Immigrants could not be picky when it came to jobs—even if it meant occupations offering the lowest salaries. Many immigrants faced unstable employment; often times, they did not have jobs during the winter season. In Five Points, for example, “chronic unemployment made winter the annual season of sorrow and dread.” In response, entire families pitched in to survive the winter. “Tailoring for example, was a family affair […] men did the most difficult work […] while wives and children completed tasks requiring less experience and training.” Widows or abandoned wives had it the hardest, in my opinion. Not only did these women have to care for a family, but they had to work to sustain their family as well. Although these women performed the roles of their absent husbands, they worked female-gendered jobs. I’d like to pose a question considering gender roles during the migration to New York: Do you think the expectation for immigrant women to partake in contributing to household incomes changed the previous gender roles prescribed by the Victorian era, raising the status of women? Or could it be that because women were given jobs with lower wages, inferior rank was reinforced?
Back to immigrant labor, I’d like to add that while their work seemed so incredibly onerous and practically unmanageable, certain aspects of immigrant labor has not changed. There is a significant total of Americans today who are unemployed. How often do we know of people who lose their jobs due to the current economic recession? Even people who do have advanced degrees—the recession is reaching out to all levels of society. (I guess the biggest difference between unemployment then and now is that now there are charity organizations and much government intervention to support the needy.) Just as an example of similar economic challenge, “although peddlers enjoyed a modicum of independence, constant rejection by potential customers… made their lives especially hard.” When reading that line in Anbinder’s book it made me think of all those times when people walk down busy streets in Manhattan and constantly have desperate businessmen shoving flyers into their hands advertising the latest commodities. There are those who stride past, completely disregarding any pleas, demonstrating the rejection that the sellers face. Then there are those who are completely uninterested in the product but politely take a flyer and continue walking to their destination. On their way, they notice a garbage bin, and approach it to dispose the flyer. Unsurprisingly, the can is almost overflowing with crumpled flyers identical to the one the passer-by is holding…But, anyways, considering past and current immigrant labor, do you think that the differences outweigh the similarities?
Another issue I came across regarding immigrant labor was dignity versus money in terms of occupations. Many could not bear to work in jobs ranking the lowest of the low, even if working these jobs meant that would be earning more money, a factor that should be taken seriously considering their circumstances. In retrospect, do you think that it was right for immigrants to be more concerned about their self-respect even if they were endangering the lives of their family members? For instance, women who chose to work as seamstresses instead of other jobs were on the verge of starvation.
Regarding professionals experiencing downward mobility when coming to NY, as miserable as it may sound, it makes sense. After all, even if someone had completed medical school in their home-country, if he’s incapable of speaking English fluently, how comfortable would you be going to him when you are sick? So it is understandable that people with skills and fluency in English would get priority when it comes to professional jobs.
When reading about the interactions among co-ethnic groups, I viewed it as a continuation of chain migration. I felt like the older immigrants were willing to help newcomers because they had some degree of experience under their belts and knew the tricks of the trade. This system makes the workplace more efficient since the owners did not have to deal with training the immigrants and also because Koreans and Jews had access to resources which would enable them to get a head start on their own incomes. But in certain situations, co-ethincs had the reverse effect: it prevented immigrants from getting jobs. In any case, I think that the social networking among the ethnic groups definitely led to the contemporary culturally diverse New York. Overall, social networking seemed to benefit most groups.
Immigrants fought with fortitude to survive in New York and it is evident that their efforts were not in vain and that their dreams did, indeed, come true. Yes, many immigrants toiled incessantly merely to obtain food, could not afford to get an education and failed to ascend the social class. But their grandchildren did not become seamstresses, peddlers, tailors, newsboys, or hot-corn girls. Their grandchildren received American educations and became doctors, lawyers, actresses and even presidents. Their dreams were fulfilled. After all, our children are our future.
