While looking for interesting midterms to review, I came across three examples of something I might say if asked about Immigrant Literature. Some of the stories these students read were different than the ones this semester, but the bottom line is still the same. There are two distinct categories of literature here, immigrant and minority, and some pieces overlap the categories. The immigrant narrative is seen as: 

…inseparable from the American Dream—the belief held by many that through hard work and determination, anyone could make a better life for oneself and one’s family. This dream is forged by the values needed to achieve it. “Soap and Water” epitomizes the general understanding of the immigrant work ethic: toiling away at a terrible job while being driven only by the hope that one day you will not have to do so much just to get so little. [JC]

JC puts it so plainly, but polished. These people leave their homes in their country, often leaving family behind as well, searching for a way to improve their quality of life. They often have little or nothing and expect to find better opportunities here.

            Some immigrants do not fit in completely with either group. The Mexican Americans usually fall here. JO’G sums up the main reason for this murkiness. “Like the Mexican Americans narrative, the Afro-Caribbean narrative involves a nearby home country or old world, which allows one to move between the two worlds more easily, thus interfering with the original idea of the immigrant narrative, and interrupting the assimilation process.”  [JO’G] The Afro-Caribbean immigrants also face another challenge for assimilation. They must face the color code. Although not a true minority situation where they were brought to this country by force for labor, they are often seen as part of the minority because of the color of their skin.

            The groups referred to as minorities are the Native Americans and the African Americans. They see the exploitation where others see opportunity. American immigration is a “Nightmare” rather than a dream. They are forced to comply with the dominant culture. “What is frequently overlooked is the enormous power of societal norms on an individual. For those in the dominant culture, the view is great. For those outside looking in, the view is entirely different. The literature of immigrants and minorities brings the pressure of these “norms” to light. The literature is basically a history of society.” [RH] Their literature is so extremely important because otherwise there would only be an inaccurate portrait of immigration as this positive experience. I wouldn’t have thought about it in terms of these pieces being their history.

[Tiffany] 

In browsing through the previous midterm examinations and model assignments, there are numerous good answers worth reviewing, but only a few stood out to me above the rest as they had adequately captured the intentions of the course.  For instance, one student in a 2003 midterm writes:

http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/hsh/Whitec/LITR/4333/models/2003/midterm/mt03samples.htm

The immigrant and minority experience intertwine, never being clearly defined or strongly muddled.  While some parts of the journey for one group are voluntary, others experience a completely different American dream.  Each immigrant narrative follows stages, but not all immigrant cultures assimilate into the dominant culture.  Those that most resemble the dominant culture find the easiest assimilation, although not necessarily the acceptance they expected.

This short and sweet introduction captures the essence of the immigrant narrative completely.  Just as we have discussed in class, at times there is a great deal of overlap between both minority and immigrant narratives, and sometimes it can be hard to tell one from the other.  In addition, sometimes the rejection that immigrants face on arrival might confuse the reader as to whether they are reading an immigrant or minority narrative.

Another student’s response to a 2003 midterm includes:
http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/hsh/Whitec/LITR/4333/models/2003/midterm/mt03samples.htm

The Immigrant Narrative provides a valuable way to investigate American multicultural studies and literature. Like a kaleidoscope, the Immigrant Narrative offers us a multifaceted, colorful picture of what it means to become an American. A kaleidoscope needs to be held up to a bright light in order to get the clearest view. Similarly, the story of America’s people needs the illumination that the Immigrant Narrative can give.

This student couldn’t be closer to the truth.  As a country founded by immigrants, the study of American immigrant literature is not only needed but a justified learning experience to gain insight into our own past as American citizens.  Perhaps if the dominant culture were to take a look back at where they came from to begin with, there would be less exploitation and discrimination towards those that are just arriving in this country.  When people forget where they come from and the struggles that their family once had to endure, they lose some part of themselves in the translation.  An in depth study of the immigration process and the stories told by immigrants, we gain a better understanding of who we are, and the events and activities that still influence our lives even to this very day.

