In the West there was panic when the migrants multiplied on the highways. Men of property were terrified for their property. Men who had never been hungry saw the eyes of the hungry. Men who had never wanted anything very much saw the flare of want in the eyes of the migrants. And the men of the towns and of the soft suburban country gathered to defend themselves; and they reassured themselves that they were good and the invaders bad, as a man must do before he fights. They said, These goddamned Okies are dirty and ignorant. They’re degenerate, sexual maniacs. Those goddamned Okies are thieves. They’ll steal anything. They’ve got no sense of property rights.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 21. The mass exodus of hungry migrants from Oklahoma into California puts Californians in fear for themselves, their property and their own jobs. This fear triggers a deep hostility and prejudice towards the "Okies," who not welcome and seen as subhuman by the residents of the Golden State.