on america tonight, raising the anti. but also increasing the pressure on the country's prime minister, as he tries to save an iraq in turmoil. also tonight, we look at online cruelty, making its way across campus. digital insulteds so nasty, it nearly sent the principal packing. >> i left at the end of the day, drained emotionally drained i said to myself maybe this

is a time for me to retire. it's a whole new world. >> correspondent on how a similar app brought a high school to a standstill. and why the reaction to yikcad on this campus is yuck. >> and the journey to redemption. >> and then suddenly, they saw the great valley below them. the vick yards, the orchards, the great flat valley green and beautiful. >> marking the anniversary of the extraordinary image of american life, and hardship in the great depression. the california sign beck chronicled and the life of the modern day tom goad. good evening thank you for joining us.

is that american forces won't be sent back into combat, as he announced some inching forward of the presence there. the president will send 300 military advisers to help train iraqi securities toes. pave i have fighter jets who fly surveillance missions and the president is sending secretary of state john kerry into the region for talks about resolve it is crisis. america tonight begins our reporting on iraq in turmoil. >> right now is a moment where the fate of iraq, hangs in the balance. >> after meeting with national security advisers under pressure to act, president obama clarified what the u.s. will and will not do in iraq.

this will be boots on the ground, not as combat troops but advisers. >> american combat troops will not be fighting in iraq again. heavily armed f 18s. ordereordered into the aran gulf by the president earlier this week. ran effort to bring the fight to what the president called terrorists. but there is widespread -- and that iraq's political system and leaders need a fix. and fast. >> right now, at least, there is deep divisions between sunni, shia and leaders. as long as those continue

or worsen lit be very hard for a central government to direct a military to deal with these threats. >> earlier this week, iraq prime minister elect finally made a call for national unity, at his side, a senior sunni leader who pointedly did not speak to him, and turned and walked away. maliki has had two terms in office, increasingly he has sidelined sunnies and curds made the army a sectarian force, and appointed military commanders accused of sectarian atrocities to govern cities with large sunni majorities. as for iran, a key ally. >> our view is that iran can play a constructive role, if it is helping to send the same message to the iraqi government that we are sending. which is that iraqi only holds together if it's inclusive.

>> this is the leader of one of the most influential sunni tribes in iraq. his tribesman fought alongside the u.s. during the search. thousand they have joined forced. >> leading a sectarian war, we will not recognize the role. he must do and a real government must come that is truly able to govern iraq. if he stays iraq will divide. >> after their light strike, gathering territory and riches, rebel fighters attacked iraq's largest oil refinery. foreign workers have been evacuated government portions fought back, and there are conflicting reports as to who now controls the facility. the refinery supplies much of iraq's domestic needs already there is evidence of shortages, with long lines, and growing anger. they are still producing but have conflict spreads that could change.

the markets are already nervous the price of a barrel of crude today hitting a nine month high. sara is president of svp energy international, and energy consulting firm. >> iraq's target, oil production is almost to be doubled in the near future, and already most of the oil companies in the southern part of iraq started to evacuate there, employees and the threat on iraqi oil facilities and countries start to expand, of course, the insecurity in the country, and unstable political system is going to lead these international investors to lead the country, and this is going to effect the long term supply of market. >> taking a page from the wartime play book, iraqi t.v. is cranking out patriotic songs and images trying to portray a face of. all of us are ready to

lay ourselves down for iraq, the government claims it is sunni as well as shia have responded to the call of arms but they have offed no proof. and the division seems to deepen. joins us here, sheila, the public defender did not turn mr. maliki outright today, but he was certainly sending a message. >> he said listen, whoever govern governs go s up to the people, but he has also said that the divisiveness cannot continue. and of course, the u.s. embassy in iraq, has been having discussions with various people who might possibly be a successor to mr. maliki. >> well, let's bring on again this hour al jazeera correspondent, who is in baghdad for us again. omar, you have heard mr. obama's comments, is it clear that prime minister malachi is getting the message. >> i don't think so.

