Fleeing English Tyranny: The Irish Cross the Atlantic October 6, 2008

One group that faced many hardships in America was that of the Irish.  Not only did they face prejudices as immigrants, they also had a long history of being oppressed by the English while they were still in their native land.  In fact, in his book, A Different Mirror, Takaki writes that “in the mid-sixteenth century, shortly before the beginning of the English migrations to America, the government had decided to bring all of Ireland under its rule and encouraged private colonization projects” (26).  They “were viewed as ‘savages,’ a people living outside of ‘civilization’” (26).  Given these early attitudes and this English feeling of superiority, it is no surprise that centuries later they would still be treated with the same disdain as immigrants in a new land. 

            According to Takaki, many Irish did not want to come to America, but they saw immigrating as their only chance for survival.  They had already endured many hardships in Ireland.  Besides English tyranny, they also were in the grips of extreme poverty and hunger caused by the Potato Famine in the 1840’s.  Once the Irish arrived in America, they were given almost exclusively jobs in labor.  They occupied some of the most dangerous and back-breaking jobs including digging the canals, working in the coal mines, and setting down tracks for the railroads. 

            While Irish men were working mostly outdoors, Irish women made up a large majority of the household laborers in America.  In the book, A Larger Memory, Takaki explains that “Irish immigrant women became ubiquitous as maids.  In the 1850’s, they represented 80 percent of all female household laborers in New York City” (114).  Other Irish women did work in more hazardous conditions such as factories.  Although they worked long hours, these jobs provided meals and shelter on location and many of the women saw the factories as great opportunities.  Often times these jobs were a good way for independent women to provide for themselves in America.  

            The jobs the Irish occupied in America were often very dangerous, and many Irish were treated with little more respect than they had received by the English.  Still, for many, the risks taken by immigrating far outweighed the bleak prospects many foresaw in Ireland.

A Horror Remembered: Olaudah Equiano’s Passage to America

 

            During a great part of the 17^th century in the colonies, blacks were sold in to de facto slavery.  Slavery had still not been officially implemented, as many colonists were skeptical of populating their newly settled lands with people who they viewed so negatively.   Ronald Takaki writes in his book, A Different Mirror, the first Africans who were brought to Virginia “had probably been captured in wars or raids by enemy tribes before they were sold to the Dutch slaver.  Their ordeal must have been similar to the experience of Olaudah Equiano” (Takaki 53).   

In another one of his books, A Larger Memory, Takaki includes Equiano’s narrative.  The narrative was written by Olaudah Equiano himself, after he was able to buy his own freedom from slavery.  His story tells of being taken by force from his home in Africa during the mid-18^th century and the grueling voyage by sea to his eventual home in America where he was sold, de jure, in to slavery.  His account paints a vivid picture of the abuse he and his fellow captives endured during their voyage and the pestilent environment to which they were subjected.  On describing his captors, Equiano wrote that “the white people looked and acted, as [he] thought, in so savage a manor; for [he] had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty…” (40).  For Equiano, the trip was strange and horrifying, not to mention his captors seemed to be endowed with magical powers.  He described the conditions on the ship as being so hopeless that some chose to jump overboard to their deaths rather than endure the trip which was leading them to their frighteningly unknown fates.  At first Equiano feared that the white men were going to eat him; then he learned that they were instead being taken to a far away land where they would work for the white men.  Upon hearing this, Euqiano was slightly relieved. 

As we become further and further removed from the times of slavery, it becomes too easy to forget the atrocities that so many endured while in slavery’s grips.  Reading Equiano’s account of being forced from his home to bondage is a real eye-opener and is an important reminder of our not-so-distant past. 

Barack Obama and John McCain on Immigration September 25, 2008

            The issue of immigration has been a hot-button topic for the last several years.  Although politicians do not always agree about the best way to fix the issue, almost all will agree that current immigration system is broken, and it must be fixed.  As we are only weeks away from electing the next president, it is important to know where each candidate stands on this very complex issue.

            According to Barack Obama’s website, “the number of undocumented immigrants in the country has increased more than 40 percent since 2000.  Every year, more than a half-million people come illegally or illegally overstay their visas.”  In order to address this problem, Obama proposes that we must remove the incentives to enter the country illegally.  He says we can do this by punishing employers who choose to hire illegal entrants.  He also says that working with Mexico in order to promote more economic growth will give more incentives for Mexicans to not cross the border illegally.  In addition to removing incentives, he is also an advocate of increasing the number of legal immigrants allowed in the country.  He believes increasing this number will help to keep families together.

