Okies
Definition
Okies is a term that was used to describe Dust Bowl refugees from Oklahoma who migrated to California during the Great Depression in search of jobs and better living conditions.
Analogy
Imagine you're playing a game where your home base is becoming increasingly unlivable - maybe it's sinking or being overrun by enemies. You'd have no choice but to pack up your things and move to another base (California) for survival. That's what happened with the Okies.
Related terms
Migrant Workers: People who travel from place to place to get work, especially farm laborers who may move each season.
Great Migration: The movement of 6 million African Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West that occurred between 1916 and 1970.
Grapes of Wrath: A novel published in 1939 written by John Steinbeck that tells the story of an Oklahoma family (the Joads) who became migrant workers during the Great Depression after being forced off their land.
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