Immigration in Colorado

As a student of culture in all its forms, the writing below was my response a test question that was given to me for a course on immigration at Metro.

Colorado has long been a state made up of different peoples. The experiences of the people that have come here have been both similar and different from each other. The opportunities and challenges that these groups have faced have helped to shape who they are today. “Native” Coloradans have viewed these peoples in different ways depending on the time period and what was seen as important to natives during each of those periods. When comparing these groups it is helpful to look at the overarching narrative of immigration history as presented by Roger Daniels in his book Coming To America. Colorado’s immigration situation has been both typical and unique depending on which group of immigrants is being looked at. It was immigrant groups that helped to make Colorado what it is today and continue to shape it.

One of the things that Jews, Japanese, and Latinos had in common is that they all found work in agriculture. The Jewish people were first drawn by Colorado’s Gold Rush, but quickly moved into agriculture (Uchill, 11-12). They set up colonies, such as Atwood, and the community would be active growers on the outlined agriculture areas (Uchill, 177-178). Even though the Japanese were first drawn to Colorado by mining or railroad jobs they “were happy” to leave these types of work to “try farming” with many prospering in agriculture (Hosokawa, 38-39).The Japanese experience with agriculture was further expanded in the war “camps’ own extensive agriculture program, giving the inmates a sense of accomplishment” (Hosokawa, 103). Latinos found a niche early on has temporary and seasonal workers in agriculture including the beet fields of Colorado (Daniels, 305-322). The similarities did not just stop with agriculture.

The Jews and Japanese were similar that they found success in business ownership. The Jewish people found great business as merchants providing goods to miners and pioneers (Uchill, 22-26). An example of the Japanese business experience is Frank Tsuchiya, who even during the war years was able to open a fresh fish market in Granada (Hosokawa, 103). The Japanese would continue this trend after the war and expand into not only mercantile type shops, but also restaurants (Hosokawa, 200-207). Japanese firms even made investments in cities like Longmont to expand business to America through Colorado (Hosokawa, 181-183). The Latinos on the other hand didn’t have as much success in business, but found their niche in the service industry. Park and Pellow even noticed that there was gender differences with men  doing landscaping, women cleaning rooms and houses, and then both working in the food service industry (Park and Pellow, 31). Even though the Japanese worked in the food industry with their restaurants/markets they did so as business owners, whereas the Latinos mostly just seemed to labor for others.

Another thing that the Jewish and Japanese have in common is that large chunks of them were forced to come to Colorado. Jews from back East were “dumped” off in the West because it was thought that Colorado’s climate would help their medical conditions (Uchill, 114-127). Most of these people had respiratory conditions and it was thought that the only way for them to get better was to send them west (that way they also wouldn’t be a drain on the east’s resources) (Uchill, 114-115). Many Japanese were forced into a war camp here in Colorado and after the war they chose to stay because they saw “nothing but hostility on the West Coast” (Hosokawa, xvi). Some of them spent up to four years in the camps and it would take until 1988 for the survivors to get anything from the government to help payback some of what they lost (Daniels, 303). The Latinos on the other hand came here for the most point by choice. An example of this is that “Aspen experienced severe labor shortages, and Latinos and other immigrants filled the many low-paying, seasonal jobs within the service industry (Park and Pellow, 2). During the 80s business from the Roaring Forks Valley even recruited workers from south of the boarder to work in the tourist industry (Parks and Pellow, 46). Even though each group had different experiences, they also had opportunities to help them through.

            One of the opportunities that some immigrants had when they arrived here was strong support networks. These support networks were not there for the first immigrants of each group, but as more and more arrived a strong social networks developed. The Jewish had social clubs, hospitals, and charity programs that helped new comers and sometimes the community as a whole. One example of this was Fred Z. Salomon who “took part not only in the founding of his Masonic lodge but also in the activities of other pioneer lodges” (Uchill, 36). The Japanese also were well organized and were willing to help each other with it even being “said that when two or more Japanese get together, they organize an association for mutual benefit and protection (Hosokawa, 76). The first official association was created in 1907, but even before this support could be found in the community (Hosokawa, 76). Naoichi Hokasono went from a restaurant owner to a general labor contractor that oversaw fellow Japanese workers in Colorado and Wyoming (Hosokawa, 32). Latinos’ support came from family members who had come before them. With this type of social support many Latinos live in small quarters with not only family members but others that need a roof over their heads to help offset the issues of affordable housing (Park and Pellow, 96-103).  Latinos “worked hard to ensure family stability and contribute to the lives of others in various ways” like volunteering, which could be seen in the example of Carla who volunteered at the Aspen thrift shop (Park and Pellow, 109). Park and Pellow even point out that the work that people can find not only relies on their work experience, but also on their social networks (Park and Pellow, 110). The Latino community now also has help groups like Latinos Unidos, which focuses “on improving Latino-Anglo relations in the valley” (Park and Pellow, 163-164). These support systems helped to create opportunities for the immigrants, but they could not put checks on all the challenges that would be faced.

