from home […] I, too, wanted to make my own way in the world.”  He was able to become independent by finding his own work.  He earned money right away by shoveling snow.  He drops his native tongue and learns English to sell items from a cart.  He is able to use his voice in a way Equiano cannot to better his situation.  Soon the man prospers and lives independently.  He lives the American Dream because he gains wealth by doing his choice of work. [TK]

In comparing and contrasting Olaudah Equiano from Henry Gates Jr., The Classic Slave Narratives and Yezierska’s Bread Givers we see the American dream versus the American nightmare or minority verses assimilation. In BG assimilation is shown in the most pure way available at the time, when the immigrant in this passage arrived in American his first experience left him with a feeling of holding America’s riches in his hand and that opportunity was right in front of him. However, in Equiano’s narrative, because he was a slave when he arrived in America it was like being in a nightmare which filled him with terror and he felt alone because no one could speak to him even though there were plenty of black around because they did not speak his language.

The immigrant in BG had the opportunity and freedom to immediately start working and getting money, he therefore jumped in and became part of the working force that blends into American culture. Equiano did not get to have this chance or the freedom to become assimilated into American culture and gain the riches that America could offer. Equiano was assimilated in a way, not as a person but as a tool a piece of equipment that is to be used and thrown away when no longer useful.

With this first opinion of America and the opportunities, or lack thereof, came the differences between immigrants and involuntary minority groups. Objective 1 however can be used to show that a fine line of voice and choice and helplessness and the dream and nightmare being able to merge is a part of immigrant life as well as the foundation of the black minority life at this time. . . . [DS]