Migration as a Bid for Survival
As I read the posts in class, a commonly stated belief seems to be that people migrate-especially to the USA-for the hope for a better life. Chapter 4 of Moving Millions starts out with another reality. “Leaving Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century was not only a quest for a better life; it also was a bid for survival.”
Jeffrey Kaye goes on to explain in broad strokes some of the reasons why almost a quarter of the population (two million) left while 1.5 million perished due to the potato blight. There were systemic problems that forced so much of the population to rely so heavily on potatoes such as discrimination against Irish Catholics.
I recall stereotypes about Irish immigrants in the US that perpetuated a cycle of blamed the oppressed for their condition. It’s important to get a broader view about reasons why people are moving. Often the reasons are bigger than one person and their motivation. There are usually political and economic issues for people moving to the USA, and we have a responsibility to at least understand how we participate in shaping those climates.