            Even though Jews built their own social clubs, they did not get support from the larger social scene and official exclusion from many clubs came in 1881 (Uchill, 128). Jews also had trouble taking care of all the people coming west for their health. Their charity organizations were already strapped for cash and now they had to provide for additional people with no help from the east or others in Colorado (Uchill, 114-115). It got so bad that “the president of the Temple sent out a warning to Russian emigrants not to come to Colorado (Uchill, 115). In Hosokawa’s book he points out that because anti-Japanese sentiments in the labor market “immigrants would seek work in the hard, unskilled, undesirable occupations”, but this could be applied to many immigrant groups when they first came to a new area and until they established themselves with the locals (Hosokawa, 34-35). The Japanese also had challenges because some Coloradans were fearful of them buying up land and tried to stop them (Hosokawa, 115-118). Each of the groups had challenges with languages (depending on where they came from for the Jews), but it still holds back Latinos more than the other groups. The “English only” movement  was one of the many language issues to affect Latinos (Park and Pellow, 73). If Latinos could speak English they did and still do have a better chance of getting higher paying jobs. Latinos’ main challenges came from “discrimination, legal status, and language skills” intersecting to create issues for them (Park and Pellow, 107). Both Daniels and Park/Pellow use space to go over the issue of legal versus illegal immigrants. Today it seems that these issues are focused most on immigrants coming from Mexico and other countries south of America’s boarder rather than on immigrants as a whole. This has become a Latino specific problem because of how the American political and media systems have presented it to the general population. These issues and others have helped to shape how Coloradans have reacted to the influx of immigrants.

            Coloradan reaction to the influx of immigrants was all over the board. Anti-Semitism was not seen as much in Colorado as it was elsewhere. Politics and newspapers were two of the places that were the clearest of anti-Semitism (Uchill, 156). A shining moment for Colorado was the official and un-official support that was given to the Japanese during the war time. Official support came from Governor Carr when he supported “Eisenhower, declaring the Japanese Americans had every right to live in his state and Colorado would welcome them” (Hosokawa, 90). The people of Colorado were “friendly, or at least not unfriendly” because of “their familiarity with Japanese families who had been … residents for decades and had proven to be good neighbors” (Hosokawa, 103). Immigrants including Latinos also received official help when Aspen’s city council passed a “pioneering anti-discrimination law” that prohibited “discrimination in employment, housing, public services, and accommodations” (Park and Pellow, 89). Even though Colorado had some good moments in supporting its’ immigrants, nativist sentiments would still be felt.

One of areas of reaction to the Jewish by Coloradans was social. The social community had grown very strong in Colorado, but the early 1880s had a social barrier that was erected by the exclusive clubs to keep out Jews (Uchill, 156). The other type of anti-Semitism that could be seen was based on the difference of behaviors between Jews and the non-Jewish (Uchill, 157). Nativists during WWII that were fearful of all the land that the Japanese were trying to buy tried to stop them with official legislation, but it was defeated by voters (Hosokawa, 115-120). Before the war anti-Japanese sentiment was still felt because locals perceived them “as strike-breakers and competition on the farms (Hosokawa, 33). The Latinos and immigrants of Aspen were not treated well by the people of Colorado. Park and Pellow saw Colorado as “a hotbed of nativism and religious intolerance, stemming in part from its embrace of the doctrine of Manifest Destiny…” (Park and Pellow, 79). This is interesting when compared to Uchill’s analysis of limited anti-Semitism, but may be accounted for since Park and Pellow was just looking at a small sample of the state. The people of Aspen are very hypercritical with their views/actions to the immigrant population of their town. Even though they are more than willing to have immigrants work for them in service positions, they don’t want them around because their trailer parks are eye sores and believe that they have a negative effect on the environment. The information from the three texts can be further looked at in relation to the overarching narrative of immigration history as seen in Coming To America by Roger Daniels.

            The first book to expand on what immigrants experienced, specifically the Japanese, when coming to America was Hosokawa’s book, Colorado’s Japanese Americans. Because of how much material the Daniels book covered it could not go into the same amount of detail as the Hosokawa book. Coming To America covered the key points of the Japanese’s experience with WWII such as the concentration camps,  anti-Japanese sentiment, and after effects (Daniels, 302-304). Even with this Daniels overreaching narrative focuses on how the experience of immigrants changes through time and the crossing of cultures. Hosokawa’s book did this as well like how he showed the changes in labor as the Japanese became established in Colorado (hard labor-railroad/mining, to agriculture, to small business and owning large farms). For the crossing of cultures Hosokawa uses sushi as an example of how it has invaded everyday American culture and “seems to be closing in on pizza and tacos as a significant part of the nonindigenous diet of hip young Americans” (Hosokawa, 201). The Daniels book also makes it apparent that America is made up of many different parts (natives, immigrants, and established immigrant groups) which have all been a part of making America into what it is today. Hosokawa takes this even further in his closing lines to the reader, “Now the next generation…are leading the Japanese American community and creating more opportunities for closer ties between all of us…I can tell honestly and proudly tell all of you that our relationship is the closest and best it has ever been” (Hosokawa, 251). These ties and links continued in Ida Uchill’s book.

