The Town of Babylon

by Alejandro Varela

The oppression they encountered was the requisite price of being allowed to live here. Nothing, as far as they were concerned, was discriminatory. They were medium-complected Catholics from Latin America, who were largely untrained at receiving prejudice based on anything immutable. To them, hardship was class-based, and in this country, class was temporary and situational.

Neither he nor Rosario had considered the long-term effects of living in this country. How it might deplete one’s resolve. How for one person to succeed, many would have to fail. How this was a country that practiced a religion of lofty expectations and unattainable goals. How dreams were just that, dreams.

Unlike earlier waves of immigrants, today’s masses are here because this country, their final destination, is responsible for their miseries back home.