An analysis of Joacob Riis" Ho

            Jacob Riis" book, How the Other Half Lives, is an account on the unfortunate and the impoverished in New York City. Riis tried to write this book with objectivity but given his background and personal connection to the apartment tenants it was hard to keep that objectivity throughout his book. The references he uses to describe some of the immigrant live-ins were negative and very much stereotypical. For example he refers to the Italians ability to speak, English - "Unlike the German, who begins learning English the day he lands as a matter of duty, or the Polish Jew, who takes it up as soon as he is able as an investment, the Italian learns slowly, if at all." It appears that he feels bitter towards the Italians or that they have personally offended him by not knowing the English language. I believe he feels that if they (the Italians or any of the minority groups) come to the United States they should know enough English to communicate or do not come at all. .
             Riis refers to all the immigration groups in a negative way. He criticizes the intelligence levels of the Italians, how unclean and dishonest the Jews are, and even the perfect cleanliness of the Chinamen. Although he does possess quite a bit of bigotry, which borders on the line of prejudice when it comes to African Americans, he recognizes that they are suffering from racism and he sympathizes with them. However, with his sympathy comes a manner of superiority. He was once impoverished and knows with hard work, like he has done, you can "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" and make a better life which causes him to look down on the people in poverty. .
             Overall he discusses the poor immigrants and how they live, but his main focus tends to be on the housing and the conditions of it. An example of the conditions in the book refers to how dusty and full of dirt the buildings are - "It [a building] caught fire six times last winter, but it wouldn't burn.