In a 2002 Midterm one student writes:
http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/hsh/Whitec/LITR/4333/models/2002/midterm/mt02ess2immmin.htm

            One aspect that sets humans apart from other creatures is our need to tell stories.  These stories, or narratives, help us to make sense of our experiences, our history.  Narratives that have been written by American Immigrants, Native Americans, and other minority writers can thus provide a mechanism through which the life experiences of members of these groups can be studied. Although the authors of these narratives share at least one critical thing in common in that they all belong to non-dominant cultures, their stories often seem to have more differences than similarities.  Attitudes and assimilation patterns tend to differ according to the group’s reasons for coming to America, their experiences upon arrival, and the degree to which they are accepted by the dominant American culture.

As a future educator who hopes to instruct a reading/language arts classroom, I recognize the need for multiculturalism in the classroom, and I recognize the importance of introducing students to a wide variety of texts for their digestion. I whole heartedly hope that when I do get the opportunity to teach that I am allowed to include a selection of American immigrant literature into my own lesson plans as it not only is interesting on the merits of a good narrative, but it also can be a teaching device to help promote equality among students, and can help students to realize that their differences are not always weaknesses, but are actually the things that make them stronger individuals all together.  In addition, by using the American immigrant narrative as a teaching device, it may help remove some of the tensions students feel who attend school that are 1^st or 2^nd generation immigrants themselves. 

[Jason]

While reading the sample midterms I noticed many references to black, white and gray. I found this interesting because our class discussions mentioned this too. There is a human tendency to classify things and if we cannot classify something, it drives us crazy. Yet black and white, both in the sense of a clear-cut division of anything or literally the black and white race, only account for the obvious. When all things are classified under these terms, either one or the other, there must be some misclassification; many get left out. The use of black and white is limiting and ignorant; it provides for an “easy” way to see the world, but an inaccurate one. When you realize that these old classifications do not work, you acknowledge the complexity of the world and of the human race, and in turn show respect for differences, rather than contempt.

Midterm Samples

“Our world consists of many shades of gray.” PJ 2006

“The examples above show that the color code is not “black and white.”  JC 2006

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Midterm Sample

“The immigrant narrative is the fundamental story-line of the dominant culture in the United States. This is because immigrants (the majority of people in the U.S.) chose to come to America.”  MG 2001

I like this statement because it reminds me that even the white people who fondly call themselves Americans were once immigrants, too. We often forget that the Americans who set up the original colonies were actually from England. A major difference between the British immigrants who founded the colonies and other immigrants is that America and the American way was initiated and created by the British.

I love the phrasing of “The immigrant narrative is the fundamental story-line of the dominant culture.” This provides a direct connection between immigrants and the dominant culture, which is sometimes hard to pick out.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Midterm Sample LITR 5733

“The narratives of immigrants and minorities are woven as multi-hued and multi-textured threads in the tapestry of the overarching story of America. In seeing the tapestry as a whole, a cloth that protects us, identifies us, and comforts us, we sometimes assume its strength and beauty comes from the quality of the loom, from the machinations of living within the governmental and societal constructs of America. We frequently assume that the tapestry represents a final product whose many parts are rendered the same by virtue of having passed through the same machine. That assumption allows us to dismiss the power, beauty and characteristics of each strand, or narrative, in the tapestry.”  SC 2004

First, I love the words and imagery this student used in these statements. This is so elegantly stated. I can picture a beautiful tapestry with the colors of all cultures woven together. I also love how he or she continued with this idea throughout the paragraph. The tapestry can be compared to the melting pot concept. Everything comes together to make something new, but the individual cultures are cast aside. In a way, it is comforting to know we are all accepted into one piece of art, one identity, because many immigrants strive for that acceptance. Yet to achieve this acceptance, much of our individuality and previous culture must be dismissed. It is not all bad to become a united culture, as seen in the beauty of the tapestry, but each strand contributes to that beauty and works together to make the whole and must be considered a contribution, not a renouncing of each strand’s uniqueness.

