Xenophobia In The 1920s

Xenophobia in the 1920s

In the 1920s, as immigration increased, the fear of war became an issue. This caused fighting and dehumanization of human beings because of their difference in race or skin color. The 1920s was a time of change, with the increase of inventions came more time for the individual. A change in lifestyle began when the television was invented, before the commonwealth of men often spent time working and if time off from their job was given, it was mainly spent with hard labor on the house such as painting the shutters. As for wives, they now had a few easier ways of taking care of the children, and with the invention of cereal and condiments, they no longer had to work quite as vigorously for simple tasks. The children now

Xenophobia was a major issue in factories. Xenophobia is the fear of different things often referring to foreigners or distaste in new things (Blair). Manufacturing or factory jobs had many immigrant workers as it was one of the few places, they were being given to work. This caused a decrease in native-born workers in manufacturing and an overflow of immigrant workers, causing a want for a shift in command. The people believed that if more immigrants moved to the US they would be overtaken (Mongford). The change of environment as well meant that people were combined with people of diverse cultures, and it was foreign and strange to them (Mongford). The reason for this is a result of the industrial revolution causing most to live in big cities (Mongford). They no longer were confined to a cluster of small closed off agricultural, homestead, community life (Mongford). As new things were being produced to make life easier it was a bit shocking and disorienting at first for a few people (Mongford). The complexity of the economy in industries rapidly changed and fluctuated as more people immigrated (Mongford). The wavering predictability of the economy consequently, people's views began to change rapidly (Mongford). The question was whether immigration was good or not (Mongford)? Several Americans were angry about the foreigners coming into their territory. Others were incredibly happy about foreigners coming to America because it caused much growth in the economy and

Their employer would pay slim to none putting Texas on the map for their agricultural work (Boustan). Immigrants had a hopeful expectation of what life in the US would look like (Boustan). They were quickly disappointed by the racism and horrible attitudes of the Americans towards them (Boustan). The journey to what they perceived as freedom was anything but easy (Boustan). Once in America the immigrants would be living in poverty and working long hours just to make ends meet (Boustan). Unfortunately, immigrants moving to America were not only living in the best conditions but they also because of racism were given less money for the same job or more work than the native coworkers there (Boustan). The view on immigration of the modern American people now has been very glossed over and inaccurate. There was a heavy shift in how many immigrants were coming to America in the 1900s-1920s. Mexicans were dominating the majority of Texas. The Mexicans often would compare themselves to the roadrunner and they had a saying, “To the roadrunner, as to the Mexican, the next field, the next season, always looks as if it might be better" (Brown). Unfortunately, the thought provoking the minds of Americans was one of superiority and this led to other incidents in many areas of