            John McCain believes the solution must start by securing our borders.  He intends to create both physical and virtual barriers between Mexico and the United States.  He also believes that in order to ensure our labor needs are being met, a temporary worker program is needed in both the high-tech and low-skilled sectors.  John McCain also plans on dealing with those undocumented entrants that are already in the United States.  One way he plans on doing this is by making it a requirement for all those who are here illegally “to enroll in a program to resolve their status.”

 

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/immigration/

 

http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/issues/68db8157-d301-4e22-baf7-a70dd8416efa.htm

 

Devil’s Highway Group Essay September 22, 2008

            In the book, The Devil’s Highway, Luis Alberto Urrea describes the impact the desert has on undocumented entrants.  The Devil’s Highway is a vast desert beyond Sonora and Mexico, which is one of the most desolate and dry areas in the United States.  It is for this reason that is also known as Desolation to the locals.  It is a desert that few dare to enter, and those who do it unprepared rarely make it out alive.  In May of 2001, a group of illegal Mexican walkers were left for dead, stranded in the Devil’s Highway, after trekking for days in the wrong direction, through mountains and desert, with only a small amount of water and few personal items.  “The Devil’s Highway is a name that has set out to illuminate one notion:  bad medicine” (Urrea 5).  Even though the desert is an obstacle itself, there are still other physical and mental aspects that drive the walkers into great danger.

            The illegal immigrant population coming from the Mexican border is large and unending.  One of the U.S. government’s solutions to this issue is to build a wall in certain areas along the border.  The wall is not an entire figure running along the entire border, but instead is composed of sections of walls placed near urban areas such as San Diego and El Paso, where illegal immigration is the strongest.  Due to the fact that these walls are built in areas of easy access to illegal immigrants, there is a greater amount of people who are now choosing to cross the border in dangerous and mostly uninhabited deserts running along the border.  Unfortunately, many of the undocumented entrants who are pushed further into these dangerous crossing zones are given little warning of the true perils they will face.   Urrea states, “No matter where they entered, they had only to step over a drooping bit of wire fence, or across an invisible line in the dust…Along the Devil’s Highway near Tinajas Altas, there is nothing but a dry creek bed and a small sign telling walkers: ya’ll better stay out or else we’ll be, like, really really bummed” (56).  

            Once they are pushed further into inhospitable territories, they must also contend with the Border Patrol.  Urrea presents the Border Patrol as a symbol of both law enforcement and national security.  As these officers are an integral part of the government, they also present a mental dilemma to the walkers who travel through the unforgiving conditions of Devil’s Highway.  Although these members are paid to arrest undocumented entrants, they continually become a sign of refuge and safety to these walkers.  To those crossing the desert illegally, the Border Patrol is their enemy, just obstacles in SUV’s that will send them back to the start of their journey.  But as unprepared walkers venture further into the desert, the Border Patrol officers become the first people they would like to find.   As stated by Urrea, “if it was the Border Patrol’s job to apprehend lawbreakers, it was equally their duty to save the lost and dying” (18).

            A less caring force that is controlling the fate as well as the flow of undocumented entrants into the United States is vigilante groups.  Unlike the Border Patrol, many vigilante groups do not always care that these walkers make it safely through the desert that is Desolation.  It seems that some groups aim to sabotage this mission and even put the walkers into greater harm.  The towers that are erected in order to help guide the immigrants to safety, and the water and food left along the trails are seen by some groups as little more than care packages for people who should not be cared for.  According to Urrea, the critics in Arizona are very direct.  “Toxic materials appear in jugs that look like drinking water.  Humane Borders’ water stations are vandalized, the three-hundred-gallon tanks broken open so they run dry.  Small groups of Mexicans are found tied and shot in the head” (Urrea 214).

Although forces such as walls, the Border Patrol, vigilante groups, and areas such as the Devil’s Highway keep some illegal immigrants from successfully crossing the border, there are still other forces that continually cause these people to attempt this dangerous journey.  Many people try to come to America in search of a better life and more opportunities for their families.  It is Urrea’s opinion that the Mexican government is not providing a real solution to the needs of its poor.  While traveling back to Mexico with the Yuma 14, Rita Vargas, the Mexico Consul in Calexico, “calculated that the dead men’s flight alone had cost over sixty-eight thousand dollars.  ‘What if,’ she asked, ‘somebody had simply invested that amount in their villages to begin with?’” (199).