and i think the prime minister is acting in the opposite direction. he is already trying to gather a wider coalition to secure a third term. he also thinks he has the upper hand now, he made the speech yesterday, and he said that the army are now on the offensive, and the forces have taken the initiative against the rebel advancements. so a clearly that he is no willing to compromise. and he is talking with leaders to try to stand united. so omar, you say he thinks he has the upper hand, is it clear he has that support. >> well, look, hening maaed to secure the backing of the highest religious shiite authority in the country, and this is very crucial. and that's why you have tens of thousands of people, volunteering to join those forces. he also restructures the

army, and he sent his elegal units and making some advancements the question here is important these gestures in the part of mr. maliki are too little too late. there is certainly the suggestion on the part of reporting coming out of baghdad that the u.s. ambassador is clearly of the view that this cannot go forward. that he cannot sufficient hi reform, glymph his past. he cannot reform himself or his government to make an all inclusive government of national unity. and to the u.s. has unbelievely enough been talking to familiar figures. the shiite politician who is perhaps best remembers for concocting that most awful and wrong intelligence in advance of the iraq war.

do you hear that as welt, that those names are coming forward again as possible successors? well, there is some talk among the politicians here, about looking for replacements, but i think a number of names could be discussed, how, i think it is too early to speculate that those names will even have a chance, because as you mentioned, for instance, he is the former prime minister of iraq, he won the elections in 2010. but neither in iran ever in the u.s., wanted him, to secure that term. his member of that alliance, we are hearing some rumors that they might be thinking of finding a placement within.

now, it could be -- it could be anyone else that we can't really figure out. so we could see any surprise, i think the prime minister feels very strong, i think because he has emboldened be i the fact that he is the most popular politician. he got the highest votes in the elections and his block came in fist. s i think he will put up a tough fight to leave power. now on the broader regional and global implications. we are joined by columbia university economist. appreciate your being with us, sir, can we start just on what sounds like a little kit connect, the push from washington to talk about possible successors. and our correspondent in

baghdad suggesting that mr. maliki feels he is in a good spot. >> a hot of the trouble we have right now, not only goes back to 2003, of course, but it also goes back to the very serious meddling next door in stir yeah. where we said asaad must go, and that has helped to stir the including u.s. support to parts of that insurrection, and that gave space to be operating both in syria, and next door in iraq. >> and one of the factors in that, doesn't it have

to be iran. after all it's connections if they stand by him how is. >> going to be change? >> we didn't think about any of the implications from the first day the whole atom against osama than we spent a decade bemoaning that fact. now we are looking to cooperating with iran in this crisis in iraq. we don't quite know what we are doing, except we are going around in circles. the united states should be appealing the the united nations to be involved rather than thinking that this is another case for the united states to find a manipulated outcome. >> you have been known about your comments of a resource curse, where we

are t a now, the rebellings are moving, at least if they haven't fully controlled it, very important critical there, the curds have taken over. we are looking at very important resources of oil, and thousand that will effect the future, western security in the south, is there going to be a possibility that oil is the thing that holds the keys to the castle? oil is the reason why we wasn't into iraq in 2003. it was a miserable reason then, and it remains part of the intense interest now. and, of course, oil prices have surges in recent days because of all of this uncertainty. add in the uncertainties in ukraine, and the national gas markets we have quite a mess right now. with many of these criessies, libya, another mess that the u.s. and nato have contributed to sadly.

it means there's a tremendous instability throughout the region. >> thank you very much for being with us. >> pleasure to be with you. when we return, with iraq in turmoil, a community of borrowing nebraska on the alert for news from home. >> we know soon they attacked the area, or passed the security line. and then we know there was that just killing everyone. voices from the american heart land, and their ties to a nation. >> also ahead, hanging on to every word, the latest app to launch an on campus crisis, it is called yikcak. how the vicious exchanges left even the principal speechless.

