Sheila Morris

Why Immigrant Literature should be taught in High School

          It does not matter who you are, if you live in the United States, whether you are part of the dominant culture or not, you have either an immigrant or minority background or both.  

          When I decided to take this class, I thought it was going to be interesting. I thought I was going to read interesting stories about immigrants and the American Dream. What I did not know was how much I was going to actually learn about myself. Before I took this class, I had always considered myself open-minded and nonjudgmental. There was no way I could be considered prejudiced. After all, my mother came over from England. She is a free spirit who always taught my sisters and I to love everyone, no matter what their color or circumstance. In other words, she taught us to “Judge not, lest ye be judged” and all that. However, now that I think about it, I never did go out with that minority basketball player even though I really liked him. And, I really didn’t want to invite that Hispanic writer to Thanksgiving dinner with my entire family. Perhaps I should have paid much more attention. It has taken me 46 years to realize that I do have prejudices. I have learned so much from reading about the immigrant narrative that I think more people should take this class. More importantly, they should take it before they get to graduate-level courses. I came to the conclusion that immigrant literature should be taught to high school students. They have to take English anyway. Two birds. One stone. I’m in. Schools and businesses work to be politically correct by teaching diversity. Why not find common ground in addition to celebrating each other’s differences?

          There are so many things that we do not know that we do not know. Many of us will stay in our own little microcosm and just think of the people outside of our tiny world as different or other. What better way to gain understanding of other people than through narrative? Narrative offers what straight transcription, art, or photos cannot—a description of the surroundings in detail while also getting inside one’s psyche. Narrative allows for a more complete story. Also, it is way more entertaining than a straight lecture too.

          Teaching a high school class about the immigrant narrative would allow students to learn about different cultures, why they came here, what the American Dream is all about. It would teach student that the American Dream does not work out perfectly every time, but that is not always a bad thing.  Studying the immigrant narrative could demonstrate that even those of us that are part of the dominant culture in the United States, have an immigrant past.  We all have things in common. By teaching interesting stories, teenagers’ gnat-like attention spans might get caught. There is not much better than a good, juicy story.        

          Most good, juicy American Immigrant stories involve the American Dream, the dream to come to the U.S. and work hard and become successful. In many ways, today’s youth have inherited their father’s dreams and they do not always embrace this. They do not always consider this as their dream. They may not appreciate what their fathers have done, or what their fathers’ fathers have done to make their lives better. By reading stories like Anzia Yezierska’s Soap and Water, Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” or Gish Jen’s In the American Society students learn about the lives of early American immigrants, the minority struggle, and East Asian immigrants. The list of stories could go on forever. My hope is that they will realize that American Dream is not easy to achieve, nor does is usually turn out as expected. Dreams do not always come true. Success is the exception rather than the rule. However, the dream does not have to become a nightmare.

          Once students takes an immigrant literature class, they should be able to recognize that the dominant culture does not assimilate, but adapts. Students will also be able to identify model minority behavior. They would know the difference between minorities and immigrants, that immigrants come here by choice, seeking a better life, whereas minorities had no choice and were brought here as slaves. Students would learn that Indians are minorities that were already here and were pushed off their lands and territories only to experience a reversal. Young students should be able to detect color codes, which align colors with identities.

          Of course, there are pros and cons to teaching an immigrant literature class in high school. The pro is that students could learn that we truly are one people with similar hopes, dreams, and love of family. The con to teaching such a class is that there is not enough time in the day, week or year to be all inclusive; therefore, some cultures will be left out. 

          In Kristin Harmon’s essay, Learning to Listen to the Stories of Others, she writes of being uncomfortable in realizing that she is a part of the dominant culture and that she felt it was miniscule in comparison to the struggles of her Hispanic and Black student. I can understand that, but cannot help but wonder if this can change. If, by teaching classes to younger students, they will begin to identify with each other and their previous generations, they might realize that although diversity should be celebrated, in the end, there are many more similarities than differences.