Chapter Four: Summary and Analysis

The Okies who lived on the federal camp began to be ostracized by Californians. They were treated like "scum" and "ignorant and filthy people". Headlines screamed that hordes of Okies were invading California. People made the observation that there were more Okies than there were white people, although the vast majority of Okies were white people.

The same arguments that rage about modern immigration issues were common complaints during the influx of the Okies—Californians were hostile to the migrant workers because they claimed they were taking jobs from them and bitterly resented having to support them with their tax dollars. The migrant workers were increasing the state and county costs for medical care and education. In some towns, they were met with signs in stores announcing that Okies were not allowed. On the rare occasion that an...