As a rich European I get to ride 1st class on the ride to Ellis Island of New York. I can't wait!
What's steerage?
ooh such a nice boat but where are those men going?
They're going to the steerage lil lady. pay them no mind
1st class vs Steerage
ooh my room is so spacious and I get an unlimited amount of food. Yum!
Man they really gave us dog food and a can with no opener. they could've at least given us water
As the wealthy European lady, Patricia, embarks on her journey she will see the ocean far and wide. We will also notice a difference between her and some of the other passengers aboard the ship.
Inspection First Class
Good height.. skin color normal eyes normal... your good to go Miiss Patricia and welcome to America
Steerage is the bottom of the boat which is where the less fortunate immigrants stayed for majority of the trip. It was often cramped because that's what most could afford at the time.
Steerage Class Inspection
oof what a long walk
mmhm
As you can see first class and steerage have very different environments. Those in steerage were practically stacked on top of one another and got little food. On the other hand Patricia got her own room and wayyy better food than hard rock potatoes.
Two Years Later
ahhh New York City is sooo great
Patricia arrives in New York and is swiftly inspected. She's only held for a couple of hours or less before she is released. Now lets see what's going on with Steerage class immigrants....
Oh wow that was awfully fast but not like I'm complaining. Good day to you sir
As you can see Johnny was throughly interrogated. Because he missed one letter in his name and had only one arm he was judged harshly. His inspection was also long and drawn out unlike Miss Patricia's. Johnny had to walk 2 miles in order to be inspected while Patricia had it done in her room.
J-O-H-N-Y
Johnny
spell it
Oop missing an arm and misspelled his name (missed 1 n) take him away
name
ok Johnny you're free to go we realized (after 2 years) that you just made a mistake. Despite that you can't stay here because of your arm so go back to Africa or wherever
As yo can see the ending is not exactly a happy one at least for Johnny. It was actually like this though some immigrants had it quick and easy while others waited years just to be told to go back. Citizens of New York should look back at their history and see how far they've come. The city is way more diverse and accepting than ever before.