Bog 5: The Controversial Success of Ellis Island and its Impact on Immigrants

Excerpt from: Cannato, Vincent J. American passage: the history of Ellis Island.Harper Perennial, 2010. Pages: 70-106.

“Chandler’s investigation, which would drag on for more than three months, was a two-pronged attack on Ellis Island, representing both political partnerships and the concerns of immigration restrictionists. At the time, the House and Senate were split between Republican and Democratic control. The year 1892 was a Presidential Election year and Democrats were eager to use the hearings to excoriate Treasury Department Officials in the Republican administration of President Benjamin Harrison” (P.g. 78).

After Colonel Weber let through the passengers of the Massilia, whom were infected with the Typhus fever, there was great dispute between political parties regarding Ellis Island and how it would handle immigration moving forward. The city of Manhattan was hit hard by the outbreak of Typhus following the immigrants arrival.

Ellis Island was the first stop in America for millions of immigrants. The success of Ellis Island has been of long debate. Ellis Island was built with the intention of being better than Castle Garden. As noted in the reading, Ellis Island was built much larger and in a more efficient layout than Castle Garden. It was supposed to cost around roughly $250,000, however it ended up costing around $360,00 more than that.

The Chandler’s investigation was essentially belittling the success of Ellis Island. The democrats argued that Ellis Island cost far too much to build and was unsuccessful in the processing of immigrants. On the other hand, Republicans argued that Castle Garden was outdated and too small, giving perfect reason for the construction of Ellis Island. Which, the Republicans saw as a great success.

The above excerpt mentions how Ellis Island was used as an argument for the Democrats in the midst of a heated presidential election. I find it very interesting that a creation such as Ellis Island, was used as a political debate. This brought people (immigrants) into the center of a highly controversial argument based around politics. It seems wrong for Ellis Island to be used as a political argument. Do you think the construction of Ellis Island had political motives? In what ways do you see a political motive causing issues in the entire realm of immigration and correct treatment of humans, in this case immigrants.

 

Blog 4: The Opportunity of Assimilation

Excerpt from, Skerry, Peter. “This Was Our Riot, Too”: The Political Assimilation of Today’s Immigrants. (P.g. 222-223)

Most Americans Like To Think Assimilation Means That Migrants Work Hard, Blend In And Ponder How Lucky They are To Be Here. American Society Is So Absorptive And Tolerant, We Believe, That Assimilation Leads Automatically To Consensus And Social Harmony. In Fact, history shows That The Assimilation Of Immigrants Has Never Been Smooth Or Painless. On The Contrary, It Has Been Full Of Tension And Conflict, For Individual Immigrants As Well As For Immigrant Communities And society As a whole.

This article raises some very interesting points regarding assimilation and the many troubles that can arise. Skerry notes in the beginning of the article, how one of his Latino friends wished that Anglo Americans would riot as well. I found this to be particularly interesting because it seems to point to the fact that many immigrants wish that Anglo Americans will support them by rioting alongside the immigrants, preaching for equality.

This leads directly into the above excerpt regarding how Americans view immigrants assimilating into our societies and cultures. As noted in the excerpt, “We Believe, That Assimilation Leads Automatically To Consensus And Social Harmony”. This would be wonderful if it were true, but unfortunately it is far from accurate. Leaving an entire life behind to come to a new land as an Immigrant has to be one of the most difficult things in life. Not to mention dealing with all of the cultural and societal differences.

It is easy for American born citizens to view our treatment of immigrants has positive and inclusive. However, whether we are directly involved or not, immigrants are constantly being deprived of rights in terms of culture, language, home-life, work, and many more. Ever since the 1960’s and civil rights movements, there has been constant backlash from Anglo Americans in the process of accepting Immigrants with open arms.

It has become far too easy for us as a society to become ignorant to the truth regarding how immigrants and immigrant communities are being treated. We need to stop pretending like immigrants are being treated right, and start including and accepting immigrants for their diversity and desire to live in America.

Blog 3: Similarities that brought Differences Amongst Chinese and Japanese Immigrants

Except from “Wei, William. Asians in Colorado: a History of Persecution and Perseverance in the Centennial State. University of Washington Press, 2016″ (Pg. 152).

“Like the Chinese before them, the Japanese usually worked in unskilled, undesirable occupations that required hard physical labor. And like the Chinese, they also encountered enmity. Though Japanese experienced problems similar to those of Chinese in Colorado, the shared experience produced little unity between them. Instead of developing some degree of pan-Asian solidarity, which might have been useful in confronting enemies who clamored for the exclusion of all Asians from America, an interethnic acrimony arose between the two groups.”

As many Japanese immigrants came west due to new laws being enforced by the Japanese government that took land from the peasants, the Japanese and Chinese soon came into close contact in a vastly different culture. The Meji Government’s tax reform took the land from the peasants leaving them with no property and no reason to remain in Japan. After coming to America, and specifically Colorado to rebuild their legacy, the Japanese came into close contact with the Chinese who had left China for similar reasons to the Japanese. The above excerpt discusses how the Japanese came for work and money, taking any jobs that they could get. Often times these jobs were “unskilled, undesirable occupations that required hard physical labor”. That did not matter for them, what mattered was pursuing a better life than they had left behind in Japan.

