• MOVEMENT: By definition, movement, one of the five themes of geography, is characterized by the transfer of people, ideas, and culture, and things over space. In “A Clash of Culture in Heartland America,” Stephen G. Bloom excellently portrays the reluctance and negativity that can be involved with relocation and movement. Specifically, Postville was a picturesque town where all the citizens knew and trusted the other members of their community. In fact, the trust level was so high that many individuals did not lock their car or house doors. Additionally, these individuals town of this all shared the same basic morals and beliefs, that is until a new group of Jews moved into the community. When a meat-packaging facility was …show more content…
The three types of region include formal regions, functional regions, and perceptual regions. Specifically in this video, perceptual regions were very prevalent. For example, before all of the immigrants moved into Postville, the town was a quaint vernacular region. This was due to the topophilia that the locals had. Unambiguously, church attendance, maintenance of homes and possessions, and personal character were all things and aspects that all members of the community valued. Because of this, they all took pride of their hometown, region, and self-identity. However, the members also had very strong opinions of others from different parts of the country and world. They believed that their way was the right way, and they had no desire to reach out of their comfort zone and accept cultures and ways of life from different regions. They believed that the newcomers came from a different region in which the values and moral clashed with their own, and therefore, were not accepting of the …show more content…
PUSH AND PULL FACTORS:
• PUSH: The push factors mainly applied to those who were originally Postville citizens. This is due to their inflexibility and unwillingness to try and accept new cultures. With these cultures came new religion, language, food, and ways of life. Clearly, these new traits were push factors for the white, American Postville citizens.
• PULL: Clearly, pull factors attracted foreigners and people with different ways of life, specifically the Mexicans and the Jews. These factors included jobs, opportunity, affordability, and education. Some examples include the meat-packaging facility, American citizenship, reduced and free school lunch, etc.
C. MIGRATION AND COUNTER STREAMS:
• MIGRATION: The migrators to Postville Iowa all shared a common origin and purpose. A specific example includes the Jewish man, Aaron Rubashkin, bought the meat packaging facility. In doing so, he moved to Postville to run and operate his own company. However, he was not alone. His move created a ripple effect among other Jews and hard-working Mexicans. These other individuals followed him to the area to help run his company and for a better quality of