ipl-logo

Racism In The Short Story Soap And Water By Anzia Azierska

1788 Words8 Pages

Haifeng Yang
Instructor: Torsa Ghosal
English 1110.01: Secondary Source Integration
12th July 2016
Racism in the short story
The united states was a multicultural country combined with many ethics. At the same time the in-burst of various ethic groups of people brought the country cooperation, clash between races and racism became the serious problem. The short story Soap and water written by Anzia Yezierska expressed the angry about the unfair treatment to immigrants. The author Anzia was a Russia and Jewish immigrant to America herself. The protagonist as a Russia immigrant was depicted as unclean since her “skin looked oily, hair unkempt, and finger-nails sadly neglected”. She felt that her annoying appearance brought her so many difficulties. …show more content…

The protagonist came to America as a Jewish refugee. “The chaos years of World War I, the February and October Revolution and the Russian Civil War had created social disruption that led to Anti-Semitism”(Wikipedia History of Jews in Russia). She wished that she could achieve the dreams of America which the Russian programs made it a faith to those immigrants. Originally, she believed in the America dream that she might find better life and achieve equality without regarding her Jewish identity. The truth was not like she imagined after she came and experienced the oppression. The period of time around 1920s was the time that “American antisemitism reached it peak during the interwar period. The Russia Revolution and anti-communist Red Scare of 1918-20 was a contributing factor, as many Americans associated Jews with the emergence of communism ”(alpha history). Even though Jews were not so involved into the communism, “Stereotypes can affect not only evaluations of members of a stereotyped group but also evaluations of aspects of the group’s culture”(Mary & Bernard 155). The natives were afraid of the communism being brought into their culture. Besides, “The rising popularity of Ku Klux Klan”(alpha history), which were secret group of white people who used violence to oppose the revolution to equal right, somewhat influenced many whites. Many factors at that period of time resulted in the prejudice in education and Employment to Jewish Americans. The difficult experience of the protagonist reflected the culture clash and racism in that period. The comparison between her hard-working and enthusiasm with the continuous dampening to her also strengthened the cruelty of racism to immigrants and

Show More
Related

Gentleman's Agreement Sparknotes

610 Words | 3 Pages

The film “Gentleman’s Agreement” portrays Jews as second class citizens during a time period in America where bigotry is prevalent and the harsh discrimination against Jews has lessened their own pride and dignity while no one stands up for them. A surprising theme illustrated throughout the film was how the Jews themselves had a lack of respect or pride for themselves, such as when Professor Fred Lieberman wondered, “why the Jews among them still go on calling themselves Jews”. This passage is one of many showing how the Jews in this film have been mentally beaten down through hatred and racism, leaving many with less pride and dignity. Another good example of this is when Phil tells his Jewish friend Dave Goldberg that he’s pretending to be a Jew for his paper and Dave responds “Why, you crazy fool!”.

Read More

The Imperial Wizard Of The Ku Klux Klan By Hiram W. Evans

266 Words | 2 Pages

In 1926 American society was changing rapidly through immigration and many races of people were bringing their cultures with them. A man named Hiram W. Evans was the imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Evans made the argument that these new immigrants were destroying the racial definition of what an American should be. He felt that true Americans were part of the Nordic race because the early pioneers fit into this category. The Klan’s point of view was that America should stay American and maintain this Nordic race of Caucasian people.

Read More

What Is Hiram Wesley Evans Impact On America

617 Words | 3 Pages

Julia Modine Ms. Hoag U.S. History I 12 December 2017 Hiram Wesley Evans effect on America Much of mainstream white, protestant America was ripe for the emergence of a persuasive and unifying cultural ideology in the 1920s that catered to its fears, prejudices and misguided beliefs. The Ku Klux Klan had been around for decades and had always held up the ideal of the original American pioneer stock and their descendents as the true recipients of the American promise. In the mid-20s, the Ku Klux Klan underwent a resurgence in popularity amid growing alarm within a large percentage of middle and working class white men due to increased volume of immigrants competing in the workplace, growing religious sects and racial integration.

Read More

Insanity In Elie Wiesel's Night

538 Words | 3 Pages

Consequently, they wouldn’t do their jobs correctly and they would get beaten up, yet on this day people would get fired and have to find a new job. This affected them because the Germans would beat them up until they wanted to stop. Meanwhile, people nowadays get fired and have to find a new job to work in to pay the bills. As a result, the jews had to do their work correctly if they didn’t want to get wipped. To those people now they either do their work or lose their job.