an iraq in turmoil.guing some have taken temporary shelter but other have crossed the border, threing for refuge. it is a pattern we have seen for more than a decade, in fact, since 2003 when the u.s. entered the second iraq war, 100,000 iraqi refugees relocated to the united states. about a quarter of them arrived in the last year and a half. twenty-first stop is usually california, michigan, or texas, but many end up in mid western community where that do find new opportunities. >> you might imagine lincoln, nebraska, the heart of the white bread midwest, as an unlikely

home to more than 1200 iraqi immigrants. but the federal government began resettling them here after the fist gulf war, today lincoln hosts to mosques and a bundle of iraqi owned businesses. not star from the state cop toll, where this week he is keeping a close eye on the news from home. >> in the store i have. the. have, i watch all the time news. because my family is there. >> so far his family in the southern part of iraq is safe, but he worries. >> we are very afraid. perhaps for group feels more threatening by the group, a small religious minority from northern iraq, near the border. there are about 300 families in lincoln, and

they want their story heard. the rebel fighters are a threat to their small community, which could be annihilated by the group known as siil. >> we know is tunneys they attack the areas, or pass the security line, and then we know they will start just killing everybody. if the i.s.i.s. finds their way into these towns, it will be wiped out in a matter of hours. >> lincoln industries, builds all-american products but thinks all the time, of home. >> the whole problem right now is those people that come in. they get helped, in that city. some groups they are still working. most people, they don't

want to do the democracy in the new government. it's not about shiites and sunnies. that story is old. they tabled in iraq in 2005, as violence at that time, threatened their family. >> shay said if you don't leave your home, we ar are -- and we leave my country. >> now they worry about the loved ones that stayed behind. my husband family lived is very dangerous. >> many people, they kill from army. >> as difficult as it is to watch iraq unravel, it wasn't unexpected, he believes that the factions and their rivalries will destroy his homeland.

even. >> , i could never survive, because i know how the people over there think, i know what they think of each other, and with all the corruption, and bad politics, i don't think i would survive. >> it is heart to build something from nothing. to build a new government, for ten years, is really hard. >> but in lincoln there is an opportunity to build something from nothing. >> the people is very nice. we don't listen something bad word about us. the one inning about america is so nice, they always want to help you. even if you don't speak english, they always have smile on face, and they try to understand what exactly you want. >> in the business he began building when he arrived after the first gulf war, he sees unity

in his community, a far cry from the divisions of their fractures home. no problem. the sunni shiite, or azidi, it is all together. we don't have any trouble over here. when we return, slammed by a yikcak attack. >> it hit like a war, like someone has bombed the place. before i knew it could hear the tone change, as more and more kids heard about it. >> correspondent goes baaing to school, for a lesson in social media slander, and why it is so hard to stop. and later in the hour, the state of play, a preview of al jazeera america's fault lines as it tackled the fight of college players for recognition by the ncaa.

now a snapshot of stories making headlines tonight. change at the top for republicans in congress, behind closed doors they picked california representative as their new majority leader. mccarthy hailed from bakersfield, he will succeed virginia's eric kanter who suffered a stunning primary defeat last week. a bio hazard scare at the c.d.c., where 75 staff members may have been exposed to live amtraks. officials say researchers in a bio security lab didn't handle safe procedures with that deadly bacteria, putting technicians at risk. so far, nub of the workers have shown symptoms. texas lawmakers -- governor rick perry says texas law enforcement must do everything it can to secure the border, some 60,000 unaccompanied children are expected to cross the texas mexico border this year.

back in the old days if kids were bullied they knew their considermenters, but in today's world, bullying are increasingly using anonymous technology. america tonight, on a new app that's turning high schools into harassment havens, and how a class of 6th graders in california is fighting back. if you click on yik y actionk. >> they created the platform for the worst cyber bullying behavior. >> there's a hidden menace. it is called yikcak and it hit here with a vengeance. >> it is completely anonymous, and they are organized by geography. so if someone posts something 500 feet from you it comes up on your screen. >> most read like juvenile insults. but with yikyak anyone with a smart phone can see them and spread them in real time. he says the app took off

