Author Archives: Nick Anton

Questions on Reading for 4/30

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In the reading about Ethnic Enclaves, the author discusses how Korean employers prefer to hire hispanic applicants over black applicants who are equally qualified.  Is this the result of these Korean people internalizing the history of racism in the United States and the consequent fear and distrust of black people that many still have, or did this racism develop independently, perhaps even brought over from Korea?

This reading discusses the relationship between co-ethnic employees and employers.  When these immigrants are brought into the country to work for co-ethnic employers, do they more so benefit from having a support net of people from a similar cultural background who speak their language, or are they hindered in the long run because they are not forced to assimilate to some degree, or interact with people outside of their culture frequently?

Questions on Reading for 4/23

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One of the readings this week focused on how the Dominican population is struggling financially more than other Latino populations in the United States, and that one of the reasons why this is happening is because the Dominican population does not have the same level of English Languages skills as other Latino groups.  With that said, despite English not being the national language of the United States, how much does one’s English proficiency influence their ability to make money, and are there situations in which people within their community have been successful without knowing much English?

Another focus on the reading this week was food map.  A food map is a compilation of the food history of an area, marking restaurants and markets and trends in cuisine.  Is there a minority that is not represented in a food map – especially if new populations move into an area that was predominantly full of different foods, or does the food culture evolve with the demographics of a neighborhood fast enough to be an accurate representation of the neighborhoods culture?

 

Edit* – Sorry professor, I just realized that I put this in the wrong place last week.

Review Essay – The Harvest/La Cosecha

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U. Roberto Romano’s film The Harvest/La Cosecha bring the viewer into the world of migrant workers in the United States.  We follow the lives of Zulema Lopez, Perla Sanchez, and Victor Huapilla, who are all children that travel around the country doing strenuous farm work with their families to earn enough money to get by.  All of these children have no choice but to work because of the difficult financial situation that their parents are in, and the physical and emotional toll that this work takes on them is revealed through their explanations of their daily lives.  There are so many obstacles that these children and their families face each day to keep afloat, and their financial stability rests in their power to persevere through even the worst conditions.  This film aims to raise awareness for the deplorable conditions that thousands of migrant workers face as they attempt to make a living in the United States.

This film does and excellent job of humanizing a group of people that is not commonly held in high regard.  One may not realize how normal these people are, and how they blend into our society so seamlessly so that we may not ever notice just how different their lives are.  The two girls featured in the film, Zulema Lopez and Perla Sanchez, have been raised in the United States, speak perfect English, attend public school when possible, and are very much involved with American culture.  There is a myth that migrant workers are usually Mexican immigrants who speak little to no English and have no understanding of American culture and values, but this film works to dispel that idea by presenting the viewer with examples of “normal” workers who could also be considered completely “normal” Latin-American children.  Many viewers who may have an another image in their head of what a typical migrant worker looks and sounds like may have been very surprised to see what these people are actually like.

Another issue that the film does a great job representing is that danger involved with working these jobs.  Many of us eat the produce that these workers pick each day without even realizing what really goes into getting the food from the plant to the market shelf.  One example that we are told about is when Victor Huapilla explains how one day he was laying down the plastic that is used for sowing the crops, and the chemicals that were on plastic actually began to melt his skin off.  Earlier in the film, Zulema talks about how she has injured herself with the shears used to cut roots away from crops she was picking.  Both of these examples highlight the day to day dangers that these workers face, and the instability of their health and their work.  For example, if a worker were to get seriously hurt on the job, they would then be unable to work for a few weeks, months or maybe even permanently.  If that did happen, they would then not be able to help their families make money to survive.  Romano’s film does an excellent job of bring these issues to light and helping the viewer to really understand the troubles these people face.

All of the themes discussed in this film directly tie into what we have discussed in class this semester.  It is very clear that migrant work is a niche job, as a disproportional amount of these workers are Mexican, and the field as a whole is largely influenced by Mexican culture.  Another theme we discussed in class is the idea of health issues among specific populations of immigrants.  It is really clear from this documentary that obesity and accidents are common in this population because of the nature of their work and their low income.

Overall, I rate this film 4.5/5 – as it did a really wonderful job illustrating the issues of this population of people and giving the viewer a much clearer understanding of their lives.

Questions on Reading for 4/9

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In the chapter of Gastropolis titled Eating Out, Eating American,  the author discusses the social implications of eating out a restaurant, and how the places where a person chooses to eat can be indicative of who they are, or who they’d like to be.  With this in mind, my question is do you think immigrants today are willing to spend excess money in order have the “American” experience of eating out at a nice restaurant, or is this less of concern for them.

Along this same train of thought – traditionally, eating out at nice restaurants is as much about the context of the meal as the meal itself, and glamorous, conservative-minded restaurants were valued.  However, as our culture becomes more multi-ethnic, are our values changing to now seek more diverse and different foods and restaurant atmospheres when dining?

Questions on Reading

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The readings for this week emphasized how the movement to get rid of the pushcarts symbolized to push to Americanize and “clean-up” the poorer Lower East Side immigrant neighborhoods.  Are we still attempting to have working class, immigrant neighborhoods conform to American standards of living and culture, or are we more accepting now of differences in culture among the working class?

Another topic that was discussed was the sky rocketing food prices around World War I, and the protests that followed.  The protesters were mainly women and children.  Keeping in mind that women received the right to vote in 1920, and that these riots took place during the height of the Women’s Suffrage movement, do you think the riots were influenced or fueled by the underlying issue of women’s suffrage?  Conversely, did the riots help perpetuate the suffrage movement?

Questions on Reading for 2/19

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In Food and Diaspora, the author discusses how the types of food early groups of people ate were largely determined by their environment and what foods they could create from the natural resources around them.  The author draws the conclusion that the food of different cultural groups today is still influenced by what resources were traditionally available to their society.  Considering that our world and our cultures have evolved and changed so greatly over the last few centuries, is it still fair to say that people’s every day diets are still influenced by what resources were available to their ancestors, or has food become modern.

Again in Food and Diaspora, the author alludes briefly to how new products from the New World became very popular back in Europe, and some cultures are now more readily identified with these products than their actual place of origin.  With that said, is the trade of food products between borders still spurring significant change in the cultures involved, or have we settled in as a global society that is unaffected by new products.