Dark Truths Of California Life

For centuries California has been viewed as the land of opportunity. People come from places all over the world to get their second shot at life in California. The media is one of the key elements that has made California appear to be a land of opportunity and fantasy. The “always perfect” weather, the countless amounts of activities, and large cities create the view that the California lifestyle is heaven. However, California literature is more focused on the paradox of the shadows beneath the sunlight.

Some things that the media doesn’t show is homelessness, violence, and natural disasters. Many are unaware of these issues because their mind is so clouded by the idea of a constant paradise that they do not notice the shadows of California. Fueled by the lies of California, California literature to tells the real story of California while exemplifying the idea of the shadows beneath the sunshine by using the lives of immigrants. For an outsider, the media works hard to make wealth and success be easily attainable. People come to California with the idea that with hard work and dedication, they will have a prosperous life. However, in The Madonna’s of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse the main character, Hector noted that “[Mexicans] slipped into this country like thieves, onto the land that once was [theirs]”.

The Spanish used to have the territory’s that the US now has. Due to this families were forced to move to Mexico. To get to the US where they could make more money for their families, they had to immigrate illegally. While they offer a larger workforce, their presence in not wanted by all, causing some to view them as intruders and leeches. Hector worked hard every day, and he still lost so much. He goes to a parking lot every day with the hope of one day finding work to pay his rent and keep him living. When he goes to the parking lots there are “thousands of men like [him] standing in them, waiting for a good day’s wages”.

To many people come with the idea that they can land a steady job and enjoy the life in California. But parking lots just like the one he was in fill up every day with men trying to just get enough money to support their family. All those men had dreamed of a different future and now the only way they won’t get deported is if they continue to work long days. Luis Omar Salinas supports the struggle in his poem “My Fifty-Plus Years Celebrate Spring.” His poem highlights the struggle to achieve the American dream while connecting it specifically to immigrant workers. In pursuit of this so-called dream of success specifically in the heartland and Fresno area, Hispanic laborers found that farmers needed help with agriculture and were hiring by the dozen. Due to this, “Mexican workers [stacked] up the trays and hard hours that equal their living”.

The stereotype of California being a living heaven is talked about among many immigrants which brings them to California. This idea of heaven closely resembles the American dream and causes these hopefuls to work hard for hours, eventually to realize that “the road to heaven [is] crowded beyond belief”. Many people come to California come “with a heart stout and bold” to strike it rich, “but [they] [keep] on getting” (Life in California) nothing. This song specifically is set during the gold rush in which thousands of prospectors covered California trying to change their path. Sadly, many ended up as worn out men who were in worst positons than when they started. The current era is a new “gold rush” in which people are moving because they feel they will be the lucky one.

Sadly, with limited jobs and limited homes causes homelessness and extreme poverty. The large cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles are always recognized for how great they city is but what people don’t recognize is the fact that there are places including under bridges that are camps for the homeless. Also, many don’t notice places like south-central. Just outside the city of Los Angeles is a very violent ghetto. There are gangs and people who fight for their life every day. Due to the racial segregation that still exists, these people that are the minorities are forced to stay in the ghettos with very few finding ways out of the ghetto. The poverty and violence is discreetly covered up by the media specifically to the people who have not yet entered California. For those in the ghettos and other places of poverty, the racial segregation and rising housing prices causes a barrier between the rich and poor to form. “South of the Slot” by Jack London. Set in San Francisco, “the slot was an iron crack that ran along the center of Market street” (London 1).

This divide causes poverty and industrial workers to stay on the south side while the middle to upper class citizens had “theaters, hotels, and shopping district, and the banks” (1). While the rich are able to remain rich, the poor are not able to change their lives as easily because to do so they need resources to help them start a business or go to college, both which are unattainable due to their lack of resources causing them to stay on the south side. These issues are not commonly noticed by tourists because when they visit these large cities, they stay on the north side, unaware of the differences between each end of the city. If they took more time out of their day to go farther south in the city they could see the true colors of California but many just want to see this state for being the amazing place they imagined. That is one of the flaws of humans.

Sometimes people are so locked on to their initial thoughts of a subject that when the truth is different than expected, they fail to recognize the truth and continue to follow their past beliefs. This human behavior allows the stereotype of the flawless California to live on. While many do struggle to survive in California, there are some who are able to overcome diversity and live a prosperous life. For example, people including Leonardo DiCaprio and Oprah Winfrey have stories where they came from a family with nothing and one day their life changed from a life trying to survive each day to a life of financial stability and safety. Even though there are some who are still able to change their lives by moving to California, the other people who are left behind are stuck in a rough position in life and they must recognize and accept that beneath the sunshine and love for the state of California lies dark truths that are recognized by California literature.