“We are the Borg. Your technological and biological distinctiveness will be used to service us. Your life as you know it is over. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.” For those who have ever watched Star Trek, those words are familiar ones. However, to the many immigrants who came to the Americas, they might as well have heard them as well. Not unlike those assimilated by the Borg collective, the Mexicans and Irish were forced to assimilate into American culture under threats of violence.
Mexican immigrants were discriminated against in their own homeland. Travel into the United States was a short and easy trip. Many immigrants chose to walk across the Rio Grande River. War was ravaging the country of Mexico and many were forced to flee the violence. Many of them had only expected the move to be temporary but as in many wars expected only to last “till Christmas,” the war lasted far longer. Many refugees ended up staying inside the territory of the United States.
The Irish were also running from something as well. They were running from British oppression and the great potato famine. Many people died when a fungus spread rampantly on the potato crops throughout Ireland. Potatoes were the sole food source for many of the Irish. The only solution was to leave Ireland and head to United States. The streets were paved with gold and the people’s bellies were full.
The two different groups of people faced the same form of oppression. Most of them were forced into agricultural labor. White people avoided these two groups. They were beaten down physically and mentally. They were forced to work long hours, in terrible conditions for meager wages.
The conditions of the United States were overblown for immigrants. All of the wonderful things about the United States were only true if you were a wealthy white man. The immigrants were not welcomed with open arms by the so called natives of the United States. The many racial and ethnic minorities often fought with one another when they were all in similar circumstances. The harsh reality of it was that the land they had heard about did not exist. The United States was much different than the stories they had heard in their home countries. Strangely enough, many people chose to stay in the United States and be assimilated by American society.
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Isn't it interesting the the Mexican people are the first people we have focused on who were truley planning on returning. The escape that you talked about from their homeland was only "temporarily" and wasn't going to last long. But like you said, the Mexican war lasted far longer than they anticipated. Although many never returned, many still dreamed of one day returning to their homes and their stay in America as only temporary.
ReplyDeleteVery appropriate opening quote, however sad it may be.
ReplyDeleteOkay, you said, “War was ravaging the country of Mexico and many were forced to flee the violence.” But I think it was more than that, wasn’t it? There were many economic hardships in Mexico, and the promise of jobs in “El Norte” was all too tempting for most Mexicans. All the same, though, they did plan on returning to Mexico, as you've noted.
So, since “Potatoes were the sole food source for many of the Irish,” probably the potato famine was just the last and worst of many circumstances that led to their migration to the United States, right? What I mean is, they were already facing many economic hardships prior to the famine.
“White people avoided these two groups.” Hey now, the Irish were white! So, I guess that Americans weren’t just racist…they just opposed anything that wasn’t what they were used to.
You’ve stated in your final paragraph exactly what I’ve been thinking about – The fact that almost all immigrants had this vision of the United States being the land of freedom and promise and so on, but none of them had the great experience they were expecting. Rather, they all received unfair treatment, wages, etc…how interesting that nobody ever learned that immigrant would never experience that “American Dream.”
I disagree the Chinese went because of the Opium Wars. They were getting out of that messy situation just like the Mexicans. However, I do agree that most Mexicans plan on going back to their home country some day when they have enough money.
ReplyDeleteYou make a fine point. America time and time again was not actually the place that they had dreamed of or hoped for. It is common in our readings that we see groups of people come to the US for a better life (some only temporarily for wages and work conditions), but in the end they are looked down upon with prejudices and harsh stereotypes. The working man and woman of a different culture here were automatically downgraded to a level below the norm. These conditions, for a variety of migrants, ended up with the creation of labor unions, labor strikes, single culture communities, or even dangerous attacks. It is interesting to see this similarity of occurrence with so many different people and different cultures. People really do this. Its sad.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very sad to think about how badly the immigrants were being treated. I do not know if i would have survived gotten beaten down both mentally and physically by such rude people. I am just glad that most of the discrimination is gone... Although there are some people who still believe in white suprimicy... just recently there was that story about a 80some year old shooting at people in the holocaust museum... that is just so sad, i wish that people did not see different skin colors and stuff
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad that ever since the British came to America so many hunderds ago it had been diverse. Yet still after all these years with immigrants from all around the world came to America looking for hope and comfort were only shut down into a hard life. Though I do think in many situations things in America were better than in some of the immigrants homelands.
ReplyDeleteI loved the reference to Star Trek--it provided an interesting twist and was relevant! Well done! Like I commented in a similar blog comparing the same immigrant groups, it is interesting that the Irish came over out of necessity more than out of just wanting to. Both immigrant groups, however, were looking to get out of tough economic and political hardships, and America was the answer.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right when you say that the conditions rumored by the immigrants were overblown. NONE of the immigrant groups that we have discussed in class had an easy life here. So why come at all? It may just be that the conditions at home were enough to motivate people to America, even though the conditions weren't all that much better.
(Olivia): I'm glad you brought up the Holocaust shooting. I was horrified to learn that the shooter denied the Holocaust. It just makes me sick. How can someone overlook something as horrific as that, go to a museum commemorating that, and still deny it?