like wild fire. >> within half an hour, everybody has heard about it, and downloaded it and everybody had it on their phone, and each post came in it was like a scene from mean girls. school was brought to a halt. >> what were some of the things. >> they were the most horrible home mow phonic, racist, islam phonic, sexist remarks. it brings the most popular posts to the top, so if something were especially mean, it was extra popular, so the meanest were often towards the top. >> with user pros texted by a cloak of anonymity, it became a competition in cruelty. a constant barrage of hateful comments public humiliation, that no one could stop. >> all of a sudden all of the teachers were just like have you heard about it, have you seen it, what is going on. and everybody was just a buzz. what was your reaction. >> we were floored. sick to your stomach. and we all just looked at

each other like what doe with do. >> he says he learned about it during lunch hour. it hit like a war. i heard the tone change. as more and more kids about it. >> he has been an educator for five decades but he didn't know how to handle this latest threat. >> i didn't know what to do, other than to get on the public address system, and it is really causing a lot of pain to a lot of kids until we can figure out what to do don't log on, but of course saying that to a teenager is saying there are free donuts but don't touch, and by the end of the day, we had mostly girls who were crying, and then parents calling, i had never seen anything like that before, i have seen just about everything there is to see. >> i think we were very very lucky, that nobody has to my knowledge, harmed themselves as a result of it.

>> some people would say hey, kids will be kids kids have always bullies what's so different about it now. >> there's no way to -- confront somebody, because they poohed it anonymously. as if it isn't bad enough to see your name and nasty things but to be cast straited and your ability to confront somebody, and say why would you say that, what i have done to you. >> we wanted to speak to students but everybody we reached out to declined. >> all they want to do is move on, the last thing they want to do is talk about it, but it is tough, knowing that someone in the hallway, was thinking these things. and even if it is not true, the fact that someone read it about you is so embarrassing. the cruelty took a toll. >> i left at the end of the day drained, i heard rumor that even considered retiring after this. >> i said to myself, maybe this is a time for me to retire. right. it a esa whole new world.

>> staples isn't the only school that has been hurt. mass cyber bullying disenfranchised ease have been reported from coast to coast. in some cases threats had even shut down schools. die yang that's caught tatter at one of those schools. >> i was working and a got a call to say the school was on lock down because there had been a bomb threat. i asked what happened, oh, you know, somebody posted something on yikcad yak, that they were going to box the school, so they put it on lock down. well, we all downloaded yikcad. >> they are both in there, texting away like what possibly could be that great. >> she has coached parents about online bullying for years in 2010, when her younger daughter entered 6th grade, a publish charter school, the school principal reached out to her for help. >> my administrative

hours were consumed with student and parent complains about something that happened on the weekend related to a photo that was taken. and that's when i realized we need to be proactive. with her help, she implemented a course. >> can you summarize what your group would do. >> we have to remember that kids spend more time with media than they do with their parents or in school. so their world is media. most of it is social net, wounded warriorses. they are fascinated because it is a new way to express themselves and to keep in touch with their friends. >> what have you under to to be the most effective way of reaching the kids? >> what i have really learned is the best thing for kids this age is peer to peer learning. >> we do a lot of role playing a lot of skits. we bring in situations that are happening in their life and talk about them, and the kids work them out. >> if cyber bullying was happening how would you respond? >> that's going to be an

important thing. >> it is laying the ground work if how they are going to act when they are online. >> don't post a picture online without anyone's permission. >> what we try to do here is take a step back, and have the kids understand that your digital footprint lives with you forever. >> i want my digital footprint to be positive. >> for many of these 6th graders the class has made them weary about going online. >> were you on social media. >> after hearing what can happen, with people cyber bullying or making fun of your picture, i am hesitant about it. >> i have been bullies recently too, that's whyly be very precise, keep it private, and make sure who i am friends with. >> what about you do you feel the same way. >> i am scared someone will hack my account, now if i ever see cyber bullying i stand up for that person, and i report the account. because you can report accounts.

