Gordon Lewis

Part 2 Long Essay on Immigrant/Minority Distinction

Although this idea was not mentioned by any of the essays I read in the Web review above, I thought that one of the links presented by Dr. Craig on the first day of class helped set the tone for the course, and in particular for Objective One.  Some ideas are so obvious, you are surprised that the idea has not previously been presented to you.  The link presented was to the Wikipedia article identifying American people by ethnic or national origin.  Seeing the list of the 110 categories of immigrants and aboriginal Americans visually reinforces the well known statement that we are a nation of immigrants.  Thus it follows, we would, by definition, also be a nation of substantial immigrant literature, particularly the literature of the first three or four generations, until the family is totally americanized.  Thus the statement of Objective 1, that the immigrant narrative is a fundamental story-line of American culture, should be a given once you acknowledge the basic premise that the country is a nation of immigrants.

The transition to the Crevecoeur reading, “Letters from an American Farmer”, which I read years ago and have not thought of for years, complements the introduction to the course by the definition of an American.  “It (America) is not composed, as in Europe, of great lords who possess every thing and of a herd of people who have nothing.  . . . The rich and the poor are not so far removed from each others as they are in Europe. . . .whence came all these people? They are mixture of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes.  From this promiscuous breed, that race now called Americans have arisen . . . that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. . . . Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men” (Letter III).  Herein the concept of America as a melting pot of nationalities was born and is internationally the concept that is held of what Americans are.  This concept is an integral part of Objective Two of the course and the idea of the assimilation of the immigrant population to the dominant culture has played and replayed itself throughout the history of the nation.  Indeed, the “Model Minority” identified in objective two is applied to immigrant groups who appear to effortlessly assimilate economically, educationally, socially and culturally into the dominant culture.  Originally, the dominant culture represented those Northern European cultures identified by Crevecoeur, but as the years have gone by, the definition has been expanded to include all of those immigrants who have successfully assimilated.

The implied social contract of the immigrant became that since the immigrant voluntarily came to America, they agreed to assimilate, work hard and become successful and educate their children so that subsequent generations would be even better assimilated.  As can be seen in the literature, although this model may be ideal, there were frequently problems that developed that interfered in individual cases.  In general, however, the myth of the immigrant story is that with hard work, the protestant work ethic of the dominant majority, all can have the opportunity to succeed.

In fact, life is messy and very seldom neatly follows any particular outline.  This complexity is reflected in the immigrant narrative.  The American Dream is reflected in several of our readings, including, “In the American Society”, by Gish Jen.  In this narrative, the family quickly succeeds and the father owns a pancake house that is successful and the mother is a manager at a supermarket and has a car.  Later the family becomes affluent enough that the mother leaves her position and considers joining the country club.  The parents plan to send their children to college.  However, all is not peaches and cream, and the story also documents the father’s resistance to assimilation.  This resistance, identified as Stage 3 in Objective Two of our course, is also part of the minority narrative which is both multilayered and multifaceted.  In this narrative, the father resists adapting to American business practices which damages his business and the mother’s plans for country club membership are dashed by both the prejudice against a Chinese family and the father’s unwillingness to conform to social niceties. (IA 158-171)

The multiple dimensions of the immigrant narrative are again reflected in Yezierska, “Soap and Water,” where the heroine of the story succeeds in the American Dream by working hard in a part time job while completing her education, only to face disappointment because of the prejudice of ‘Miss Whiteside,’ the dean who endeavors to deny her a diploma because of her appearance (106).  The irony of the situation is that her ‘dirty’ appearance is a result of her job in a cleaners where she provides clean clothes for the dominant culture.   Although she does obtain her diploma, self esteem and appearance issues keep her at the bottom of her profession as a substitute teacher.  The story does end on a hopeful note where the heroine finally discovers her potential because of the support of a college teacher who befriends her and the reader is left with the impression that eventually she fulfills her American Dream (110).

Sometimes the dichotomy between the expectation of the immigrant and the reality of their experience is bitter.  In Sui Din Far’s, In the Land of the Free, the immigrant father has saved enough to send for his child and his wife.  As they enter the harbor, the mother says to the baby, “See, Little One . . . there is thy home for years to come.  It is very beautiful and thou wilt be very happy there. . . . there is where thy father is making a fortune for thee” (IA 3).  These hopes and expectations are dashed when the custom officials take the child into custody because of a technicality and the mother and child are separated for so many months that the child forgets the mother.  Thus it can quickly be seen from some of the immigrant narratives that the concept that the American Dream is a smooth transition for all immigrants is more myth than reality.  This is discussed in the course outline as stage 3 in Objective Two, ‘Shock, exploitation and discrimination,’ facing the immigrant.  The experience of losing their child certainly caused shock to the family unit and the family is exploited by an attorney who appears to overcharge for his assistance in getting the child returned to the family.

