EAST VERSUS WEST, IN MANY PARTS (part 3)

Clearly I remember the first time I heard a joke about people of Polish descent. Being of a rural community in California, I knew no one from Poland or whose family was from Poland. We were all of Scotch-Irish, German, Italian, Mexican, and Chinese ancestry, and most of our families had moved there on or around World War 2. It seemed odd, even to my more ignorant classmates, that this joke would be funny because we had no experience with the prejudice of other places. We were naive, but that is a luxury some people can enjoy in the west.

Pride and Prejudice

History is something we don't have an abundance of in this country; I say that because in Asia and Europe, in Central and South America, and most likely Africa (but I have never been there), there is evidence of ancient civilizations. Here, we consider a building of 300 years to be old, even though in terms of world history, 300 years is relatively short. However, in the east, the presence of historic events - slavery, the Irish potato famine, prohibition, and various wars - is clearly visible. The prejudices of the people in various places are sometimes long-lasting, and it was a wave of eastern European immigrants - Poles, Slavs, Latvians, Romanians and so on - that spawned the prejudicial joke that puzzled me in my youth. History, not difference, generates the different attitudes that dominate personal, social, and political trends. Now, I cannot say the difference is any more accepted in the west than the east, because such a generalization is patently untrue. However, I do know what people experience, so I shall focus on that.

It so happens that California was one of the few states ever pass a constitution that clearly outlined prejudicial policy towards Chinese immigrants (it was later replaced). In the west, people have a lot of pride in being international and post-modern, but when it comes to actual policies of discrimination, the west has a very poor record. While the economic powerhouses of Los Angeles, the Silicon Valley, Seattle, and Portland do accept a lot of foreign labor, you can still find racial ghettos for those who are not as accepted; even though no one puts them there, generations may live in a migrant farm community or outlying city area. Narratives by Sherman Alexi, Paul Beatty, and John Steinbeck clearly show the social divisions that exist in the west based on the perceptions of race. It also seems to me that although racial phenotypes seem to be commonly accepted, people in the west get upset when someone doesn't speak English. Sitting in the terminal at SFO airport, everyone around me was speaking English, even though their accents clearly advertised that they were from many different places.

It was oddly refreshing, then, to arrive in JFK airport to hear people in every profession speaking in a variety of languages. The pilot and a flight attendant chatted in (I think) Russian as I left the plane. A pair of businessman ahead of me animatedly argued in Arabic. And as I waited for the A train, a large group of girls were complaining about some family issues in Spanish. Whatever prejudices exist, people in the east seemed much more comfortable speaking in their native tongues than they did in the west. And not to ignore the facts, there are still communities in New York City cut along the social divisions established by racial attitudes. In the east, however, it seems to be something the people do not apologize for, whereas in the west, many immigrants try to hide where they are from and do not speak in their native tongue. Also, it is completely acceptable in the west to employ an immigrant for sub-standard wages to your house or yard work – you can find it in every affluent community or agricultural business. I’ve noticed that in the east, this isn’t the case.

At this moment in history, social and political constructions also accompany those of diverse sexual orientation. Pride in California is serious business, and socially, the west is perhaps the most progressive, though New York City is a boon in this regard as well. But even outside of California, everywhere I go in the west, gay people seem comfortable expressing their affections and doing the things most couples do as a matter of course. In the west, most everyone is accustomed to this and have stopped reacting to it. However, the west's political policies do not fit this, as the battle over gay rights still rages. In the east, politically they are more progressive, but socially things are less savory. One gay couple I know in the east wont walk down the street holding hands outside of New York City for fear of being harassed, and I can't properly say why. Perhaps it is the deep rigorous religious tradition, for accused witches were put to death in the early colonies, or the proximity of more conservative southerners, with whom I am told most everyone in the northeast shares some family tie. In any event, gay pride is socially more prevalent in the west even if it has more legal supported in the east. It seems to me, therefore, that politics in the east is more forward looking, anticipating social movements and accepting that changes will happen, while in the west, a more conservative political attitude prevails, even if social changes are already well underway. From each, we should take the best of each, but these differences are not spontaneous and likely stem from attitudes and ideas that have more longevity than even the people who maintain them.

-Forest F. White