The Role of Immigrants in the Civil Rights Movement - Term Paper Example

Grapes of Wrath Research Paper INTRODUCTION The role of immigrants in propelling the civil rights movement is often seen as a major point of debate with little being accurately said about the same. Notably, during the human rights crisis there were millions of immigrants living in the United States (US), forming a major part of the overall population of the nation. Historical evidences suggests that the flow of immigrates in the US in the late nineties has been quite large. However, it has been viewed that this group of people were dealing with major problems such as discrimination, poor living condition and low wage in their day to day. Contextually, there was a need of holistic set of legislation that can ensure equality and a better life for immigrates to protect them from being exploited and to promote their rights. This led to the initiation of the civil rights movement (Biondi, “How New York changes the story of the Civil Rights Movement”). THESIS STATEMENT This research will focus towards presenting a comprehensive understanding about the role of immigrants in the civil rights movement. The paper will emphasize on depicting whether migrants have propelled the movements of civil rights. SERIOUS DISCRIMINATION TOWARD MIGRANTS A. Grapes of Wrath. The book i.e. The Grapes of Wrath was written by the author John Steinbeck and published in the year 1939. The book mainly depicted the emergence of immigrants in the scene and how they have become the prime cause behind the emergence of civil rights movements. Notably, the reading of the book suggests that once the state of California belonged to Mexico. However, later large number of Americans entered into Mexico and captured significant portion of land. Since the Mexican were weak they hardly able to protest against this particular approach of the Americans. Post that incident large number of Mexicans lost their homes and became immigrants causing them to move from one place to another in search of a new home for them. Notably, the financially established Americans or the Californians were seemed to bias against the poor Mexican workers. In one of the story, the writer depicted about how the children of a man died owing to starvation as a result of the discriminated behavior of the banks. The banks denied to provide loans to the farmers on the grounds that their agricultural land will not be able to yield profit as it is expected to yield fewer crops throughout the year. This approach of the banks can be considered as serious discriminations which further ensure negative results for the farmer in the form of death of their children due to starving from the lack of food (Steinbeck, “The Grapes of Wrath”). B. Civil rights. Notably, the civil rights movement was a political movement that was initiated with the intention to ensure or to seek equality for the people irrespective of their caste, religions or race. However, the movement gathered strengths owing to certain specific aspect including the aspect of discrimination against the immigrants. Discrimination on the basis of race was one of the major causes for the civil rights movement. The riot mainly seeks to get legal protection for the minorities and the immigrants who were discriminated on the ground of education, employment and business. This aspect further influenced President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the civil rights act in the year 1964 forbade discrimination that have existed on the basis of an individual’s race, gender or immigration status (English Online, “Civil Rights Movement”). C. Compare/Contrast. Notably, from the above analysis, it can be depicted that discrimination to the immigrants were extensively existed in the society. The book of John Steinbeck i.e. Grapes of Wrath highlighted the issues apparently with regard to discrimination on the basis of immigration status of the people. Again it has also been noted that the Mexicans after being evacuated from their land by the Californians acted as immigrants and move from one place to another in search of shelter and a new home for them. However, in this process they had the need to deal with discrimination owing to their immigration status especially in the domain of agriculture. This has been explained with the examples of the farmers who have lost the lives of their children for starving. In similar regard, the causes of the civil rights movement also aligns with the factors mentioned in the book of Steinbeck i.e. Grapes of Wrath. The prime reason for the movement is highlighted to be discrimination on the basis of the caste, religion or race. Hence, from this particular exploitation it can be stated that the migrants played a major role in steering the civil rights movement towards a new dimension. EXTREMELY TOUGH LIVES OF MIGRANTS A. Grapes of Wrath. The book also highlights the aspect such as the hard lives of the immigrants when they travel to certain place. In one part of the book, a character named Floyd depicted about the hard lives of the people especially the immigrants in searching a better job or a place to live. Again after getting the job, employers also deemed to cut the wages of the immigrant employees since they are extreme need of the work. Moreover, these immigrants also need to live in camps where the living conditions are not of appropriate standards. At the same time, the banks and other the financial institutions were subject to ownership of firms and factories which entitled them to reduce the price of the fruits and vegetables which further deteriorate