"...in the nineteenth-century American West, Chinese immigrants were hired to work in the gold mines, potentially taking jobs from white laborers. The white-run newspapers fomented prejudice against them, describing the Chinese as "depraved and vicious," "gross gluttons," "bloodthirsty and inhuman." Yet only a decade later, when the Chinese were willing to accept the dangerous, arduous work of building the transcontinental railroad--work that white laborers were unwilling to undertake--public prejudice toward them subsided, replaced by the opinion that the Chinese were sober, industrious, and law-abiding. "They are equal to the best white men," said the railroad tycoon Charles Crocker. "They are very trusty, very intelligent and they live up to their contracts." After the completion of the railroad, jobs again became scarce, and the end of the Civil War brought an influx of war veterans into an already tight job market. Anti-Chinese prejudice returned, with the press now describing the Chinese as "criminal," "conniving," "crafty," and "stupid." "
From Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) - Tavris and Aronson, 64
For me this connects with the growing intolerance for 'illegal immigrants', 'undocumented workers,' or whatever you want to call them. Although often the intolerance expressed IS based in racism, more generally the "in group" consists of Americans and the "others" are foreigners... ('those foreigners coming in and stealing American jobs'). I think as the economy continues to struggle more and more prejudices will emerge. I can easily see the prejudices spreading beyond racial/immigration issues and into other issues. Laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on especially sexual orientation have been controversial (to differing degrees depending on the local cultural climate) throughout America. As unemployment rates rise I would not be surprised if people are more accepting of such discrimination (even to other protected classes such as those with disabilities). Also the realm of how much an employer can control the lives of their employees outside of work is in flux. Already some employers refuse to higher smokers (even if they do not smoke on the job). This practice I believe has been accepted (or at least overlooked) partly because of the restriction in the economy. Non-smokers aren't as likely to express dissension with an employment practice that excludes smokers if it gives them an edge up especially in our current job market. In fact it is in their self-interest to justify and even support such policies.
From Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) - Tavris and Aronson, 64
For me this connects with the growing intolerance for 'illegal immigrants', 'undocumented workers,' or whatever you want to call them. Although often the intolerance expressed IS based in racism, more generally the "in group" consists of Americans and the "others" are foreigners... ('those foreigners coming in and stealing American jobs'). I think as the economy continues to struggle more and more prejudices will emerge. I can easily see the prejudices spreading beyond racial/immigration issues and into other issues. Laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on especially sexual orientation have been controversial (to differing degrees depending on the local cultural climate) throughout America. As unemployment rates rise I would not be surprised if people are more accepting of such discrimination (even to other protected classes such as those with disabilities). Also the realm of how much an employer can control the lives of their employees outside of work is in flux. Already some employers refuse to higher smokers (even if they do not smoke on the job). This practice I believe has been accepted (or at least overlooked) partly because of the restriction in the economy. Non-smokers aren't as likely to express dissension with an employment practice that excludes smokers if it gives them an edge up especially in our current job market. In fact it is in their self-interest to justify and even support such policies.
0 comments:
Post a Comment