In the two videos of Untold Stories Immokalee represents many communities. The Seminole Indians and other tribes lived here for many years. But recently Immokalee has been home to immigrants working to make ends meet. Immokalee is a very small town that has been mainly used for farmland. The Seminole Indians were attracted to Immokalee because of the animals and plants there. Being 40 feet above sea leaving it is a great place for cattle to graze. The lifestyle lived by the tribes was more representative of the Old American Dream. There was many farmland and children were asked to work on the farmlands. The women stood home and had many children and the men went to work out on the farm. Education wasn’t big in Immokalee until recently Guadalupe Center opened.
Immokalee has been forced by Mother Nature and the government to go from an agricultural to an industrial based economy. Beginning with the first obstacle was when the government wanted to drain the everglades. Since Immokalee’s means of transportation was through canoes this was a big threat to them. Then World War II changed Immokalee economically and culturally. Things like oil were discovered and an airport took the place of a bomber training base. A new industry was born. The freeze of 1989 hit Immokalee hard the agriculture community went from 48 small farmers to only 3 and 7 medium farmers to only 3. The many complications that Immokalee faced over the years has only made them a more accomplished town.
For many years Immokalee has been In the Old American dream but just recently in 2008 they are beginning to realize that the answer to poverty is trough education for the youth. Ave Maria, the newest catholic university in the country, opened just south of Immokalee. There are plans to build more that 8,000 residential units in the town. The Seminole expansion and the birth of this new town is proof of ongoing evolution and what is to come. The New American Dream seems to be arising in Immokalee. In 10 years Immokalee can continue to grow and flourish and not only be an agricultural community but also an industrial one; with many companies, schools, factories, and different communities.
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The beginning of education in Immokalee was a good thing. Relying on the farming industry is fine but education is very important in America. Many farming towns are beginning to see the new American dream and are industrializing their communities. Immokalee faced many complications like the deers spreading the Texas Fever Tick to the cows and killing off there livestock but Immokalee got through it by building deer fences and dipping their cattle in a liquid that killed the fever. Immokalees population grew because of the farming industry making the Immokalee community more diverse. I believe that Immokalee's population will grow in the future if they create more companies, schools and factories.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about the American Dream in Immokalee shifting from the old dream to the new dream. A big force behind the new dream is education, and places such as the Guadalupe center will educate today's generation of children so that they will be more prepared for the future. As the children progress in school and the Ave Maria University grows bigger and bigger, I can definitely see Immokalee becoming more industrialized. I believe that the more educated the people of Immokalee become, the more people will be drawn to the community. More people will bring in more businesses and make Immokalee into an over-all more successful community. I believe that in the future Immokalee has the potential to get even bigger than its surrounding towns and cities.
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