Thursday, 1 June 2006: Examples of the Immigrant Narrative.

Dominant culture moment: Katherine Rearick

Education and the Dominant Culture

            In America, education is not (as it is in many other countries) a privilege reserved only for members of the dominant culture. In this country, education is considered a right; idealistic Americans feel obligated to educate their fellow citizens, and citizens, in turn, feel entitled to an education. In America, education is equated with opportunity and the potential for success; it is the core ingredient of the American Dream.

            However, this promise of education for all comes with several caveats. Though most Americans uphold education as a human right, there often seems to be an underlying premise that only “model immigrants” are deserving of that right. Americans hold up education as a beacon of hope, available to all who want it if they just work hard enough, but immigrant literature also describes a perceived hidden agenda. To become educated, one must meet certain standards (cleanliness, eagerness, loyalty, and a blind willingness to conform) or else encounter a barrier beyond which one cannot progress.

            The three short stories we read for today’s class depict an interesting dichotomy. On one hand, there is the belief that education is a uniquely American right and the key to success in this country; on the other hand, there is the additional perception of many immigrants that the dominant culture is somehow using education (and educational institutions) as a means of asserting power and maintaining the status quo. Three very short, yet very telling, passages from this week’s readings reflect this idea:

• From Anzia Yezierska’s “Soap and Water,” on page 107, paragraphs 5 through 8 (“Going to college…the frigid whitewashed wall of cleanliness.”)

• From Barbara Grizzuti Harrison’s “Going Home: Brooklyn Revisited,” page 159, paragraph 3 (“Bensonhurst is still…decent, hardworking patriots.”)

• From “The English Lesson” by Nicholasa Mohr, page 24, paragraph 14 (“Mrs Hamma selected…her final choice.”)

      Finally, after examining the experiences of these immigrants attempting to obtain an education in the United States, one particular question stands out: Is there a conspiracy (spoken or unspoken, conscious or subconscious) by the dominant culture that uses education as a means of controlling or subverting immigrant and minority cultures? And if so, what are the reasons for its existence?

• From Anzia Yezierska’s “Soap and Water,” on page 107, paragraphs 5 through 8 (“Going to college…the frigid whitewashed wall of cleanliness.”)

            I chose this passage because it shows both sides of the coin: the ideal of education in America, as well as the reality of dominant culture roadblocks the immigrant might encounter

• From Barbara Grizzuti Harrison’s “Going Home: Brooklyn Revisited,” page 159, paragraph 3 (“Bensonhurst is still…decent, hardworking patriots.”)

            I chose this one to illustrate the pride the Italian-Americans have in their neighborhood school; the school, the educational institution, in fact, represents their community as a whole. But this passage also illustrates a perceived threat by the dominant culture; the neighborhood people think that “they” are bussing in outsiders to somehow subvert their “Italian-ess.”

• From “The English Lesson” by Nicholasa Mohr, page 24, paragraph 14 (“Mrs Hamma selected…her final choice.”)

            This passage illustrates the power that education gives the dominant culture; whether or not Mrs. Hamma is asserting it maliciously, that imbalance between immigrant and native is always there.