“Citizen Khan” written by Kathryn Schulz describes the struggle of immigration in the early 1900’s and attempts to decipher what it truly means to be American by turning the spotlight on a popular Afghan immigrant turned Mexican food vendor, Zarif Khan.
The article begins with the initial shock of Khans death in 1964. Even though he was based in Wyoming, the news broke out in many different places such as South Dakota, California, and Colorado. In the papers however, Khans real name was barely mentioned. Instead, the papers described him as the man that everyone knew him as. “Hot Tamale Louie,” a Mexican food vendor who sold tamales on the streets of Sheridan, and treated everyone with the same generosity and kindness that was given to him. …show more content…
This was precisely when Khan made the official name for himself, “Hot Tamale Louie.” At this time, Wyoming was only about nineteen years old with only nine thousand people living in the entire territory. The reasoning for this could have been because people thought Wyoming as a baron wasteland. Eventually the population in Wyoming began to increase when coal, and gold began to surface and bring eager people in for jobs, and wealth. The town had many different occupations, and businesses such as, blacksmiths, Bicycle dealers, and coal minors. But the author Kathryn Schulz described Khans tamale stand to be the most significant of all the areas. Khan started by carrying around buckets of tamales going everywhere from bars at closing times to the front of banks. His business increased, and soon he was able to buy a buggy to make it easier to carry around. At this time all of Sheridan knew who he was claiming him to be the “Well-known Turkish tamale vendor.” In 1915 Khan was able to open his own hole-in-the-wall styled restaurant called …show more content…
He then wrote a note and addressed it to the San Francisco examiner that was later published. His words were, “I came to America thinking, dreaming, and hoping to make this land my home, but now they come to me and say, I am no longer an American Citizen. . .. Now what am I? What have I made of myself and my children?” Bagai’s death caused the immigration laws to shift. In 1927 the supreme court refused to hear a case against a naturalized Indian man. They realized that attempting to maintain the white population through a naturalization policy would be a lost cause. When Khans naturalization was canceled, he was ordered to pay the cost of the lawsuit.
But Khan never mentioned his bitterness about his citizenship being taken away, and even though it was in fact taken away, Khan had made a million dollars by 1929, and still had his restaurant. Khan used the rest if his time buying stocks in the midst of the great depression. His expenses began to expand, and this led to him hiring people to help him with handling all the money, but not many people knew about Khan’s wealth. He rarely showed it, and if he did, it was through generosity. He knew everyone’s name, and always thought
The article begins with the initial shock of Khans death in 1964. Even though he was based in Wyoming, the news broke out in many different places such as South Dakota, California, and Colorado. In the papers however, Khans real name was barely mentioned. Instead, the papers described him as the man that everyone knew him as. “Hot Tamale Louie,” a Mexican food vendor who sold tamales on the streets of Sheridan, and treated everyone with the same generosity and kindness that was given to him. …show more content…
This was precisely when Khan made the official name for himself, “Hot Tamale Louie.” At this time, Wyoming was only about nineteen years old with only nine thousand people living in the entire territory. The reasoning for this could have been because people thought Wyoming as a baron wasteland. Eventually the population in Wyoming began to increase when coal, and gold began to surface and bring eager people in for jobs, and wealth. The town had many different occupations, and businesses such as, blacksmiths, Bicycle dealers, and coal minors. But the author Kathryn Schulz described Khans tamale stand to be the most significant of all the areas. Khan started by carrying around buckets of tamales going everywhere from bars at closing times to the front of banks. His business increased, and soon he was able to buy a buggy to make it easier to carry around. At this time all of Sheridan knew who he was claiming him to be the “Well-known Turkish tamale vendor.” In 1915 Khan was able to open his own hole-in-the-wall styled restaurant called …show more content…
He then wrote a note and addressed it to the San Francisco examiner that was later published. His words were, “I came to America thinking, dreaming, and hoping to make this land my home, but now they come to me and say, I am no longer an American Citizen. . .. Now what am I? What have I made of myself and my children?” Bagai’s death caused the immigration laws to shift. In 1927 the supreme court refused to hear a case against a naturalized Indian man. They realized that attempting to maintain the white population through a naturalization policy would be a lost cause. When Khans naturalization was canceled, he was ordered to pay the cost of the lawsuit.
But Khan never mentioned his bitterness about his citizenship being taken away, and even though it was in fact taken away, Khan had made a million dollars by 1929, and still had his restaurant. Khan used the rest if his time buying stocks in the midst of the great depression. His expenses began to expand, and this led to him hiring people to help him with handling all the money, but not many people knew about Khan’s wealth. He rarely showed it, and if he did, it was through generosity. He knew everyone’s name, and always thought