>> amanda whisker is a member of gravers class, her father says he is impressed with the results. >> i know amanda will get more from her friends talking about what the right thing to do is, veries me giving a father daughter lecture, you should do that, but when other kids are on the same wand wagon, i think it make as huge impact. >> i have not had one cyber bullying incident occur. >> and you credit the program for that. >> why isn't this taught more? >> i wish i had an answer for you, i wish i did, because these are absolutely essential life skills. >> because in the fast paced world of social media and smart phones the next yikcak is right around the corner. >> today's yik will be tomorrow's we can't imagine yet. ten minutes ago it was ask fm. the next day the kids came into class, and they were like have you heard

about gaggle. and i was like what? and they are like it's the same thing as yik yak except it's pictures. and i gist kind of -- >> another. >> another app. >> al jazeera, newport, connecticut. after a break, getting in on the game, college players take on the nc action, a preview of a fault lines investigation in our next segment. and looking ahead, on the run, from the country that measures its worth in gross happiness happiness? what is behind an exodus of refugees. america tonight, correspondent on why anyone would want to leave a country built on happiness, for life as a ref je here. we'll mark world refugee day here with a look at b hurricanesutan blues.

turmoil in iraq, as president obama decides to send hundreds of troops to baghdad. we'll tell you where countless people are in concentration catches because of their faith. plus, the fbi investigating a report who has been looking into the bo berghdal case two years ago. and amazon's book battle that's at the top of the

hour. >> for the nc actiona businesses is booming, the value of it's assets growing by 1,000% in the last few decades p and student athletes are pushing for a share. five trial now underway part of that challenge, with the ncaa president making the case against paying the players. in a fault lines investigation, a closer look at the multibillion dollars industry, known as college football. two players that put their bodies on the line, and their demands for a more even playing field. the team at northwestern university, is in the middle of a 40 hour work week. >> they are being asked to sacrifice more, and treat their sport as the year round endef, so the

dend mas on them are so intense, that it has put them in a situation where it is like a fight or die kind of a situation. >> plays earn no pay oh nan a scholarship to attend class. for their coach, that's compensation enough enough. >> this isn't what i signed up to be, i signed up to help develop to be the best they can be, not to be an employer. becoming the first college team to seek a union. >> they are injured five years down the road, and they have nothing. and can't collect a paycheck, or form a union. the national collegiate athletic association or ncaa sets the rules for college sports.

but those rules could soon be changed. two player whose produce that wealth. and their demands for a more equitable game. the first thing right behind me, a lot of orange apparel, you all have coupons for that, ten in there afterwards today is solid orange friday, which is a tradition. with anybody who has attended clemson we like to show our orange on friday, if you want to become a part of our family, get your orange today. >> we are following abby, and she clearly loves clemson, and a coup of times college football has come up as a big part of the life, it is a he million dollars enterprise for the school. >> the part of the tour you have been waiting for, if you look through

here, you can see death valley, who has been to a game in death valley? clemson university has one of the 25 most lucrative programs in the country. we have the spring game tomorrow, and it is not abnormal for our ticket holders to travel to come for that game, even though it is just clemson against clemson. one of those ailments is darien. he was making professional football now, but making it there was a struggle. >> we didn't necessarily have the income to provide my sisters with an education, and help me out whenever i needed it. the scholarship didn't

cover the cost of living so he start add business, but when he began using his name and image, the school shut it down. >> there are so many rules saying what we can't do, and in my mind, i thought to myself, what can we do. cannot do this, cannot do that what can a student athlete do. >> ncaa rules prevent kurt athletes from making money off of their fame. dare just is part of a class action lawsuit to overturn that. >> we have been working hard, so for someone to say that because you are a student athlete, you can't even promote yourself and be who you are, because you are a student athlete, i find that very disrespectful. >> it is game day, and on plain street, the economy is in high gear. >> the crimson tiger paw is one of the highest grossing logos in college sports.