The variety of immigrant expectations is reflected in the story, “The English Lesson.”  Learning English is one of the principal goals of those immigrants seeking assimilation, Stage 4 of Objective Two, and each student in the class identifies their personal goals and how learning English will advance their ambitions.  William Colon seeks to get a better job to help his family, Mr. Joseph Fong and Mr. Aldo Fabrizi sought citizenship and to improve their position.  In general, the students in the class follow the goals of assimilation that are so well identified in Objective Two, and even Diego Torres was in the class to improve his economic situation even though he had no interest in citizenship and planned to eventually return to his home country.  Mrs. Hamma, the teacher, endeavors to inculcate the values of the American society into her class and encourages the students to continue to advance their skills in English and enroll in the next class.  (IA 21-34)

Although many immigrants attempt to follow the pathway of the model immigrant, as I mentioned above, the immigrant narrative is multifaceted and multilayered.  An example of these multiple aspects was identified by Kimberly Dru Pritchard in her web review in class where she references a paper that asserts that many sociological studies prove that a woman’s immigration from a patriarchal society to a democratic society proves to be more beneficial for her and less positive for her husband or father who often loses authority.  This is reflected by Lali in “The English Lesson” above and in the Kingston excerpt from The Woman Warrior, where the female character states, “When I visit the family now, I wrap my American successes around me like a private shawl:” (VA 200)

The immigrant narrative, which tends to reflect at least aspects of the American Dream, is different for minority groups whose narrative can be described as the American Nightmare.   Objective Three of the course discusses the difference in the social contract of minority groups who may, in the case of many Blacks, have been forcibly brought here as slaves, and thus may view their relationship with this country as one of exploitation rather than one of opportunity.  In addition, the American Indian would view the white society as a nation of conquerors who invaded their country and took their culture and land.  For this group as well, the arrival of the immigrants is a nightmare, not a dream.  Thus the nature of the social contract of the minority and the nation is different from that of the immigrant who voluntarily arrived in the country. 

The readings of minority literature that I viewed as particularly significant were the Selections from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Gustavus Vassa, or Olaudah Equiano, The African (London, 1789).  His narrative is identified as being unique because it discusses his memory of life in Africa, the voyage to America, as well as his experiences as a slave in this country.  The horrors of the slaves captured in this slave trade and their life in this country as chattel are well documented in this narrative.  He states, “in this manner, without scruple, are relations and friends separated, most of them never to see each other again” (Reprint 7).

Although there are numerous themes that reoccur in minority literature, the one that I wanted to discuss in this essay is the theme of the color code, which is also a theme in immigrant literature.   Nellie Wong, in her poem, “When I Was Growing Up,” states, “I know now that once I longed to be white (UA 55).  This compares to Patricia Smith’s poem on a similar theme, “Blond White Women,” where she speaks of using crayons to change the color of her skin, pressing so hard that the skin broke.  Smith also speaks in her poem about bleaches for the skin and hair straightening products that were referenced by Carrie Arnett in her class report referenced above (UA 77-79).

This theme of the color code is referenced throughout minority literature and in immigrant literature as well.  In “Silent Dancing,” Cofer states that her father could pass for white but not the children.  James Baldwin in “No Name in the Street,” uses a limousine because a Black has difficulty hailing a cab in New York City.  In “Children of the Sea,” Danticat’s character worries that the sun is making them darker (IA 101).

The color code has made assimilation of minorities, particularly the Black minority, and to a lesser extent, the American Indian minority, to the melting pot concept of America very difficult until very recently in our history.  Indeed, many Southern States had laws forbidding relationships between the races.  Although Blacks have been in this country for over 200 years, because of the differing social contract that accompanied how they got here and the continuing discrimination even after slavery ended, it has only been recently, according to texts written by John McWhorter, that after 40 years of affirmative action, some black families are now participating in the American Dream.

Hispanic writers have a foot in both camps.  Much of their writing, like Pat Mora’s poem, “Immigrants,” is traditional immigrant literature where she references the goal of the parents that their children will both adopt American values, “feed them mashed hot dogs and apple pie, name them Bill and Daisy, buy them blonde dolls . . . ,” and will also be “liked” by the dominant culture (UA 119).  Mora and Gary Soto, in “Like Mexicans,” both connect the immigrant story of the Mexican to the immigrant story of other nationalities.  Mora use the concept that the parents whisper in Spanish or Polish in her poem, and Soto sees the link between the Japanese immigrant and the Mexican immigrant who both face the challenges of poverty as they struggle in their new country (VA 301-304).  However, I learned in my readings about Mora that in many of her writings she identifies Mexican Americans and Hispanics as a minority group in this country.  I think it is probable that depending on which generation you have contact with and the location of the family in the country, both may be simultaneously true.  In some parts of the country, particularly with illegal aliens and first generation families, Mexicans may be treated more like a minority group.  However, many third and fourth generations families, like Mora’s own family, are assimilated into the culture and some no longer identify with their Hispanic heritage.

I have found the reading in this class very enriching.  Like many Americans, I like happy endings and have not dwelt much on the pain and isolation that may be associated with both the immigrant and the minority family.   Reading this literature has made me much more sympathetic to the struggles of both the immigrant and the minority, and I am one who considered himself sympathetic to these issues before taking this course.  In addition, I have become much more cognizant of the diversity of our country, although again, before taking this course I had a great deal of recognition of the multi-dimensional nature of our population as this was a subject of conversation in our home when I was growing up and we lived in a neighborhood of diverse ethnics.  I intend to incorporate much of what I have learned in this class in the high school literature classes that I teach.