The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath

In the first article, Steinbeck tackled the roots of xenophobia against the migrant workers, whom he referred to in this article as gypsies, highlighting the discrimination they faced for their nomadic lifestyle. Steinbeck also highlighted the class differences between the foreign-born workers and the white migrant workers from the Midwest. Unlike many of the immigrant workers, white migrant farm workers had often been solidly middle-class people, many of whom had owned their own farms prior to the Dust Bowl. As Steinbeck wrote: “[…] they are not migrants by nature. They are gypsies by force of circumstances” (22).

It is worth probing whether the foreign-born workers, too, were also “gypsies by force of circumstances,” having fled poverty in their home countries. Perhaps Steinbeck was able to better relate to the migrating farmworkers from the Midwest—not only because they were white, but also because they were American citizens whom he felt had been treated unjustly by their own government, even though they could be productive land owners in California: “[…] one only has to look at the strong, purposeful faces, often filled with pain and more often, when they see the corporation-held idle lands, filled with anger to know that this new race is here to stay and that heed must be taken of it” (22).

As a result of backlash against lowly-paid foreign-born labor—whom white Californians believed were taking their jobs—the U.S began relying on white, native-born workers once again to tend their fields; Steinbeck believed these white workers were less susceptible to exploitation than immigrant workers. Steinbeck wrote that, “The old methods of intimidation and starvation perfected against the foreign peons are being used against the new white migrant workers. But they will not be successful” (56).

However, xenophobia—or fear of outsiders—extended beyond race: the white Okies were heavily discriminated against, as Californians believed these migrant farmers from the Midwest and the South carried disease and were a drain on taxpayer resources. Yet, it is notable that, in later articles, Steinbeck saw a path forward for the white Okies to be valued California residents free from the sting of discrimination and extraordinarily low-wage work. However, he saw no such path forward for the immigrant laborers from Mexico, East Asia and the Philippines.

Finally, Steinbeck expanded on the role of race in the sixth article. What’s most striking about this article is how relevant it is in today’s political climate. The “yellow peril” or xenophobia against East Asian immigrants in the 1930s was a precursor to the racism that many immigrant farmworkers from Latin America face today in California and throughout the U.S. The desire of large corporations for cheap labor and maximum profits led to the employment of low-wage—and highly exploited—foreign workers. While California’s agriculture has modernized greatly since the 1930s, its dependence on highly vulnerable migrant workers has not changed.