[Ashley W]

After reviewing model assignments from past semesters I found the most interesting comments that caught my attention amidst a tremendous amount of essays.  These caught my attention because they are so beautifully simplistic that they made me smile with knowledge and understanding.

In a LITR 4333 midterm 2006 PJ wrote, “On the other hand, due to segregation and oppression by white European immigrant descendants, African Americans are faced with unique obstacles.  They did not fit into the dominant white culture ideal and often were a representation of former slave-owner descendent guilt.”  This statement is so blatant and forthcoming that it jumped out of the page at me.  The truth within this little statement speaks volumes of the minority narrative.  I am able to understand the modern African American minority narrative a bit better when I think in the above stated terms.

In a LITR 5731 midterm 2006 Carrie Arnett wrote “As the color code brands people either black and white, we must not forget the shades of grey that exists in the American culture.  Often intertwined and confused about their own culture, lies a group that does not have a definite place in either the immigrant or the minority narrative.”  I wanted to shout AMEN when I read this statement.  The “in-between” culture that exists within America is so often forgotten or dismissed and branded a “color”.  Labeling is an instrument used by the dominant culture that allows people to stay segregated within their own minds.  Every person has their own story and identity to which contributes to the American narrative as a whole.

In a LITR 5731 midterm 2006 Kristen Bird wrote, “America is not merely a set of ideals set forth by the founding fathers; America is necessarily a combination of cultures, of ideas, of traditions, of people.  And these people come from a variety of countries, political, economic and social backgrounds and bring with them a myriad of characteristics to offer America.”  America is a wondrous and evolving spectrum of life.  Stories make up the voice of America, while the beauty of all the cultures makes up the face of America.  We are a beautiful painting that when looked at close up looks like a blob of colors but after a step back is taken the picture becomes clear and vivid and the details can be enjoyed as the whole.

As you can see, I found that previous students, as a majority, concluded the same information as me.  I really enjoyed this assignment because it helped me put new and fresh words and ideas into my head about American Immigrant literature.  I have always had a respect for all cultural narratives but now I see new beauty in words in which to describe the history of my home.

[Julie]

I selected the Model Assignments of KM/2003  LITR 4333 submissions,   because of the statement, “[T]he United States is a country that welcomes legal immigration and encourages diversity,” I have to say that I find only part of this statement is truly correct. Yes, the United States does welcome legal immigration, but as far as it encouraging diversity, I have to disagree. The United States is built on the foundations, traditions and premises of a dominant culture, that being the Euro-Caucasian. Although there are several different ethnicities encompassed in the United States, not all are privy to the same treatment/privileges that the dominant culture experiences. For instance, if the United States did encourage diversity, why then do African Americans still fall into the minority narrative? They have been here long enough to assimilate to the dominant culture, but America has continually limited their entrance by not affording them the same opportunities it affords other ethnicities like Asians.  Therefore, in regards to the United States encouraging diversity, I disagree with that part of her statement.  Another area that I found especially interesting  in this essay was the statement, “[A] good experience as an immigrant to America…is not always the case,” she hits the nail right on the head and her usage of  Anzia Yeziersks,’“Soap and Water,” was the perfect example in providing the reader with a story that exemplifies the difficulties of assimilation.   This essay served as a reminder of the different perspectives that individuals have when thinking about the American Immigrant Narrative— depending on the experiences you encounter, your perception of the American Dream can differ.

