The Working Community

This week’s readings spoke a lot about the importance of working hard when immigrating to America. Unfortunately, it is too often that people work themselves to the bone, each and every family member pitching in, only to remain at the lowest socioeconomic level. This is evident in Anibinder’s story of Johnny, who endured immense pain and suffering while trying to establish a better life for himself. This type of disheartening situation is especially applicable to those living in Five Points. However, there is one mechanism that comes to mind that has always aided immigrants in overcoming the hardships involved with moving up the ladder. This mechanism is the common practice for immigrants to seek employment from former immigrants of the same race or religion. This comes to mind when I think about my grandfather, who was able to get involved in the diamond business with the help of his synagogue members, just as many Jews worked in the garment business because that was the network that formed in the Jewish community. Similarly, the Italians were heavily involved in the construction business, and likely helped gain employment for fellow immigrants in this field. As a result, as time passed, more and more immigrants from these groups were able to build better lives for themselves and open up small businesses of their own. One group that seems to have transitioned more slowly than most is African Americans. It seems that in the past they have lacked a similar network as many other groups. This most likely has to do with the manner in which African Americans entered the workforce. Since they were formerly slaves, when slavery was finally abolished, there was no system in place for African Americans to rely on one another. Instead of continuous waves of immigration, there was one extremely large influx of blacks to the workforce when they were freed. As a result, it was more difficult to find work without help from others in their communities, and it took the African American community a significantly longer time to finally establish themselves.