HON 313 Final Project - Dillyn McHenry
Story 1:
Deepti immigrated from India to America when she was 13-years-old and Vijay 16-years-old. Neither one of them finished college, but instead began working multiple jobs in order to live. Vijay worked three jobs, one at a convenience store, restaurant and hotel. He befriended his hotel manager and she presented the idea of Vijay going into real estate. Like Gino in “Confetti for Gino”, Vijay felt that he never needed to go back to school because he had learned everything he needed to know from his various jobs. He ended up starting his own real estate company and became an international promoter for Bollywood entertainment. His goal was to show Americans the Indian entertainment industry. One of the highlights of his job was bringing Indian actors to America, such as Priyanka Chopra.
While Vijay found entrepreneurial success, Deepti was working at a Kmart. One day Vijay ventured into a Kmart and saw Deepti. For him it was love at first sight. He knew that this was the girl he wanted to marry. He began showing up to Deepti’s work and sending flowers to Kmart every day. Deepti did not reciprocate the same feelings and rejected Vijay’s multiple attempts to ask her on a date. Vijay ended up finding Deepti’s mom and met her, professing his love for her daughter. Deepti’s mom and sister approved of Vijay because of his success and admiration of Deepti and decided that they would help him win Deepti’s affections against her wishes. Vijay wanted him and Deepti to get married right away, but Deepti wanted to finish school first. Her mother threatened her and said she had to get married and drop out of school, so she could secure a stable life. Deepti felt that the marriage was forced upon her and that she had no choice but to give up her education and rely on a man to take care of her. Although Deepti found love with Vijay after time, the relationship between her and her mother was strained for years. It was very difficult for her to forgive her mother because she felt like she had missed out on the opportunity to get an education and accomplish what Vijay had by coming to America.
This story reminded me of Rocco and His Brothers because Rosaria Parondi and her sons migrated to the North for better opportunities, and she at first relied on her eldest son, Vincenzo, to provide for the entire family. While the five sons were encouraged to find a good-paying job and bring money back to the family, Deepti was encouraged to depend on a man to bring money back to her family. Looking back, Deepti would not have changed her immigrant experience. Even though she initially did not have the same success as Vijay, she found a job working in the trade association for higher education. Ultimately, she found her passion working for a corporation that aids communities who don’t have the resources to obtain a higher education.
Story 2:
Sami is originally from Jerusalem and Susan from Iran. At the time, the Jews forced Palestinians out of Jerusalem, so Sami immigrated to New York for a better life and greater opportunities—in other words—the American Dream. Sami ended up attending college at UC Santa Cruz while also working two jobs in food services so that he could send money back to his mother in the old country. He lived with 5-6 people in a house in order to afford rent. It was hard for him to assimilate into American culture and he found himself constantly working and not enjoying his life, slowly falling into depression. As for many immigrants, America is described as a wonderful place where opportunities are handed to you. Sami felt that he had been robbed of this “dream” and wondered if he made the wrong decision to come to America, even though he knew he had no future staying in Jerusalem.
Susan had a similar experience coming to the United States, except that she did not speak or know any English. She ended up working at a restaurant and learned to speak English little by little, from the customers and staff. Susan described the process of getting a job to be a very challenging because you had to get your papers and be a citizen to get any work. This reminds me of the process second generation 18-year-olds had to go through in the film 18 IUS Soli. For Susan, she was able to obtain her papers more easily once she met Sami and got married.
Sami and Susan are two of the hardest working people I know. I have grown up with them and they are always kind and welcoming to anyone that steps foot in their home. Even though they immigrated to a new country knowing very little to no English and not having any family or friends to rely on, they are incredibly grateful to have started their life in the United States, putting two children through school and being able to send money back home to their loved ones.
Story 3:
I did not expect to find much on immigration in my family’s history, but to my surprise, my grandmother was full of stories about her life as a black woman in a relationship with a Jewish man.
Judith and Gene do not have a traditional immigration story. They were both born in the U.S. and then immigrated to Europe for a couple of years. My grandmother’s relationship was not accepted by society. In their day, it was very difficult to have interracial relationships because of prejudice attitudes. One of the stories my grandmother shared with me was when my grandfather was arrested. Judith and Gene were going to a movie downtown in an area where Black people did not go very often. Two policemen approached them and assumed they were conducting some sort of illicit activity. Gene talked back to the police and got himself arrested. My grandmother could not drive so she had to take a cab in order to bail him out. This would not be their last encounter with the law, nor having to deal with racial attitudes. During a rainstorm, Gene’s car broke down and a policeman who had been following the two stopped his car, rolled down his window and asked Gene, “What are you doing with her?”