My next review was taken from the Model Assignments titled The Narratives and their Weavings-2006. I chose this selection simply because the essayist does a great job of distinguishing the reasons behind the immigrants’ quest for the “American Dream.” The essay makes mention of three specific desires that the American Immigrant seeks in  securing their  American Dream, stating, “Some for economic growth, others for social acceptance and others just do it in the name of progress and success.” This reminded me of our class discussions and seemed to pair up with the story, “In American Society,” by Gish Jen.  The Asian family is the perfect example because it shows these three elements as their perception of the American Dream. Another reason for selecting this essay was I could see these three elements were direct issues that have lead the immigrant to want to leave his or her homeland, due to limited opportunities.  I found that this essay also brought up a very significant issue that many people are not always aware of and that is the “socio-economic boundaries,” that exist in society. I find this to be true as well, especially with minorities. They tend to stay within similar financial arenas, and those that seek beyond are often criticized for their efforts and or labeled as “trying to be white.” It is as though staying within your own financial arena is a way of showing that you remain intact with your identity.  The essay also mentions that the skin complexion is important to many ethnicities. This is so true, as I have seen in many instances within my own family that they would rather you marry someone who looks like you. I often wondered if there was any reasoning behind it and after asking several relatives found that it can diminish a lot of extra confrontation in the marriage, however as mentioned in class regarding the story, “Like Mexicans,” it can also serve to stifle the growth process and make assimilation more difficult and less attainable. This essay showed me that there are many facets to the American dream and that despite all its glitter not everyone wants a piece of the pie.

My final review was on a review of poetry   conducted by Mary Tinsley-2006. My reason for selecting this was its content regarding the poem, “Being Jewish in a Small Town,” by Lyn Lifshin. The fact that the young girl in the poem wanted so desperately to connect with her classmates truly pinched my heart. Children should not have to be subjected to the pains of prejudices, but often times are. The continual rejection she endured was enough to make the individual isolate themselves or resort to completely denying their ethnicity.  This is what happened to me. Growing up in a place like Mississippi where all my relatives were black, dark black at that, was very difficult. I was constantly ridiculed by my own relatives, classmates, and once even was threatened with hot grits and lye by old woman. Being a child, I truly had no understanding of why this was happening. I can remember never being invited to parties, and not having many friends. So I can truly relate to the, “otherness, exclusion, ethnic slurs by her classmates,” expressed in the poetry review. This review hit close to home and reminded me of the pain I felt growing up in Mississippi, and how much I hated being any part of being black. I felt as though I connected with what the poetry reviewer was expressing.

[Christina]

When reviewing the previous web reviews from the model assignments web page there were three in particular that stood out because they shared the same thought process as my own, introduced new ideas and concepts, and the final one was so intense that it compelled me to comment.

 In the 2006 midterm by [TC]  the author states that the poet, “Chrystos, [is] representative of a true minority, the American Indian, whom utilizes strong, forceful phrases in her works to exemplify the injustices done to the group of people that she identifies with.”  I had these same feelings after I read the poem.  “…The Treaty of the United States” includes the line “you must be some ghost in the wrong place.”  This is a powerful statement.  In just a few words Chrystos is able to state his opinion about the U.S. and also set the tone for the entire poem.  Continuing with emotion the author pleads“…go home, we’re tired we signed / no treaty  WHAT are you still doing here.”  These two phrases are very moving in themselves.  You know, exactly, that the author is referring to the United States taking over Indian land and pushing them into reservation life.  It states the problem and even does so much as to offer a solution guaranteed to make the Indian’s lives well again, “revoke your immigration papers.”  This also ties in with Objective three, “social contracts.”  Here, the minority voice speaks not of opportunity, but instead exploitation.  Unlike Immigrants, minorities don’t want to change and as a result won’t.