Read More

Scopes Trials Essay

548 Words | 3 Pages

However, by 1925, it was discovered that the KKK was a fraud and very corrupted. This caused the Klan’s influence and membership to decline expeditiously. Notwithstanding, the events that occurred in the 1920’s still had a positive effect on the lives of Americans because social reform during this time was the only reason why the KKK shrunk in size in the first place. Many people were able to become

Read More

Industrialization Dbq Essay

764 Words | 4 Pages

Although many historians believe that there was a negative impact of industrialization and technological changes on American society; however, the positive impact of the two factors overpowers the negative impact on American society economically and socially between the time period of 1900 to 1930. Economically, there were positive impacts on American society due to the industrialization and technological changes that the nation was undergoing. In Theodore Roosevelt’s “The New Nationalism” 1910, he points out that no man in American society can be a good citizen because of the wage he makes that isn't ample enough to cover the bare cost of living, and the hours of labor are too long which doesn't give him energy and time to bear his share

Read More

Ethnic Notions Documentary Analysis

991 Words | 4 Pages

Ethnic Notions: Divided From The Start The film 'Ethnic Notions ' illustrates various ways in which African Americans were impersonated during the 19th and 20th centuries. It follows and shows the development of the rooted stereotypes which have generated bias towards African Americans. If a film of this kind had such an affectionate influence on me, it is no surprise people adopted these ideas back then. The use of new and popular media practices in those days was more than adequate in selling the black inferiority to the general public.

Read More

Racism And Discrimination In Sherman Alexie's Flight Patterns

777 Words | 4 Pages

Sherman Alexie presents the contradiction between heritage and nature as the main idea in this short story since it is related to people from a diverse background and race. Regardless of their own origin, it takes time for people to realize who they are and how they would like to live their own lives. William integrated his life by living through the way of Caucasian culture. Overall, the main idea of this story is that there is an underlying trend going on about how racism is more prominent in the coming years even if people don’t realize it. A certain inconsistency which results in people basing others of different backgrounds upon stereotypes and general knowledge without taking the time to consider who they are.

Read More

Essay On Immigration In The 1920s

714 Words | 3 Pages

This action consisted of whites promoting nativist ideas towards those of other ethnicities and trying to prove their inferiority. Some white Americans even tried to organize political parties such as the Know Nothing Party to staunchly resist certain immigrants being admitted into the U.S. Not only was it individuals promoting such ideas, but the Federal government helped ban immigration from certain countries and or limit it. This in contrast with what immigrants experienced in the 1920s was almost nothing as in the 1920s the KKK is reborn and the number of lynching’s increases. However, the violence expressed toward immigrants in America was not even considered wrong at either point in

Read More

Group Conformity In The Holocaust

1471 Words | 6 Pages

Many Germans, during WWII had started to take on the ideology of Hitler – that Jewish citizens in Germany were the cause of their poverty and misfortune. Of course, many knew that this was merely a form of scapegoating, and although they disagreed with the majority of Germany’s citizens, many would not speak up for fear of isolation (Boone,

Read More

American Identity In Douglass, And I Celebrate Myself

1523 Words | 7 Pages

The American person has no true ideals, or beliefs that make him or her up. Americans are free to believe in what they want, think what they want, preach what they want, and most importantly say what they want . Authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman show in their texts such as “Self-Reliance” , The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , and “I Celebrate Myself” that there is no true definition of the American identity. The American identity can be seen in the many aspects of peoples lives, and a a quality that many Americans portray is the ability to have individual thoughts and emotions as well as the capability to not conform to society because they stand up for their own individual rights. A

Read More

Racism In The 1920s Essay

625 Words | 3 Pages

After World War 1, the United States was able to move from war to peace in the 1920s . However, with this transition came racism, the red scare, end of progressivism and bumps within the economy. Domestic problems that the United States had to face was the predicament of African Americans, labor unions that had grown in size and influence , the way that living costs had risen, the Red Scare, etc. For instance, with the tansition from war to peace, the United States had to deal with racism. A type of racism was a hate group known as the KKK (Ku Klux Klan).

Read More

Race And Ethnicity Paradigm

1025 Words | 5 Pages

Everyday the future in America looks brighter for the issues dealing with race and identity. Brave souls are not letting racism, class discrimination, or sexism hold them back anymore. Furthermore, the fight for a balanced society that pushes for equality is on the horizon. As we close on an era, based on purely the skin of the person, we need to analyze the impacts of the Ethnicity paradigm and Class paradigm on politics of the 20th century. Race and Ethnicity are used interchangeable in everyday conversation, however; they are not the same.

Read More

Racism In Short Story

1350 Words | 6 Pages

In this society, many judgements are made about people from different backgrounds. This causes many problems between people of other races. Racism can be shown in multiple ways such as by using overt and covert racism. In the two stories “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Hecker and “So What Are You, Anyway?” by Lawrence Hill, there are many examples of racist stereotypes.

Read More

Essay On Racism In Everyday Life

1603 Words | 7 Pages

Experiencing it Everyday: The Effects of Racism on Daily Life United States of America is a country racially and ethnically diverse. It is believed to be the country of possibility and equality. Most white Americans state that racism is defeated and that it is a problem of the past. Starting from slavery being abolished, through African Americans being allowed to vote, ending up with the president of the United States being an African American. There is no longer the manifestation of white superiority over other races in visible segregation in public places; thus, people are often unaware of the racism present in the 21st century.

Read More

More about Racism In The Short Story Soap And Water By Anzia Azierska

Related Topics

Open Document