Time is money. When facing desperate situations promising either life or death, every present action explicitly affects the future. Immigrants to America quickly realized that they had to portion both their time and money wisely in order to ensure the best successful output possible. They understood that the longer it took to find a job (Anbinder notes that employment was stronger in foreign countries than in America), the longer they had to endure hunger, stress, and discomforts at home. Jobs available were not luxurious; they required long hours of toil and tolerance. However, when realizing what life could be like without the employment, the slightest wage for the hardest work seemed like an incredible feat. Perhaps it wasn’t exactly the first step they had in mind in achieving the “American Dream”, but hey, it could be worse, right?
Foreigners’ approach to job-hunting varied with culture, ethnicity, and location. In Five Points, Anbinder states that the immigrants basically took whatever they could find, whether it be peddling or hard labor. The occupations even depended on what season was currently in place. Chin’s article explains the differences of how Chinese and Korean garment shops approached employment. Chinese businesses only hired skilled coethnic workers, who would not slow production down. They were extremely personal, since employers encouraged their employees to bring friends to the job, and to work with them in training. Korean garment shops, which hired Latinos, were not as accepting. Workers were paid by the hour, rather than by articles produced; thus, employees had less flexibility in the schedule for their personal needs or demands of the children. Bringing along friends was discouraged, for the stranger may be too slow for the rate of production required. Jews, Koreans, and African Americans were compared and contrasted in Lee’s text based on their methods of beginning entrepreneurship. Hard work was a cultural value seen in Jews and Koreans, which made them inevitably successful in small business. They relied on their own drive to produce an income, or helped each other with rotating credit associations. African Americans, on the other hand, were underrepresented to begin with, and depended heavily on external loans. These, however, were not reliable for extended periods of time, and therefore could not sustain a business alone. Because their social situation was so unfavorable, they could not even trust/rely on one another for monetary support. Considering the points made in the two articles, I strongly agree with Jacqueline when she states that coethnic social networks had a major impact on the success of the immigrant; either your “kin” were there to support you or were not.
Eden brings up some great points that really do need to be addressed. Personally, I also believe that women struggled the most when it came to survival in America. They constantly faced discrimination by those of “higher” social stance (men, in particular). According to Foner, this injustice even made them turn against themselves, purposefully making sure that their own income did not exceed that of her husband’s. Lower wages reinforced the already-established perception of women as “inferior”; females were seen as the humans used soely for reproductive and child-rendering purposes, which then made success in American economic life difficult.
Although immigrants today are not “modern-day variations on old themes” (Foner 89), many similarities still exist regarding social and economic hardships. Women and other minorities combat discrimination, and immigrants labor for long hours with little monetary support. The higher educational level of immigrants is an improvement, however. In addition, the independence and rights that women continue to gain in America is also a positive step in the right direction. Achievements over time help these foreigners build the confidence necessary to continue establishing a bloodline in this new land. Life isn’t easy for anyone – especially immigrants – but with the right stamina and motivation, achieving your variation of the “American Dream” is truly possible.
