Immigrants and Prejudice during the Great Depression - Research Paper Example

Immigrants were highly prejudiced during the Great Depression as this period was more than just hard times. It is therefore pertinent to note that the Great Depression greatly affected all areas of human life and it was worse for the immigrants who were still struggling to reintegrate themselves into the society. There was a rapid increase in the rate of unemployment as about one quarter of the American population was unemployed and the people that were mostly affected were the immigrants (Nicholson). The farming and banking system was also greatly affected by the Great Depression and this meant that the immigrants became more unemployed as the depression waxed stronger (Wicker 17-28). Trade was badly affected by the depression and inflation skyrocketed making the Great depression more than just “hard times” as the people of America starved during this dark period in the history of America (Galbraith 79-81). If inflation skyrockets, it is not unusual that the immigrants who had little to spend would be the ones badly affected by this sad development. The Great Depression witnessed mass deportation within the ranks of the immigrants. The Mexicans immigrants that occupied Texas were deported in their large numbers and the racial prejudice that existed in the United States of America prior to the Great Depression worsened. The prejudice against the immigrants were not done by the average citizens of the country alone as the projects of the Federal government were barred from benefitting the immigrants, especially the ones from Mexico that were highly populated in the city of Texas (Dvorak 166-170). It is therefore pertinent to note that the Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program which sought to neutralize the effects of the Great Depression did little to the sufferings of the immigrants during the Great Depression. The New Deal program did not benefit the immigrants, who were also suffering from the effects of the Great Depression as they could not prove their citizenship. This meant that the best thing that they could do during this period of Great Depression was to relocate themselves back to their various countries. The immigrants that found their way to settle in the United States of America during the period of Great Depression witnessed a period of stagnation than never before. The impact of the depression was more damaging for the immigrants than the indigenes of the country. The immigrants were prejudiced against in all spheres of life and this meant that they had to struggle extra hard in order to keep up with the stress, pressures and sufferings that was witnessed during the Great Depression. The immigrants were not getting employed and when some of them were even lucky to get employed, they were fired at the slightest provocation by their employers. The immigrants were highly prejudiced in the labor markets and the ones that were employed were replaced by the unemployed natives of the country. The United States of America witnessed dwindling fortunes in their economy during the period of the Great Depression and this meant that they had to do anything possible to protect the citizens of the country. The fact that the authorities of the country could do little to save the citizens from the sufferings of the country meant that the immigrants were left alone to carry their cross during the period of the Great Depression. Another sad development during the Great Depression was the issue of citizens that were treated like immigrants in their own land, the people that left Oklahoma for instance during the Great Depression were also treated with the same amount of prejudice like the foreign immigrants. The reason for this was due to the unavailability of jobs as some people had to be treated as inferiors for the jobs to go round the others. Another thing that was observed during the Great Depression was the issue of party allegiance. It all seemed that the policies of the Democratic Party favored the immigrants more than those of the Republicans. Most of the Republicans favored policies that prejudiced against the immigrants during the Great Depression and this meant that the immigrants were left with no choice than to switch their allegiances to the Democratic party that fought for their cause and saw to their integration into the American society. At this juncture, it is pertinent to note that the Great Depression was not entirely bad for the immigrants as the New Deal program fought against racial discrimination. This course was excellently championed by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Racial discrimination and prejudice were fought against during the Great Depression. This means that the immigrants that were mostly of different races to the citizens of the country benefited from the New Deal programs to a certain extent. However, the achievements of the New Deal program was undermined by the fact that most part of the South did not obey the rules of the New Deal program, this meant that immigrants in the South were prejudiced and afforded lesser opportunity to the ones in the North during the Great Depression. The abilities of families to survive the Great Depression depended on the race, sex and social status and since the immigrants were of races that were believed to be inferior to the citizens of the country they were not given the opportunity to be integrated into the society. They were prejudiced against by the citizens of the country. The Great Depression was so terrible that its impact is still being felt in the United States after half a century and the immigrants would have wished that they never embarked on their journey of immigration during this dark period in history. Works Cited Dvorak, William. Immigration in the United States. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 2009 Galbraith, John Kenneth. The Great Crash: 1929. Boston, MA : Houghton Mifflin, 1955 Nicholson, Philip Yale. Labor's Story in the United States. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004 Wicker, Elmus. The Banking Panics of the Great Depression. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Read More