Comparing How Two Midwestern Towns Respond to Immigration Essay

How Two Midwestern Towns Respond to Immigration    The phrase, "small Midwestern towns," often brings to mind an unfortunate stereotype in the minds of big-city urbanites: mundane, backward people in a socially unappealing and legally archaic setting. Small Midwestern towns, however, are not all the hovels of provincial intellect that they are so frequently made out to be. The idiosyncrasies each of them possesses are lost on those who have never taken more than a passing glance at them. After living in two small towns, I have developed an appreciation for their unique respective qualities. Wausau, Wisconsin and Goshen, Indiana are no exception to this rule of singularity. In addition to their specific identities, these towns have the added variable of two distinct and sizable immigrant populations, Wausau's immigrants being largely Ming, Goshen's immigrants being largely Mexican. While Wausau and Goshen may seem similar on a map of size, population, and non-immigrant demographics, they share little in their economic makeup, positional character, or active response to immigration. These differences of identity shape their attitudes towards immigration. Wausau's identity is supple and accommodates the redefinition that immigration demands. Goshen's identity is taut and rejects the redefinition. One reason for Goshen's comparatively negative attitude towards immigration is the perceived threat to job security. There is a large population of blue-collar factory workers and there are numerous factories in the Goshen area. Indeed, one can hardly go anywhere within the Goshen municipality and be out of eyesight of some factory or industry-related structure. (My personal favorite o... ...ograms in place to protect immigrants are more effective and broadly supported. The political identities of these two towns shape their ability to respond effectively to immigration. Restricted by employment fears, a sense of urban expendability and relative political conservativism, Goshen's identity has little room for the challenge of immigration. Wausau's less industrial economy, stronger sense of urban importance and comparatively liberal politics create a more flexible and malleable identity. Once examined beyond the traditional barometers of population, region and size, Wausau, Wisconsin and Goshen, Indiana actually have little in common. Certainly neither town is in any way definable as, "mundane, backward or legally archaic," but rather each is striving, in their own singular ways, to achieve a balance between stable identity and unavoidable change.