Next, in a 2004 Midterm response, GH shared a personal attribute to her essay.  “My fellow officer believed himself to be better than the gentleman because he belonged... it is very important to separate from such “markings” in order to fit in fully, not be marked as “other”, and reach the “American Dream” (there are exceptions of course).  This is not to say that immigrants resist assimilation merely that they do not continue [traditions and beliefs] after a couple of generations.”  I thought that this was an intriguing example of what it means for an Immigrant to want to become successful in the United States.  The “markings” the author refers to could be an accent, a dialect, or even possibly as simple as a few words from a native language.  She is saying essentially that in order to succeed, an immigrant must lose all aspects of their native heritage and adapt to those of the norm in our present society.  Although I am fully aware that in order to “succeed” in the twentieth century, immigrant-Americans must change, this statement only proves the seriousness and aggressiveness of the “change or get lost attitude” America gives these immigrants, immigrants hoping, dreaming, for a fresh start embedded with new opportunities.

The final essay I chose to quote is located in AP’s 2002 midterm sample.   “The minority experience of leaving the Old World and entering the New World is very different. For the minority the Old World is the place that they want to be. Instead of willingly coming to the New World, minorities are forced. This brings about feelings of shock and resistance. They experience widespread discrimination.  I think that this statement is an accurate description of the minority narrative stories.  From these negative feelings, different minority groups featured in our class texts use similar emotions such as feats of desire, drive, visions, and even ambitions toward their ideas of success within the New World.  The narratives though, unlike the willing immigrant stories include conflict, challenges, denials, and opposition as if the first four weren’t acceptable enough reason to show you the hardships on the way to their new, forced lives. 

[Mallory]

Web Review

            During my review I found an essay called, “The Narratives and Their Weavings,” by [MC] in the LITR 4333, 2006 midterms. This essay looked at the different paths immigrants and minorities take to assimilate into the dominant culture. First, [MC] looks at Diego from The English Lesson, and the choices he makes to assimilate “only that of necessity and no further. His character sheds light on a smaller group of immigrants who come for economic purposes but not to be Americans” (MC). This interested me because it doesn’t matter why Diego came here; he is forced into assimilation to better his economic status by learning to speak English. In class we discussed why Diego did not want to be an American, but we didn’t look at the ways he is forced into assimilation. Next, [MC] looks at the story Like Mexicans and the real reasons behind the grandmother pushing for the narrator to marry a Mexican girl. “It was not that he should not marry anyone else other than a Mexican; she just wanted him to marry someone like him (Mexican). The similar tonalities in skin complexion, the same housing conditions, and the metaphorical chickens trying to get in are symbolic of everyone’s (minority, immigrant, or chicken) hunger for their opportunity. In this particular situation, demonstrative similarities help us to understand their individuality. This overlapping of narratives expresses the difficulty and complexities of achieving the American Dream for both minorities and immigrants alike” (MC). Marrying someone with the same background as the narrator will help him establish his identity and assimilate. This is an interesting take on Like Mexicans because I thought she wanted him to marry a Mexican girl for the purpose of hanging on to the Mexican culture. Both sections of the passage discuss the involvement that economics plays in the way of assimilation.

            The second essay I looked at was a 2006 midterm by [ML] called, “I must admit, when I signed up for this course, I was not at all thrilled.” I like the way he started his essay by touching on the immigrant experience as being torn between to cultures. He says, “We often think in think in black and white, never thinking about the struggles of the shades that are “in between.” The immigrant struggle is fairly similar to the minority struggle in that there is a underlying desire to assimilate into dominate culture, maybe due to prestige and acknowledge from the dominant culture, while still maintaining the values and beliefs from their own culture, instilled by the home country.” This statement reinforces almost all of the stories we have read, where the first generation immigrants try to hang on to their culture, while the younger generation assimilates more easily. Allowing for them to leave behind the influences of old culture and adapt to the dominant culture. [ML] uses an example from The Lesson, where “the minority narrative seems to be more hostile towards the dominant culture. The protagonist and the rest of the gang are led by Miss Moore, which is seen as a representation of the dominant culture. While they accept that they must sit though these lessons, in no way are they going to enjoy it. In a way, they see the desire for dominant culture to impose their viewpoints and customs on them as exploitation of their own viewpoints and customs.” This story is different because assimilation is shown as a conflict to establish the character’s values. It is interesting to see that values are not set in stone, and the dominant culture tends to strongly reinforce its own.

