Blog # 3 Mexican and Jewish Immgrants

The Jewish and Mexican immigration to America was based on hardships and conquered by unity. Although the two cultures came to America to escape oppression and find better opportunities for their family, they never forgot where they came from. Both cultures found outlets to maintain their cultures and uplift their communities.
For the Jewish immigrants life in Russia was full of violence and suppression. Constant surveillance and persecution for their beliefs caused the Jewish immigrants to look for an escape. America to the Jewish was a land of opportunity where they could be comfortable in their culture and exist within society and give their family the best. The Mexican immigrants experienced issues with politics and availability of jobs. For Mexican immigrants America was where jobs were readily available and they could own their own land without the government selling it from under them.
For the two cultures their pilgrimage to America was enduring and tough. The Jewish immigrants came over in high volumes from ships that were once used to transport cattle. Boarding the boat was chaotic since everyone was trying to escape the persecution in Russia. The charge to board was usually raising and saved by the Jewish and sometimes given to the children so they could travel and better themselves. In comparison the Mexican immigrants lived a lot closer to America and were only a border away. Many traveled in large groups packed in cars and in the back of trucks.
The jobs available for the two cultures were based on their demographics. Since the Jewish immigrants landed in New York many settled there within the lower East Coast in areas called “ghettos”. At that time the many Jewish immigrants that came over to America were uneducated and had little to no training skills, many resorted to selling goods within the community and others joined the labor market mainly the garment industry. The Mexican immigrants prior to coming to America had land and many were able to do agriculture, therefore upon arrival the jobs that they were qualified were in the farm labor. Both suffered horrible work conditions in both areas while working long hours with little pay. The Jewish immigrants worked in factories under hazardous conditions such as no ventilation, high room temperatures, and little to no breaks. The Mexicans were placed on the bottom of the ranking in farm labor. They also received little to no breaks, worked from sun up to sun down. In addition both cultures received no benefits. Education wise the Jewish were persecuted and degraded in colleges and universities. Although they excelled in education others felt that they were overpopulating the institutions and needed to be controlled.
In reference the cultures were successful in maintaining their ties with their heritage. The Jewish immigrants created community based towns and villages within the lower east coast. They united themselves with in the schools, temples and stores. They created areas such as the café, public bath and meeting in the park as ways of both recreation and community involvement. The Mexican culture created El barrio, towns and villages that were centered about Mexican culture. It was there that they were able to maintain and celebrate their holidays and cultures from Mexico.
Although both cultures experienced immigration, labor discrimination, and prejudice in education they were able to remain loyal to their heritage. I believe that this is important to US history because it shows how many of the various companies, cities and communities were first created and how they evolved. By understanding the hardships that they had to face one is able to understand their perspective on issues such as politics, religion and education. This has made me realized that people of different cultures although they come from different places and experienced hardships of various kinds they are very similar, the only differences were their demographic and the steps they went through to maintain their practice. The main thing that matters is that they were able to unify themselves and didn’t assimilate and eliminate their culture