Carlos Marquina

The Gatekeepers

From the beginning of the course, I became very intrigued by the idea of the dominant culture “gatekeepers.” Gatekeepers are members of the dominant culture that play a role in deciding who gets included to or excluded from the dominant culture. The dominant culture has been established as white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant. Part of the difficulty of assimilation into the dominant culture is that the dominant culture is almost invisible. We know what it is, yet we hardly speak of it or recognize it. America has been devoted to equality and to talk about the dominant culture is to deny that equality. Yet, the immigrant is supposed to leave behind their values and culture and assimilate into this white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant value-system that is not talked about openly or highlighted. This is where the gatekeeper plays his or her role.

In the early part of the semester we were exposed to several gatekeepers who fit the mode of the dominant culture. Mrs. Hamma in The English Lesson is a white woman of German descent who feels the least she could do is teach these poor immigrants English so that they can better their lives. She rules the classroom with a Democratic iron fist, making sure that every student gets their turn by interrupting and controlling the amount of time they each get to make their speeches. She is clearly more lenient to Mr. Paczkowski, a Polish immigrant who was a University of Krakow professor. Although not explicitly mentioned in the story, Mrs. Hamma’s bias stems from her dominant culture’s appreciation of higher education coupled with Mr. Paczkowski’s whiteness. Diego Torres, on the other hand, is a black Dominican who is not very happy to be in the United States. He claims that his reasons are purely to improve his economic situation and that he does not want to become a citizen. At this, Mrs. Hamma quickly attempts to quiet Torres. He continues with his tirade, but Mrs. Hamma still attempts to fold him into the American way, “Mr. Torres, you are in America. Now, everyone, let us give Mr. Torres the same courtesy as everyone else in this class.”

Other examples of Gatekeepers who fit the dominant culture mode were Dean Whiteside in Soap and Water, the actors in A Wife’s Story, the blonde teacher in Patricia Smith’s poem Blonde White Women, the blonde hoodlums of Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs. In the story In the American Society, Mrs. Lardner attempts to ease the transition into the dominant culture while Jeremy’s role is to keep the Chang’s from entering into the dominant culture. Every one of these gatekeepers is white, Anglo-Saxon. In the second part of the course, however, we start seeing a different sort of Gatekeeper: first or second- generation immigrants that have assimilated into the dominant culture and despite their physical and cultural similarities to the new immigrant, they attempt to block the ease for assimilation.

In The Last of the Menu Girls by Denise Chavez, Esperanza Gonzalez plays the role of Gatekeeper. She is definitely not a traditional gatekeeper as shown by the previous examples. Esperanza is “the head surgical floor nurse, the short but highly respected Esperanza of no esperanzas, the Esperanza of the short-bobbed hair, the husky voice, the no-nonsense commands…Esperanza the dyke.” When a patient is brought in whose nose was bitten off, the rest of the nurses show compassion especially when they find out he’s an illegal alien. Nurse Esperanza, however, is angry and mean, “It’s because he’s one of those aliens…some of them, they ain’t human.” Nurse Esperanza has adopted the values of the dominant culture so that she can project them on others although she doesn’t necessarily applies all those values onto herself. She will never be able to adopt some of the dominant culture values; she cannot become white Anglo-Saxon. Yet, she serves as the dominant male figure in the story and her work ethic and command are well respected in the hospital.

In Romero’s Shirt, Romero lives two miles from the Mexican/American border. One day, an old man walks by his place and asks if he can do some yard work for Romero. Romero was often reluctant to allow others to work on his place, but he allows the old man to work. He enjoys the old man’s company and as the old man leaves, Romero is filled with feelings of generosity and hope. Later he discovers that his favorite shirt is missing. He begins to brood over the shirt and blames the old man for stealing the shirt. Romero “felt like a fool paying that old man who, he considered, might even have taken it, like a fool for feeling so friendly and generous, happy.” At this moment, Romero transforms from being a helpful gatekeeper to an exclusive one. The reader can assume that Romero’s next interaction with an immigrant will not be as open and joyous as this one. He feels, although unfounded, that the old man is responsible for him having lost his shirt.

The feeling that the new immigrant makes it more difficult for those already assimilated to American dominant culture also plays a part in Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Shaughnessy’s dispute with Harker highlights this feeling. Tyrone is obviously angry that Shaughnessy has been causing trouble, “The dirty blackguard! He’ll get me in serious trouble yet.” Edmund replies, “I told him you’d be tickled to death over the great Irish victory, and so you are. Stop faking, Papa.” Tyrone shows his disappointment; afraid that Shaughnessy’s actions will get Tyrone into a lawsuit. Tyrone is a first generation Irish immigrant who has in some manner achieved the American Dream. His father returned to Ireland when he was only ten years old. Tyrone’s mother was left to care for four small children and they were in deep poverty. Tyrone, however, through hard work and study of Shakespeare and the Bible was able to become a successful actor. The episode with Shaughnessy shows his displeasure with the “wily Shanty Mick.” Tyrone complains that Shaughnessy never pays his rent on time.

Persons born into the dominant culture or persons who have assimilated into it can play the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper can either facilitate assimilation or make the transition difficult and sometimes impossible. The gatekeeper’s role is to highlight the dominant culture. In a culture where the dominant aspects are oftentimes diminished or altogether ignored, the Gatekeeper seems to be the only one who brings the dominant culture’s characteristics to light; whether it’s the color code, as in the boys shouting, “Nigger!” at Jayanti and her aunt; or education, as in Dean Whitehead and Mrs. Hamma teaching the immigrants; or work ethic, as nurse Gonzalez and Tyrone exemplify. It is through the Gatekeeper that the dominant culture can be identified.