Pioneers, Peddlers, and Tsadikim was similar to the Daniels book because of its scope. This was made possible because the Jewish people came from all over and was not just from one country or region. It was a bit different though because instead of mostly focusing why Jews were coming to America it focused on why they moved from the east to the west. This could best been seen when it talked about moving because of health issues or the influence of the gold/silver/mineral rushes. It too talked about the crossing of cultures in the way that the Jews influenced charity in Denver (Uchill, 120-122). Both books had to be very broad in scope because Jews were not just from one region, but from all over the world. Uchill tried to make some distinctions between groups like German and Russian Jews through time as solid groups, whereas Daniels more of focused on the time periods of Jewish movement from certain areas. Uchill still carries the ties of the community when she talks about Jews being active in philanthropies and the military down in the Colorado Springs area (Uchill, 295). This book for the most part falls directly in line with the Daniels book, but the third book moved a bit more into new directions.

            The Slums of Aspen was a bit different because it more focused on immigrants from a political ecology perspective. The Daniels book didn’t bring in the views of nativists from an environmental perspective and focused more on issues like “stealing” jobs and being a drain on social resources. This book also more focused on what immigrants are dealing with today instead of so much of building on how they got to the present conditions. Park and Pellow focus on topics like labor issues, lack of affordable housing, and lack of upward movement which was somewhat spoken about by Daniels. There is a little blending of the immigrant cultures like in the Daniels book, because the groups it talks about come from the massive area south of America’s boarder which includes not only Mexico but places like Argentina and Guatemala (Park and Pellow, 162). The key point that this book is going for is class issues in how they relate to the environment or environmental privilege which is “the hardships and suffering associated with environmental inequality and environmental racism” (Park and Pellow, 3).This concept could be expanded to include low to mid-class white/native populations as well in Aspen, so this book’s focus is much different than the other three. Taking all of the information provided by these books into account it can be seen that Colorado has been both typical and unique in its immigration situation.

            One of the key things that make Colorado’s immigration history unique is that people were coming here for health benefits. This allowed the Jewish people to show just how charitable they could be by helping to take care of them (Uchill, 114-127). Colorado was both typical and untypical in the anti-Semitism that the Jews experienced because it was still a factor in how they were treated but at the same time it was much less then experienced by Jews in other areas of the country (Uchill, 156-157).  Another thing that stands out is the Japanese experience during the war. Even though Colorado wasn’t the only war camp (there were 10 others), not that many other places in the US had these camps (Hosokawa, 100). These camps brought a larger proportion of Japanese to Colorado than may have come here otherwise. This would end up changing the face of Colorado, which can still be seen today with large areas of different cities being very Asian like the Sakura Square area in downtown Denver. The typical part could be seen in Colorado and how the Latino experience has been. Park and Pellow sum this up when they say, “Social contempt frequently reinforces the invisibility of immigrant labor …and hidden nature of much of the work newcomers do in this country” (Park and Pellow, 16). Immigrants are many times placed into jobs that established/native people do not want to do. This can still be seen today with immigrants, especially Latinos working in the service industry doing things like cleaning and housekeeping. It seems that some immigrant groups, like Latinos, get stereotyped into typical/specific roles while others, like Asians/Japanese, have been able to break into other avenues.

Colorado has long been a state made up of different peoples such as Jews, Japanese, and Latinos. The experiences of the people that have come here have been both similar and different from each other not only in the types of labor they found but also in the social areas. The opportunities and challenges that these groups have faced in areas like social and economic issues have helped to shape who they are today. “Native” Coloradans have viewed these peoples in different ways depending on the time period and has influenced how they treated the new comers. When comparing these groups it is helpful to look at the overarching narrative of immigration of how these groups build ties to America and how they continue to influence it. Colorado’s immigration situation has been mostly unique because of the specific groups that were analyzed, but there were some typical issues that all immigrants had to deal with. It is important to remember that immigrant groups have helped to make Colorado what it is today and will continue to shape it into the future.

·    Roger Daniels, Coming to America: A Story of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life, Second Edition (ISBN 9780060505776)

·    Ida Libert Uchill, Pioneers, Peddlers, and Tsadikim: The Story of Jews in Colorado (ISBN 9780870815938)

·    Bill Hosokawa, Colorado’s Japanese Americans: From 1886 to the Present (ISBN 9780870818110)

·    Lisa Sun-Hee Park and David Naguib Pellow, The Slums of Aspen: Immigrant vs. the Environment in America’s Eden (ISBN 9780814768037)