and it is the player whose draw the crowd. those are the jerseys worn by the star players. sammy watkins and towed for identification. >> all this is a $4 millions a year industry, and now that todd and sammy are not college football players and getting ready for the nfl draft, they can now make some money off of it and today they are in the store signing autographs for $30. there is a line out the door waiting. >> i am such a fan. we have our sweats we have ties, we have hats we have bags we have flip flops, we have watches,. >>s. we have wallets, key chains, we have jewelry. we have everything down to lights to stuffed animals i had a guitar, drumsticks. >> would you like to see

the players get some of the money from the jerseys that have number two and 10 on them. >> from a business standpoint we would have to jack up our prices. >> what are the ends of the nc actiona, on the one hand there's a very easy answer to that, and that has to do with profit and who controls the incredible amounts of money that are produced by college threats in this country. we are talking billions of dollars. the organization says it spends about go hundred million dollars each year on scholarships for athletes, but to get that scholarship, darius has to sign away his commercial rights to the ncaa. sheriff you watched clemson football, the tradition is that all the players come get, off the

bus, and then they run dour our green hill, everybody is jumping up and down, fireworks going off, everybody is yelling, screaming, there's nothing like being in there with 80,000 of your closest friends. in less than two decades the assets have increased by 2,000%. the entire economy, ticket seams and t.v. deals, relies on the player on the field. now players are suing for a share. we are the marketers. make oh, i want those nike gloves, i want those cleats, as a matter of fact, can i get them in orange and buy them from clemson. >> absolutely, i definitely understand now what i gave away. and that was pretty much

who i was, i became in a sense in some people's eyes i still -- i will always feel like i am a person, but in some people's eyes i became a clemson possession. >> meanwhile, the boom has been good to clemson. two school has committed $170 million in a decade, to expand it's stadium and practice facility. corporate fingerprints all over this game. you can see it says verizon, but we have also seen t.d. bank, u.p.s., coca-cola, and nike. not just on the banners it is on every player's uniform, and on their shoes. so the fact that we are putting our lives oen the line, people out there that dying from this, being able to never walk

again. >> the coach enjoyed celebrity status, and his opinions can sway the fan base. >> what we try to coach our guys is use football. to create the opportunities take advantage of the platform, and the brand, and the marketing that you have available to you. but as far as pays players, professionalizes college athletics that's where you lose me. i will go to something else, there's enough entitle innocent in this world as it is. >> coach sweeney just signed an eight year contract that will pay $3 millions next season, meanwhile a recent study shows that 86% of college athletes live below the federal poverty line. >> the reason why we are at a breaking point, you currently have two economists existing side by side. because you have the coaches are like the wolfiest wolfs of wall street, so it is free market, run amuck. at the economic situation for the coaches. but for the players it is

endentured servitude. >> all i know is college football is a great great opportunity. it is one of the last great things in america, that is still teaching young people how to think, hard work, sacrifice. >> it is in a way, set up as modern slavery, in regards to the type of work we do, what our body goes through, and the money we are bringing in for what we do. northwestern university has appealed the decision of the national labor review board, if northwestern wins the appeal, they will never release the votes. even if they release the votes from the student athletes that i spoke to, i think they voted against the idea of creating a union, because their coach went to each of them, and essentially said that it was disloyal

to him, for them to have a union. and this is the guy that they owe their scholarship too, the guy that recruited them, father like figure, so i think they voted against it, what is important it may not matter what they voted, because what they have done is set a precedent, now other schools see this and see the national labor review board will accept them, as employees, and the union effort is looking at states that are more prolabor. >> you know, this is a very compelling story, for both of us. i am a northwestern graduate, and i yo are a texas guy with a great love of football. >> i didn't want to kill football going into this. and i was worried about that, can i is do a fan, because the story is about exploitation of the players what i found is i am still a fan of college football. every player i interviewed didn't want the game to end, they still want to play, and i still want to watch, they

just want to see that the table. they want to have a voice and a vote, especially when it comes to their own healthcare, and as nan of the game is the marriage recognizeds i think i want them tore ofism have that as well. >> it isn't just about money, because a lot of the question is about money, the video game and so forth, is it? >> it isn't act money until it is about money, right. we interviewed a guy that had such bad seizures now he has grand mall seizures. he is $100,000 in medical bills debt trying to pay those, looking to figure out how to pay for a brain surgery. to address these major seize showers yeah, in one way it is about money, but in other way it is about far far more. >> thank you very much. you and see all of josh's report, football players and the ncaa here on al

jazeera america. and ahead in our final thoughts, 75 years after the grapes of wrath, has the landscape changed? r t.

