The racial climate in 20th century Michigan City
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In this chapter of his book titled Muslims of the Heartland, Curtis initially paints a somewhat peaceful picture of life for Syrian immigrants who were recruited by industrialists such as John H. Barker who “believed that the more ethnically diverse the local labor force was, the easier it would be for him to prevent labor organizing” (89). We quickly learn that this supposed progressiveness or acceptance was conditional; at the beginning of the 20th century, the racial climate was marked by significant discrimination, causing high racial tensions between the white people of Michigan City and non-white people, particularly Syrian immigrants.
We can see this through the example of the use of Washington Park in 1907, which with police enforcement, was only to be reserved for the “right kind of people” in order to “protect the life and liberty of white, Christian, and respectable middle-class people” (Curtis, 90). This meant that “African Americans were not welcome” and nor were Syrians as they “were also seen as a danger to white people and their pursuit of happiness” (Curtis, 90). Recurring ideas surrounding the unwelcome immigrant were present in Michigan City, with white people perpetrating unjustified harassment and violence towards Syrians, as well as newspaper headlines proclaiming that they were “potential carriers of eye disease” (Curtis, 91). A similar sentiment was also seen on the West Coast of North America, however it was animosity towards the Chinese, Japanese and South Asian immigrants of the area who were seen as diseased and a threat to public health, as we read in Ward’s fifth chapter of White Canada Forever. It is clear that for Syrian immigrants, their value in society only ever equated with what they could contribute to the economic development of the area - in this case it was in the industrial sector.