A Different Mirror: Part 4, Chapter 16: Again, the “Tempest-Tost” Summary & Analysis

In The Tempest, the eponymous storm lands the characters on unexpected shores. The same has been true of the US, where chaotic global forces have swept various groups of people onto American land. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, an explosion of anti-Semitism provoked a new wave of Russian Jews to seek refuge in the US. Those who came to the US usually had almost no money, little knowledge of English, and a lack of transferable skills. As a result, 80% of Jewish refugee families from the Soviet Union were on welfare. Nonetheless, they were grateful for the chance to freely inhabit their identity as Jews, even if for most of them this was more of a cultural than religious matter.

During this period, there was also another wave of immigrants from Ireland, who likewise had been propelled by dire economic conditions in their homeland. Many of these immigrants were undocumented, and were thus forced to work undesirable, low-paid jobs. They “kept a low profile” and only associated with others in the Irish community. These Irish joined Mexicans in fighting for the rights of undocumented immigrants. During this time, more Chinese immigrants were also coming to the US. In the 1960s, the hypocrisy between banning racial discrimination through the Civil Rights Act and retaining race-based immigration discrimination became starkly clear. In 1965, Congress finally eliminated restrictions on Asian immigration.

In the ensuing years, there was a boom of Chinese immigrants moving to the US. Many of them were young people coming to the US to study, and many of them later brought their families under family provisions in the immigration law. However, there were also a substantial number with little education or knowledge of the English language, who came to do low-paid, unskilled jobs. Many women in this category worked as seamstresses in the garment industry, just as Jewish women had done decades before. Many men worked in restaurants, remaining within the close-knit community of Chinatowns. Some of these low-wage workers had been teachers, professors, or architects back in China. Without English, however, they could not get equivalent positions in the US.

During the Second World War, the Vietnamese fought for independence from their French colonizers. After the country was divided in what was supposed to be a temporary partition, civil war took over the nation, backed by China and the Soviet Union on the one side and the US on the other. During the 1960s, the US became increasingly involved in the war, with disastrous consequences. A huge “exodus” of Vietnamese refugees were forced to flee to the US. Escaping widespread death and devastation, the refugees tended to have fairly good English skills and familiarity with Western culture. Half of them were Christian, a minority that was only 10% of the Vietnamese population.

Back in Vietnam, the communist government’s reorganization of society meant that skilled professionals were forced to complete manual labor in the countryside. Many escaped to the US in what amounted to the second wave of Vietnamese immigrants; 40% of these were from the ethnic Chinese population of Vietnam. Although many in the US felt that the Vietnamese, who had fought on the same side as the Americans in the war, had a right to seek refuge in the US, they still faced racist hostility. The refugees themselves had mixed feelings about their new home in the US. Many missed Vietnam deeply and felt dismayed at being cut off from their own culture.

But the US also brought new opportunities, particularly for Vietnamese women, who could gain independence there. Although many refugees wanted to go back to Vietnam, they slowly realized that this was not likely, and began to settle down in their new home. In the past decades, Vietnamese communities in the US have been flourishing. Evidence of this can be found in the fact that more and more Vietnamese have been coming as immigrants, rather than refugees, indicating that the US is seen as a desirable destination to begin a new life.

Afghanis also came to the US as refugees. Following political turmoil in the 1970s, in 1979, Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union, who installed a procommunist leader. The US was worried that this would threaten American access to Afghan oil, and thus financed those fighting against the Soviets, the mujahideen. A brutal ten-year conflict ensued. However, even after the Soviets left in 1989, the civil war continued, until 1996 when the ultraconservative Taliban took power. Women were forced to wear burqas, which covered their faces. Then, on September 11, 2001, the Afghanistan-based terrorist organization Al-Qaeda carried out an attack on the World Trade Center. A year later, the US and its allies invaded Afghanistan, deposing the Taliban.

During these years of strife, Afghanis came to the US to seek refuge. Most escaped via Pakistan, in a journey that was highly dangerous and traumatizing. Many of these refugees settled in the Bay Area, particularly in Fremont, where signs of Afghan culture bloomed. They brought food and traditions to “Little Kabul,” but many struggled to find work, particularly due to a lack of English-language skills. Things took a stark turn for the worse after 9/11. Fearing backlash, Afghanis tried to hide their identity, pretending to have Mediterranean or Hispanic heritage instead. Afghan children were bullied at school, and adults were horrified to see all Muslims being characterized as terrorists.

In 2007, a conference was held in Fremont to consider what it meant to be Afghan-American. One 24-year-old Afghan American who was born in the US explained that both identities were “embedded” within her. Others expressed pride in being both Afghan and American. Some indicated a desire to return to Afghanistan and contribute to the country. They also discussed their fears of anti-Afghan and anti-Muslim abuse in the US, which had become a major problem after 9/11. Others noted that it could be difficult to reconcile the cultural differences between Afghanistan and the US, particularly as children caught in the middle. Yet one participant spoke of how Afghans have managed to retain their identity while immersing themselves in the US, which she framed as “integration” rather than “assimilation.”

At the time Takaki is writing, there are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US, most of whom have come from Mexico. There are many in the US who want to exclude and deport this population, making their lives so difficult that they are forced to leave—or worse. Yet some argue that they should be given amnesty, as suggested in a 2007 article in Time magazine. The article assured readers that these undocumented immigrants would eventually assimilate. Takaki points out that it is largely thanks to US-backed trade policy that the Mexican economy has become so unstable, forcing immigrants to come northward. These undocumented migrants dream of a better life in the US.

Crossing the border is highly difficult and dangerous; many die in the desert during the journey. In order to meet the US need for agricultural workers, President George W. Bush initiated a guest worker program, which forces migrant laborers to return home after a fixed period. This harkens back to the painful era when Chinese laborers—who were so crucial to the construction of the nation—were denied the right of naturalized citizenship. A perhaps unlikely supporter of the rights of undocumented immigrants was President Reagan, who created pathways for the undocumented to reside in the country legally. Reagan argued that the undocumented class were doing labor that American citizens were not themselves prepared to do.

For many Mexican immigrants, moving to the US has provided educational and employment opportunities that have enabled them to flourish. Like other children of immigrants, young Mexican Americans must find a way to reconcile their ancestral culture with the norms that govern life in the US. They work hard in order to honor the sacrifices made by their parents and grandparents and to make the older generations proud. Yet Latinx people in the US have some of the lowest levels of educational attainment. Those who are undocumented often have to pay steep out-of-state tuition prices, making college economically unviable for many. Still, there has recently been a sharp increase in the percentage of Mexican Americans who are US citizens, which Takaki asserts is a highly promising turn of events for the community.