People of different colors lived separately, they did not socialize, and continued to believe whatever prejudices they had grown up with. My grandmother described each group of people—Latinos, Blacks, Whites—as having their own ghettos. My grandmother believed that a lot of hate fermented from this separation. When people of a different color would come on my grandfather’s television set, his mother would jump up and turn it off. Even when my grandfather previously dated a Danish girl he worked with, he was immediately told to end the relationship or else they would both lose their jobs. It did not matter that they were the same color, they were still expected to be separate.
In the course of Gene and Judith’s relationship, the Vietnam war was happening, and Gene was about to get drafted. To avoid the draft, Gene and Judith decided to get married. Even though she loved Gene, Judith saw their marriage as solving a problem so that her and Gene could stay together, and he would not have to fight in the war. They of course eloped and the process took place at city hall in secret. Judith lied and said she was 21-years-old when she was 17-years-old and Gene was 24-years-old. Gene’s family became suspicious and a family friend went down to the draft board to find out why Gene had not gotten drafted. Once Gene’s mother was relayed the news, she stormed into Judith’s mother’s dress shop to explain the situation to her. Even though Judith’s mother was furious and did not approve of the relationship, she came around. On the other hand, it took many years for Gene’s mother to accept Judith into their family. Judith and Gene began living together in student housing after Gene transferred from the University of Chicago to Roosevelt University where Judith attended school. While Gene was able to graduate, marriage put a hold on Judith’s education. She eventually finished school later in life after my mother was born.
During the time that Judith and Gene were married, racial attitudes intensified. They were living on the Southside of Chicago where most Blacks lived, but it was dangerous on both the North and South. People attacked Judith and Gene separately and together, letting their hate fuel their actions. Judith did not think any progress was going to be made in the United States, so her and Gene decided to move to Europe in 1970, one year after my mother was born. They went to Spain and Judith began making clothes for tourists while Gene sold jewelry. Many of the problems they faced in the U.S. disappeared in Spain. In Spain, race was simply not an issue. People were friendly and enamored by Judith’s presence. Crowds would follow behind her to see what she did daily, and they found interpreters to communicate and help her find her way around. Spain did not have racial issues, instead they only thought of Americans as soldiers and entertainers. While immigrants from Italy would immigrate to America for a better life, Judith and Gene immigrated to Europe to escape theirs. Similar to many countries, Spain also had its issues, such as treating gypsys horribly. However, Judith and Gene were able to live life free of racism, prejudice and discrimination for a couple years before deciding to move back to the U.S.
Their return felt like the “American Dream” Italians thought of. After living in Europe, Judith and Gene had more opportunities to get a job. The Civil Rights Bill had been passed and the government gave tax breaks to companies if they diversified their hiring, not only with Blacks, but all people of color. People’s attitudes were changing. Judith was recognized and included by her colleagues at work. She worked for an American company that had branches in places like Spain, so she was hired to translate telegrams that the company received and eventually was promoted to Executive Secretary for the chairman of the board.
My grandmother’s story reminded me of the novel we read, “The Invisible Glass.” The story commented on the treatment Chick received for being an educated Black male which is like the hate and discrimination my grandmother received for being an educated Black female. Just like Chick’s relationship with Anna was kept in secret for fear of their safety and being unaccepted, Judith and Gene’s relationship was constantly being attacked. I believe that in this case the first person to break the invisible glass were the people my grandmother met during her time in Spain. They accepted and even admired her and cared for her well-being. Once Judy and Gene returned to the United States, the invisible glass was slowly being cracked with the changing attitudes of many Americans.
Story 4:
Talking with my grandfather, Gene, I learned that his mother immigrated to the U.S. from Russia. She left due to persecution from anti-Jewish Russians and Jewish villages being attacked. My great-grandmother, Sophie, had relatives in Chicago that she went to live with. In order to get to Chicago, she had to walk many miles to get to a train that would take her to America. Since she was poor, she had to sleep below the deck in crowded quarters without a way to shower; a step above slave ship conditions. Once Sophie got to America, she made her way to Chicago. She eventually married her husband and they opened a candy store. Sophie worked for 90 years. Although I never met her, she sounds like a hardworking and brave woman. Her experience reminds me of the Mancuso family in The Golden Door when they traveled from Italy to America on a boat filled with hundreds of Italians.
To conclude, I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing my friends and family to learn more about thier personal stories and experiences with migration. Through interviewing my grandmother and grandfather, I learned more about their story and racial prejudice they faced in the United States, and how those challenges and discrimination dissapeared when they lived abroad. Through interviewing my friend's parents, I learned about their stories of immigration to a new country and how they were able to be successful depsite not having any knowledge of a new world. Overall, this course allowed me to gain a better understanding of what migration was like for many Italian families through various novels, films, articles, and guest speakers. This knowledge is something I will carry with me for my future endeavors, especially when I study abroad next semester.
