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5.0 out of 5 stars
An All-American Town, November 10, 2006
This review is from: The Peoples Of Las Vegas: One City, Many Faces (Shepperson Series in Nevada History) (Hardcover)
I enjoyed learning about immigrants when I was in school. The immigrants we learned about were from Europe and most of them settled on the East Coast. I was fascinated by these people who were so brave or desperate (or both) that they would abandon their homes, most likely forever, and start all over again in a new country where many of them didn't know anyone, or know how they'd support themselves. It was a terrific gamble but they came in droves. They still do.
While Las Vegas isn't known as a destination for immigrants, it has a population as diverse as Los Angeles or New York. How did this happen? The Peoples of Las Vegas, an anthology about some of the groups that populate Las Vegas, takes on this question. Essay by essay, it becomes clear.
We start by learning about the Southern Paiutes, the tribe that lived in Las Vegas before it was Las Vegas. Although the lessons in school about the Native Americans didn't hold my interest like the stories about the immigrants did, I found it eye-opening to read about how the Paiutes were captured and sold as slaves to the first European settlers by the Utes, who also lived in the Southwest. Like so many other Native Americans, they ended up on reservations in undesirable conditions, and in recent years have found some success by building and running a casino on their land. It's easy to see how Indian casinos in states without legal gambling are be a goldmine, but I was surprised to discover that the Paiutes' casino was also quite profitable, even so near Las Vegas.
Chapters on the Mexicans and the Chinese tell stories of hard work and assimilation. African Americans had to deal with segregation until 1960. We Westerners are often surprised to learn that there was segregation here as well, not just in the South. But while segregation was still the law until 1964, the casinos and hotels ignored the law when it no longer suited them. In other words, it was starting to affect their profits, and had to go whether the lawmakers were ready for desegregation or not. The lawmakers eventually followed the lead of the casinos, something that still holds true in Las Vegas.
The chapters on the Italians and the Jews go over familiar ground, since these groups pretty much made Las Vegas the gambling town it is and the stories of gangsters and ruthless businessmen have been told many times. I skimmed these chapters quickly, because it's the underdog aspect of the immigrant stories that always appealed to me. Italian and Jewish immigrants were certainly underdogs in many parts of America, but not in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas is not typical (when is it ever?) when it comes to immigrants. For instance, few immigrants make Las Vegas their first U.S. home. Most settle elsewhere and then move to Las Vegas when they learn about the many opportunities it has to offer people who have little education or job skills and who may not yet speak English, but who are willing to work hard. A significant, if small, percentage of newcomers to Las Vegas are refugees from places like Bosnia and Sudan who settle wherever the government and the aid agencies tell them to. Imagine the double dose of culture shock that any refugee would get from being plopped down in Las Vegas.
Another atypical aspect of immigrant life in Las Vegas is that there are very few ethnic neighborhoods or geographic concentrations of nationalities, other than the African-American "West Side" (which, as a result of Las Vegas spreading out in all directions over the years, is more accurately the North Central Side.)
Essays about immigrants from Greece, Croatia, Poland, the Indian Subcontinent, El Salvador, Chile, and the Philippines round out the collection. The editors are hoping this will be the first edition of a series that explores the stories of many more of the groups that are populating Las Vegas. Although The Peoples of Las Vegas is a university press publication, written mostly by professors and academics, it is quite readable. Many of the authors are members or descendants of the groups they write about, so there is a personal touch to the writing that is engaging. I can't wait for the second edition!
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