>> al jazeera america.

finally tonight, this year marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of john steinbeck's classic the grapes of wrath. to california's promise land, only to face the cruel reality of work in the fields under the central valley sun. al jazeera melissa chen traveled to the catch the model was novelled on, and a found a new generation, at work in kern county california. >> midway through the novel, the grapes of wrath, there's a moment, when the jedd family sees california central valley for the first time. they drove through in the morning glow. and the sun came up behind them, and then suddenly, they saw the great valley below them. the vineyards, the orchards, the great flat valley green and beautiful.

california the prom land. it seems that way to real migrant, who arrived in 1944. >> from we came from, was oklahoma and it was because we were starving to death. or we were hungry. may showed up poor and desperate, and lived in catches and it was here he called it weed patch in the novel that steinbeck placed his famous fictional j objectionde family, the catch made indelible by the author now preserved and placed on the national register of historic places. w.c. statute lives here for 16 years. >> so this my brother here, and my dad and odest brother. >> his father was drink out business by the dust storms. the family joined the great migration west, and found work in the fields. avenue school was out we

would work whatever was in season, my mother was great with her hands and would pack -- she would pack peaches, grapes, plums, and she's cut potatoes they don't do that any more. >> catch live was insular, the newcomers kept to they wants and even married among themselves. wc stamps met his wife at camp. poverty, we know what poverty is, everyone here is the same. you get out of this -- the fenced area, and we never did, other than go to work and come back. we had one metal can, it could be a soup, it could be what. and everybody drank out of the same can. >> californians called these newcomers aokis, in p co tempt, they came not just from oklahoma, but texas, a armed group, missouri, the novel highlighted their plight, their exploitation, and their tough journey.

>> hollywood adapted the novel into a film starring henry fonda. >> want to work? >> sure. but what is this? >> none of your business. name? >> jobe. how many men? four. >> the scenes shocked americans and revealed another side of california most had not known. >> house 63, wages 5 cents a box. move along, go to work right away. >> this is the kind of vehicle that american migrants in the 1930's and 40's would drive to california, back then, families were bigger and sometimes as many as eight or ten people would be hanging on e even sitting on top of the roof of the car. today, moo i grants still coming from the south, and mostly from mexico. 75 years after his novel, the camps still stand, right next to the old historic site, other than

a few times when it closed for renovation, it has been in continuous operation. run by the housing authority. and the camp is considered one of the more ard toble and attractive housing options for workers. greg brings his family here every season. i come in the late days of april, and return to texas, i come to work because the salary here is higher than texas, we always have six months of work here. he says camp life is similar but good, and the new migrants know the story of the old. now there are a lot more opportunities and most people came from oklahoma this were many problems. >> some things have not changed. farm work remains tough, laborers make minimum wage or less.

steinbeck's novel not ancient history, but the message still relevant today. the most difficult job is working on your knees. when you work with the grapes in the ground, the humidity and everything else. >> the central valley remains one of the poorest parts of the country. so many aokis have moved on to a better life beyond the catch gates. their story as told by steinbeck, now read by millions of students. one of the major works of american literature. the new migrants also come with their california dream, one generations before them, have pursued in a story, that carries on. melissa chen, al jazeera, kern county, california. and that's it for us here on america tonight, moment don't forget that frizz on our program,

hopefully a country that actually coined the term gross happiness, that's what many refugees are doing. america tonight sits down with one of the country's fastest growing refugee groups and talk about why that is friday on america tonight. and please remember, if you would like to comment on the stories, you can log on to our website aljazeera.com/america tonight. and you can always join the conversation with us on twitter. good night we will have more of america tonight tomorrow. >> sca sca s