Honest History

This is a continuation of last issue’s article “Honest History”. Last issue I discussed the American Indians and the Slaves. This article will focus on the Mexicans, Chinese, Irish, African-Americans, and others.

In the early 1840’s, Americans began to take over the northern parts of Mexico, namely California and Texas. They moved west to obtain a brighter future for themselves and their families. The west offered many new and exciting opportunities for young settlers who could withstand its hardships. However, there were already people living on the west coast. The Mexicans had been in California and Texas for centuries and had established homes and government systems. They were living there quite peaceably until their culture began to conflict with the culture of these incoming “gringos”. The Mexicans were richly based on traditions and historical precedent. They did things a certain way for many generations. They lived life at a leisurely pace without major worries. In contrast, the newly arrived Americans were part of a generation that focused on immediate action and entrepreneurial spirit. They thought that prosperity was gained by being one step ahead of the competition and being the best at what you do. When these cultures came together, a huge conflict erupted. Tension increased with the gold rush 1849. This gave Americans greater reason to migrate west were the gold lay around like rocks and fortunes were made everyday.

Eventually this conflict grew even greater in Texas, where the border with Mexico was unclear. Soon there was bloodshed and four years of bloody war that totally destroyed most Mexican cities and their spirit. But America got what it was after, California and Texas. This conflict was also a preparatory session for the American Civil War that would follow.

The Irish began to immigrate in the 1840’s mainly because of the great potato famine in Ireland. When they arrived they were unskilled laborers without any prospects. Many found menial jobs, usually stealing jobs from free blacks. The Irish would work for less money and were considered more expendable than slaves because of their great numbers. They were looked at by American society as uncouth, violent, given to access inebriation, and sexually loose. While the Irish were some of these, they were also extremely hard workers and therefore found themselves in the most dangerous jobs like digging canals, mining, and other such work. The Irish were constantly under attack from protestant forces because they were catholic. This was just another thing on the list of reason why Americans were biased against Irish immigrants.

African-Americans were mostly free after the Civil War, but this did not mean they were given all the benefits and opportunities that the average Americans experienced. They were not allowed to hold public office, hold civil service jobs, or a myriad of other jobs. They were relegated to manual labor jobs that severely restricted their upward mobility. This was a source of great tension that furthered the bias against them, mostly in the Deep South. It was during the early twentieth century that blacks began to fight for their rights as American citizens. This continues up to today. Throughout the 1900’s, there are many documented instances which prove to us that the bias that partially caused the Civil War has not disappear, but is merely exercised in a more indirect manner. While the black community is not totally free from guilt in this matter, the majority of the blame falls on many white Americans. Their choice to exclude blacks for social groups and to force segregation has come back and caused violent repercussions.

The Chinese prejudices are not as viewable on the East coast as compared to the West coast. The Chinese and the Irish were very similar in one aspect. They both immigrated around the same time and both were relegated to high-risk jobs. They were viewed as useless parts of society because of their different culture and language. The Chinese were mainly centered in San Francisco in the early stages and then proceeded to spread out ward from there. The Japanese were a major object of suspicion during the World Wars, especially after Pearl Harbor. The United States Government placed them in internment camps because “there are Japanese saboteurs in our midst and since we cannot tell one from another, we must contain them all”. They were forced to leave their jobs and many of their belongings and were given almost nothing when they were set free.

Our American history is plagued with gross inconsistencies of Freedom. We are the supposed “Protector of Freedom”, yet our history shows a different story. Many of the prejudices that we experience, both today and in the past, are based on false pretenses and lies. We need to be careful to separate truth from fiction. We must strive in this new millennium to live up to our self-given name “The Bastion of Freedom” and return to the ideal of our Founding Fathers, who stated “All Men Are Created Equal”.