Summary
In the article “a new wave of immigrants”, readers are presented with the various factors that influenced immigration of various nationalities to the U.S. and their subsequent treatment at the hands of the local populace.
The historic accounts, portrayals and arguments presented within the paper show an entirely new face to what is generally known about the waves of immigrants that led to the creation of the U.S. as it is known in the present.
Rampant discrimination, corruption, abuse of power and lack of government backed protections resulted in immigrants experiencing horrendous conditions at the hands of unscrupulous business owners and local residents.
The article paints a grim picture of what can only be described as attitudes tantamount to xenophobia wherein members of the same nationalities as immigrants often thought ill of their arriving brethren (as seen in the case of the established Jewish population within the country at the time) and, as a result, initially failed to properly transition their fellow nationals into the local culture resulting in even greater conflict between immigrants and other established nationalities.
It is based on this that it cannot be stated that America can be treated as a land of freedom of opportunity, rather, for the arriving immigrants who were trying to escape torturous conditions in their home countries it was the same as going from one version of hell to another.
Response
When examining the article one cannot help but notice the sheer amount of discrimination against immigrants to the point that they were often thought as less than human. Surprisingly discrimination did not just come from other established nationalities but from even the same nationalities as those being discriminated against.
The main reason behind this level of discrimination, even from members of the same nationality, originates from what can be called the level of an individual’s nationalization as well as the declining amount of job opportunities within the major cities. Nationalization refers to the manner by which an individual has been able to internalize the culture and values of the local populace within a country they are present it.
While it may be true that the version of the U.S. indicated within the article is far removed from its present incarnation, the fact remains that there was still an overarching system of cultural standards and values that was an inherent aspect for anyone to call themselves American.
Even various ethnicities that migrated to the U.S. prior to the period analyzed in the article had sufficiently “Americanized” themselves to the point that they were able to effectively integrate themselves into the local society. Arriving immigrants lacked this level of integration and were continuously viewed as outsiders resulting in the considerable amounts of discrimination they received.
It should also be noted that with the influx of foreign immigrants into the country, this drastically reduced the number of available job opportunities for local workers. With fewer opportunities for nationalities already present, it would be inevitable that some form of conflict would arise.
While the article never expressly delved into these particular aspects, I believe that they are the primary reasons as to why discrimination against immigrants, even till this day, has not been sufficiently addressed even with the numerous laws and protections already in place. So long as immigrants are considered outsiders that take opportunities away from locals conflict will inevitably arise.