Andy Johnson, a black who moved from England to the United States spoke out about his experience moving to America. Before he came to America, he and many others believed that it was much better living there than in England. He felt that he could live an easier life in America because there was much more diversity there, but he was surprised to realize that America could not provide him with the opportunites he believed to recieve. Andy Johnson was only able to attend school for a few winters in America, although he came to America hoping to get a better education. He also had to relocate right before World War 1 because the town became too hectic and dangerous. The main flaw Andy Johnson noticed about America was that job opportunites were very limited due to the fact that he and his father could not find a decent job. "There's only jobs for these that have jobs, and there are a lot of people on welfare in this county. I see a wonderful future for humanity, or the end of it. If we continue this present trend, we're gonna go straight to hell, we're gonna blow ourselves straight off the earth, or we'll poison ourselves off." (42) This text explains that it is easy for people to get a job if they have grown up in the United States and have great education, but nearly impossible for people to get decent jobs if they did not grow up in the United States, or get a good education even though it was not available for them. I wonder why so many people believed that America be the best place to live and where they heard that from? This story relates to American History because Andy Johnson and his family moved because they moved to America to recieve freedom and equality, and the American Constitutional Amendements would give the equality they sought to recive. The First Amendment provides to the right to freedom of speech, and the Nineteenth Amendment provides the right for everyone to vote, no matter their race or gender. Many of the flaws that Johnson found while living in America still exist today. For example, the economy is very bad, and it is very hard for people to find jobs like it was when he moved to America. There are also many people living in poverty, which was an issue that was being faced while Johnson was living in America.
Vernon Jarrett, a black newspaperman moved to Chicago from the South because he believed that Chicago was the promiseland. He, along with many others believed that it was a place where everyone was equal. He loved Chicago so much that he became a soldier in World War II, just to see Chicago. After living in Chicago for a while, Vernon Jarrett found that it was difficult to make a living there because there were not many job opportunities there, therefore, he could not buy a house. Since he could not buy a house, he had to move to a unsafe neighborhood. Vernon was pleased with Chicago during his first few years living , but over time, he started to realize that it became difficult for many people to find jobs, and many people were living in poverty.. Blacks and whites faced poverty, but Jarrett stayed in Chicago because he believed the problems he was facing at the time would get better in the future. He started to realize how disrespectful the citizens were, and that people did not know everyone in their city like they did in the South. This made him realize there was no hope in making Chicago a better place. "This city is not a heaven, it's a refuge." Vernon was soon convinced that Chicago was not what he thought it was; it was just a place to go when you wanted to escape from home, therefore, the excitement of being in Chicago only lasts for a certain amount of time. This story connects to the Second New Deal in American history because Jarrett was in Chicago at a time where it was very difficult to find a job, and the Second New Deal was created by the government to solve that problem by directly providing jobs to people in need. Jarrett's story also relates living in America today because we are living in a bad economy, and many people are struggling to find jobs.
No comments:
Post a Comment