Letters of an American Farmer
In Letters from an American Farmer J. Hector speaks of the appeal of the American way; its hospitality, its tolerant ways, and its acceptance of other races. When J. Hector speaks of America he says "A pleasing uniformity of decent competence appears in our habitants."(pg. 294) He also speaks of how in America all people are treated as equals as compared to citizens in Europe "The rich and the poor are not so far removed from each other as they are in Europe." (pg. 293) My question is as follows: is the America today the same America that J. Hector describes? Are the rich and the poor not so far removed? Finally, are we as Americans still so tolerant of other types of people - consider the recent immigration debate.
posted by Anonymous at 9/03/2006 06:50:00 PM
1 Comments:
I believe that when Crevecoeur describes the rich and poor not being so distant from eachother in this country, that he is correct. Compared to the middle-east, where the poor majority live on the streets in bad conditions and women are mistreated, to there rich class who live in palaces. And here, there is a large middle-class working group and many people at least have a house. The rich and poor are at least not as seperated as other countries, and many more are fortunate here. Also, I think Hector is creating a big myth or lie when he says we were ever tolerant of other types of people more so than others. Where did he get that from? We may be a big melting pot, but it wasn't always easy to mix. Especially, early on. All over America's past we have discriminated pretty much every ethnic group. Today, we are a lot better- and we can walk around and not even care about races. However, when it comes to the immigration of the Mexicans, I really don't understand the inconsistency.
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