Alternatives to Education
The landscape of the west coast presented much more opportunity compared to the east. Cities were still emerging and developing at these times which left many rural spaces unoccupied. That helped allow Italian Americans form their own businesses and acquire land, and paired with the warm climate presented new opportunities to form specific booming industries like wineries. Furthermore, Italian Americans were given more opportunities to work in the Bay compared to other established groups like Asian Americans. This was referenced through Caiazza’s presentation to our class and a remark made by the Labor Clarion, in which they say “The races of Southern Europe, in spite of their colonies, do in part become Americanized, and if these nationalities could be scattered through the country districts more generally it would be advantageous alike to the immigrant, to the government, and to industry. There is another class of aliens pouring into this continent who do not become Americanized at all. We refer now to the yellow races of Asia” (Immigration problems, “Labor Clarion”, 1907). This showed that while higher education was a popular pathway to a generally successful career, education wasn’t necessarily the only path Italians saw towards attaining a stable livelihood.