The Japanese and also the Chinese experienced many hardships in Colorado. Being extremely far from Japan (and China) the cultures were vastly different in Colorado. The Japanese immigrants were looked down upon by many of the Europeans who gave them little to no respect. The Japanese and Chinese came from different but fairly similar cultures but for the two groups of immigrants it did not matter. They were very much separate from each other and did not get along very well. The asians dealt with a large amount of hardship from many Europeans who wished to rid the country  of all. However the cultures clashed and unity was not found. This desire for their own cultural success excluding the other immigrants drove the two apart making life difficult on both the Japanese and the Chinese. The Japanese came looking for a better life full of opportunity but that opportunity was far down the road do the constant oppression of all asians in Colorado. It is intriguing to think about how things could have been different, had the Japanese and Chinese united and worked together toward this life of opportunity.

Blog 2: Indians Key Role in History

Excerpt from:2 Fur, Gunlög. “Indians and Immigrants—Entangled Histories.” Journal of American Ethnic History 33, no. 3 (2014): 55–76.

It was the land itself that brought Indians and immigrants into contact

and conflict. All concurrent histories begin there, and the significance of

land cannot be overstated. The physical space of American Indian land

gave rise to other forms of entanglements, such as exchanges of food, sex,

family-making, and impersonations. Yet, although land is a paramount

concern in both novels and historical studies of migration and removal,

the historiography of Scandinavian and Indian entanglements remains

shackled by the two fictions of empty lands and friendly relations. A common assumption in scholarship as well as in schoolbooks is that by the time Scandinavians arrived in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Indians had

left (and how their departure came about is not cause for rumination).(p.61)

In Gunlog Fur’s piece, we gain a better understanding of the role that Indians had as immigrants and the lack of their relevance in our history. When I say the lack of their role in history, I am referring to the fact that their great presence is often diminished for made irrelevant through the story that we tell through history. This excerpt brings the idea and the relevance of Indians in our history and their great importance on immigration.

As we know it, the indians were here first, long before white folks arrived. This was their land that they had made home until colonizers began to arrive and displace them. As this excerpt notes, people often believe that indians left certain plots of land by choice but that is not the case. They were fought and forced out by other immigrants arriving. These indians were forced to leave because they refused to colonize and change their lifestyle to please the incoming immigrants. Although there was great violence in forcing the indians to leave, Fur does a good job of telling the history without constantly highlighting the negative violence.

This excerpt brings up a good point regarding how the physical land brought the indians and immigrants into contact. The immigrants were there for the land and showed little respect for the indians. Rather they wanted the resources that the land provided and the indians were the only thing stopping them from doing just so.

It is important that we understand how indians were the first colonizers here in the U.S. and specifically in the west. Without their existence, our lives would not be the same. It is unfortunate, as this article mentions, that indians role in our history is not made more prevalent in today’s society.

 

 

 

Blog 1: Why is Canada only Willing to Accept the Employed?

Excerpt from “Canada’s Immigration Policy: No Country for Old Men” The Economist (2015): 1-5.

Express Entry is a second attempt. It ranks would be economic migrants on a 1,200 point scale, with half the points awarded to those with a job offer or a nomination under one of Canada’s provincial immigration plans, which are aligned with job vacancies (see chart). Those with the highest scores with be invited to apply for permanent residency under one of the three economic entry programs. The rest remain in a pool from which the government and even employers can pick. While skilled workers must still pass the old 100 point system, this is a legal formality. The new system will help attract the engineers, information-technology specialists and health-care workers that’s Canada needs says Mr. Alexander (p.3).

This article discusses Canada’s past point system that was implemented for Immigration. The point system sought to eliminate race and discrimination in the immigration process. Instead, the point system sought to encourage the immigration of intelligent and native speaking individuals.  With this new point process that was implemented, the number of Asian immigrants took a large lead over the amount of white immigrants.

Although this point system had seemingly solved the issue of racial discrimination in canada’s immigration process, it continued to change. With the conservatives gaining power in 2006, the laws and point system changed dramatically as we see with this above example.

The new plan made dramatic changes to the point system. The government left the point system but it gave extreme preference to individuals with jobs coming into Canada. This seeks to boost the Canadian economy as a whole while striving to still allow for immigrants. This new immigration plan seeks to avoid discrimination but it seems to almost guarantee discrimination in some sense. Although some highly skilled immigrants will get the jobs as “engineers” and “information-technology specialists” it will also prevent certain highly educated individuals from getting the jobs they deserve because employers may not wish to hire immigrants. This discrimination can force immigrants to work below their ability and force people into work.

The reading touches on the idea of individuals being forced into jobs where they are mistreated or under paid just so that they can become a citizen. I find trouble within this excerpt and the greater piece in the sense that now many families will be separated. Furthermore how will refugees be able to come to Canada if they are yet to find a job? Often times immigrants come to a new country with the intention of starting over, finding a job, and living a life of happiness together with their families.

Although this new implemented system seems to have its benefits as mentioned in the article and the above excerpt, I find the possibilities for discrimination to greatly outweigh the benefits to immigrants wishing for a different, better life.