Larry Stanley

06-27-08

The Fight to Belong

I first became interested in the immigrants’ fight for the right to belong in this country when I read Stephen E. Ambrose’s novel Nothing Like It in the World. The story was about the building of the two railroads that would connect the East with the West in early America. The novel told of the injustices against the Irish and Chinese immigrants who came here to help build this incredible railway. This was probably one of the reasons I took Dr, White’s class, to learn more about the fight these immigrants faced when placed in an unfamiliar country away from family and friends. This course has changed the way I see the immigrant, their determination, their miseries, and their view of the only way they could find to better their situation. Being born here leaves very little to imagine what they went through. So it’s this course and the readings I was subject to that brought out a true meaning of what the American Dream is. It has also shown that this “dream” can become a “nightmare” for others who were subjected to the cruelty the American people can show.

The immigrant is full of determination, shown in “The English Lesson.” They came here with the dream of bettering their own situation, and to learn the English language, even after working twelve hours a day, showed the willpower to assimilate to a country that would try to change their culture and traditions every step of the way. Though Diego Torres had little use for this country, he had no problem coming here to get a better education in order to get a better job in his own country. But that’s what this country is about, freedom, whether it’s of education, speech, or religion. An example of that freedom came to light in Nash Candelaria’s “El Patron.” The boy refused to fight for America, even though it was against his father’s wishes. His beliefs were all he needed, and if it meant going back to Mexico and leaving his family, so be it. Though his father had fought for America, the son’s conscience wouldn’t let him. This right is given to all who come to America, something they had to give up while living in their own land.

The immigrant was, and still is, faced with prejudice views, as in Anzia Yezierska’s “Soap and Water.” Because her skin was oily and she didn’t have the time and money to present herself properly for school, the girl was criticized by the way she looked. When the dean of the school told her it only took a little soap and water, she didn’t realize the girl worked before and after school to get the money just to live on. This problem was very prevalent during the 20’s when work was slow and the immigrant was fighting for all they could find. But rather than let this incident get her down, she recalls a teacher who liked her for what she was, not how she looked. It is this determination that kept the immigrant going at times of trouble. The immigrant narratives show this grit the people had to have to fight through these hard times.

Though the immigrant had to fight hard, it was the minority who was faced with most of the degradation and hostility that accompanied their introduction to America. For the Indian and the Negro, this American dream was no more than a nightmare. The slaves brought over when the country was just being established were forced to work under conditions not fit for a dog. Long hours in the fields and little food and housing turned their dream into hatred for the white man. After their supposed freedom, the black man felt little want to assimilate to the white man’s ways. Their traditions still run deep today, which is why, though they have been a part of this country almost as long as the white man, they still have a hard time conforming to the white man’s culture.

The black man had to save everything he could to survive in a world that offered him very little. As in Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson,” the black school children could not believe the prices of the toys in the store when their teacher took them there. They knew they could never get something like this, knowing the cost could pay for something they really needed. Though it may have taught them a lesson on the worth of money, it left little condolences on how they felt imagining that white children could afford the toys and not them. Unlike the immigrants, who try to conform to the dominant society, the blacks hold on to their traditions.

The Indian has the same problem, though theirs might be not from slavery but from the unwanted acquisition of their land. America took the Indian’s land with little to give back. This hatred runs deep in their culture even today. In Leslie Marmon Silko’s “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” the Indians show this resentment by refusing the priest’s services. They would rather stick to their own traditions in hope of bringing rain to the area. The Indian nation is a proud race, just as the black nation, but pride gets them nowhere in a world that must change if it is to get better.

The Mexican immigrant has assimilated very well to America’s workforce, but I think they are gradually getting to feel exploited. They work at jobs the American people refuse to do, but receive little pay and no benefits. With no pay, they are forced to stay here while their families are away from them. Like the Chinese immigrants in Ambrose’s book, the people are paid so little that they can’t get back home and are forced to make ends meet here, with a chance of later sending for their families.

The immigrant and the minority have conditions tough here in America. Though the black man has come far, he is still much below the white man’s way of life. The immigrant has a better chance because of his want to conform to our society. But until they get the same benefits and pay we do, their way of life will be inferior. I’ve learned a lot in this class about both the immigrant and the minority, and hopefully this education will help me accept their traditions and way of life that they bring to America. The immigrants raised America’s buildings, and the minorities cultivated America’s farmlands. They deserve the same benefits we have to enjoy and cherish in this “land of opportunity.” I think as Americans are more exposed to the different cultures that make up this land, they will grow to appreciate what the land and its people have to offer. Time will tell.

(2 hours writing)