            Last, I looked at a poetry presentation on “I Have Not Signed a Treaty with the United States Government,” by [TM] in 2006 for LITR 4333. Her presentation was short, but packed with some good points. One point “…is that Native American people are still an important part of this countries heritage and their voice counts. The Native American people have their own dream and should not be forced to assimilate to the dominant culture’s American Dream.” TM’s viewpoint of the poem is interesting because today we overlook the Native Americans right to have a voice about culture in America. The Native Americans are similar to the minorities, but at the same time they don’t have a home country they can return to.

            I learned from the reviews that assimilation to the dominant culture is more complex than what we talked about in class. The dominant culture imposes itself on all immigrants and minorities, just by them living in America. I could see more in depth of how the immigrants and minorities struggled with assimilating into the dominant culture while trying to establish their cultural identity.

[Donna]

As I wandered aimlessly through sample midterms from 2006, I came across a passage that spoke to me.  Though we have been discussing immigration and minority status in class, I have not once imagined or considered the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty.  Now, that could just be because I have never seen more than a picture of it due to being a southern girl, but I think it is disembodied from our studies for me because of the incongruity between the statue’s message and the reality of immigration and minority status in America.  According to JO’G’s 2006 midterm, the statue “breathes the life of opportunity and hope for a prosperous future,” while, at the same time, it is “the beginning of a hopeful fairytale for the ‘tired…poor…huddled masses yearning to breathe free”’ and “a narrative of sacrifices made and endured; consensual and otherwise.”  This icon full of hope and strength seems out of place in context with the significant amounts of heartache and mistreatment American Immigrants and minorities suffer as related in the literature from class. 

            We talk about chasing the American Dream and making more for ourselves, but texts such as “Like Mexicans” show that dream to be a myth.  As the dominant culture in America walls immigrants and minorities into nice little docile compartments, those same people learn to put boundaries on themselves.  According to MC in a 2006 midterm, the narrator’s grandmother is promoting those same boundaries on her grandson when she wants him to marry a Mexican girl.  “It was not that he should not marry anyone else other than a Mexican; she just wanted him to marry someone like him.”  MC stated, “the similar tonalities in skin complexion, the same housing conditions, and the metaphorical chickens trying to get in are symbolic of everyone’s (minority, immigrant, or chicken) hunger for their opportunity,” but I would like to take that a step farther.  I believe the grandmother assumed it to be impossible for the grandson to leave his low socioeconomic status behind and wanted him to marry within his class standing according to the pressure from the dominant culture.  We can embrace the Statue of Liberty as an icon of freedom and the American Dream all we want, but the fear the narrator of “Like Mexicans” feels when riding out to his Chinese girlfriend’s mother’s house is palpable.  His overwhelming relief at her similar social status and subsequent insistence on it being alright to marry her despite the love they share is a brutal reminder of the hold the dominant culture has on immigrants and minorities. 

            In connection to this idea of dominant culture oppression, I had to include Ashley Fonteno’s 2007 poetry reading interpretation of “Blonde White Women.”  Ashley begins the discussion by saying, “the poem expresses Patricia Smith’s anger and frustration as she is forced to live in a world where beauty is defined by the dominant culture, whites.  Forced to deal with the issue of whiteness as the “standard” for beauty, she rejects her own beauty. After growing up she realizes that black is beautiful too and rediscovers her ethnic identity.”  Many people in our class felt the narrator of the poem is too hostile and is merely projecting her own discomfort on other people.  Regardless of whether this is true or not, the poem is yet another example of the hold the dominant culture forces on others who do not fit the standard of existence required.  The American nation projects a sense of belonging and freedom in the form of the Statue of Liberty that is misleading and detrimental to the will of immigrants and minorities alike.  There is no justice in a system bent on oppression by a dominant culture that is the true minority.  As we have seen in class and is evident in the samples I have chosen, it is necessary to step back from this aversion to allowing cultural and ethnic diversity rule freely and to embrace the beauty evident in the multicultural mix that is America.