the conditions of the farmers as they were facing severe loses. The book also depicts the example of a pregnant women living in the camp facing the health problems as she was unable to acquire sufficient amount of protein for herself. Hence, the pathetic living conditions of the immigrants worked towards influencing them in strengthen the civil rights movement (Steinbeck, “The Grapes of Wrath”). B. Civil Rights. Among the several causes for the civil rights movement, the living conditions and the position of the immigrants in the society has been quite vital. Notably, owing to the great depression, the poor which especially includes the black Americans and the immigration has further deteriorated their living condition. These groups of people often have to work for low wages with regard to their daily survival. Since, the flow of immigrants in America were quite high during that period, the number of immigrants facing the impact of the great depression were also quite high in number. This lead to the formations of many black and immigrant organizations that were dedicated towards ensuring victory in the civil rights movement to assure a better life for the minorities (English Online, “Civil Rights Movement”). C. Compare/Contrast. The above analysis depicts the factors mentioned in the book of Steinbeck i.e. Grapes of Wrath and the potential causes of the civil rights movement. In this context, it can be said the pathetic living condition of the immigrants mentioned in book and the impact of the great depression on the immigrants as a cause for the civil rights movement align with one another. Notably, the pathetic living condition of the immigrants as a result of discrimination and the great depression further influence the immigrants to augment the momentum of the civil rights movement so that they attain a better position for themselves in the society. NO LAW PROVIDED PROTECTION FOR MIGRANT WORKERS A. Grapes of Wrath. The book penned by Steinbeck also made a discussion regarding the legal protection of the migrant workers. It has been noted that the migrant had to work for low wages in order to ensure their survival. They were also forced to work on cut down wages by their employers since they have the major need to have a job for themselves. Again it has also been noted that the immigrant farmers were not provided the fair price for their crops, fruits and vegetables which further deteriorated their conditions. Again the availability of too many immigrant workers also worked towards decreasing their wages by the employers. Notably, the low wages of the immigrant’s workers declined the prices of the crops and vegetables further impacting the prices with which the farmers sell their products. Hence, this aspect calls the need for having a proper set of legislations for the immigrant workers that might safeguard the rights of the same (Steinbeck, “The Grapes of Wrath”). B. Civil Rights. It is quite evident that the civil right was initiated with the intention to safeguard the rights of the people who were dealing with unfair treatment and discrimination based on several grounds.. This also depicts the need of the immigrant workers to be able to enjoy a better life for them and their families. The racial discrimination and segregation facing by the people on the basis of their race and immigration status further provoked the need for a common law that can forbade the aspect of discrimination prevailing within the society. In this regard, more than 200,000 people gathered in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C to seek for a legal transformation for immigrant worker and the black Americans. Owing to the majority of the people seeking the revolution, the President during that period i.e. Mr. Lyndon B. Johnson influence to sign the civil rights act where people are assured to be provided with an equal treatment within the society irrespective of their cultural or regional background (English Online, “Civil Rights Movement”). C. Compare/Contrast. From the point of view of the writer of the book, the need for a proper set of legislation for the immigrant workers are apparent. Notably, in the book it has also been noted that the immigrant workers were treated with utmost disdain with regard to wage payment for their work by the employers. They were not paid the fair wages despite of their hard and dedicated work. This is because of the absence of any proper legislation that can safeguard the rights of the immigrant workers. Similarly, the civil rights was also seen as an attempt to seek a proper set of law for the people irrespective of any difference on the basis of sex, caste or race. Hence, the civil rights movement and the viewpoints presented in the book are quite similar to one another. CONCLUSION From the overall analysis of the paper, it can be concluded that the rights of immigrants have been a matter of great debate over the years. History suggested that discrimination and racism has existed in the society for quite a long which further impacted the aspect of equality. In this context, the book titled ‘grapes of wrath’ and the civil rights movement have been explored simultaneously to get to a better understanding of the subject matter. The analysis result suggested that the role of the immigrants in propelling movements of civil rights has been prominent. Works Cited Biondi, Martha. How New York changes the story of the Civil Rights Movement. n.d. Web. 10 Jun. 2014. “Civil Rights Movement .” English Online. n.d. Web. 10 Jun. 2014. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. 1939. Web. 10 Jun. 2014. Read More