Maya Angelou once said,
"If you don't like something change it". During the 1920’s this
was the exact mentality White Americans had. During WWI it was encouraged that
foreigners come to America because Americans were in dire need for soldiers and
laborers to support the war efforts. However, after World War I many people
were very uneasy about the wave of immigrants that were flooding into the
States and so they decided to change it. Although America was a place for people
to be free, many immigrants were treated unfairly because people didn't think
they had the right to be American, as they looked, talked different than
“normal” Americans. This was the main reason that in 1924 the Immigration
Policy of 1924 was instated. This policy put a quotas on the number of people
from each foreign country was allowed in the state. The exceptions to this
policy were Mexicans because California needed lots of laborers on the farms so
no quota was placed on those people. Also during this same time period
Warren Harding ran for presidency and won by the first ever landslide. This
landslide was a result of Harding reassuring the voters that he would return
America to the land it used to be. At this time the idea of civil liberties
belonging to everyone and everyone can be American was unnerving. Like Maya
Angelou said, they didn’t like it so they attempted to change it.
I like the idea of "if you don't like something, change it" however, what if something is out of your control and you have no way to change it yourself? In such a case would you say for someone to instead change their attitude towards the subject? Where does the line between these things fall?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of "if you don't like something, change it" however, what if something is out of your control and you have no way to change it yourself? In such a case would you say for someone to instead change their attitude towards the subject? Where does the line between these things fall?
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