[Cheryl]

 . . . Carrie Arnett’s summer 2006 graduate seminar midterm focuses on the literature aspects of American immigrants and the choices they make regarding assimilation.  Arnett suggests “immigrants typically assimilate and lose their ethnic identity as each generation passes, while minorities seem to remain distinct” resisting the dominant culture.  The narrators’ find themselves at a fork in the road.  The narrators’ choices include assimilation to the dominant culture or resistance to the dominant culture (Arnett).  Arnett’s focus on the narrators suggests a literary analysis instead of an oppression-based analysis of the literary work.  Most of our class discussions fall into a “that’s wrong” category focusing on discrimination and prejudice.  I would like my classmates to look closer at the literary aspects of our readings, like Arnett does, and not base the majority of the discussions on discrimination, prejudice, and racism.  Some people cannot see past the social negation of others and the literature tends to get lost in translation. . . .

[Tanya]

 . . . Also among the LITR 5731 Midterm Essays, I found interest in what Carrie Arnett had to say about the duality of the Mexican-American immigrant. She initially reminds us of the fact that Mexican-American immigrants are unique in that they do not have to cross an ocean to get to America and so can remain loyal to their homelands. Discussing Candelaria’s “El Patron,” Arnett notes, “Senor Martinez struggles between the duality that exists from living in both the Old World and New World, a common characteristic found within the ambivalent minority narrative.” Though he immigrated to America from Mexico, Senor Martinez desires to honor and remain loyal to his Old World country and wishes his son to do the same. This started me thinking, though, that the Mexican-American narrative (as well as other New World immigrant narratives) resembles both the immigrant and minority narrative because Mexican-Americans choose to immigrate in the first place in search of opportunity, etc., which aligns them with the criteria of the immigrant narrative, but they also choose to hold on to their ties to Mexico, and in this case even remain more loyal to Mexico than America. Because of this, Mexican-Americans fit the minority pattern of involuntary participants of American culture who resist assimilation and preserve their ethnic / cultural identity, yet, they are in fact voluntary participants who display immigrant ideas of economic opportunity. So, at least sometimes, Mexican-American immigrants (as well as other New World immigrants) create this duality or ambivalence for themselves. I found this unique in that neither of the other groups we consider minority groups had the choice to create their status in any way; their cultural status resulted as something that happened to them. . . . [Rhonda]

 . . . One final midterm from 2002 caught my eye with these words:

American immigrants historically come to America to escape economic or political difficulties.  America thus becomes a modern day promised land.  Unfortunately, however, like the Israelites of long ago, immigrants often find that the milk and honey of the American promised land comes with a heavy price tag [JS].

America often was and still is looked at as the “promised land”, the way out, or even God’s country. The fact remains that the dominant culture cries out all around leaving little room for the immigrant to always completely and quickly assimilate. Which leaves me to wonder…is the dominant culture responsible for the resistance that is often felt from many who refuse to truly embrace America? [Robin]

 . . . Minority

LITR 5731, Spring 2006

“America the Beautiful” is not without sin as to its treatment and intolerance towards cultures that differ from the dominant white foundation. This is evidenced with the blanketing of American Indian culture by Puritans who were declared the founders of America, and African-American pre-civil war forced immigration. Puritan culture sets the tone for expected behavior and attitudes for successful immigration assimilation. (PJ)

Comments:

This quote aptly explains the dilemma of the minorities. After the obvious injustices done to the Native Americans and African Americans, it is hard to imagine what future choices they will make. For regardless of the past, if they desire to advance economically, they will have to decide whether to assimilate or continue to resist the dominant culture. Through the readings in this class, I have gained a better understanding of the minority dilemma. . . .

[Rita]