Denielle Alexander

American Immigrant Narratives and the Effects it imposes on other Immigrants and the Dominant Culture.

Although I am an African American minority in America, I have not truly thought about the constitutional inherited freedoms that I have. Yes, my ancestors experienced the gruesomeness of slavery and they have also fought civilly for me and future generations of other blacks’ freedoms too. The blood, sweat, tears, and discrimination had to occur with my slavery ancestors in order for the modern generations of blacks to gain human rights. It is interesting to note that, other nationalities of immigrants traveling to America go through similar stories for their generations to have a better lifestyle and exceeding advantages than they did. These immigrants may not have to endure slavery per say, but their experiences are equally important.

By reading the immigrant narratives in Dr. White’s class, I saw some similar patterns in the immigrant’s reasons to come live in America and be a part of the American Dream. The beauty in the cultural narrative could either motivating for other immigrants to aspire and move to America, or it can be a warning for them to stay in their native country. I feel that each narrative has a specific view, only because it is in the eyes of different individuals who see the world around them in their own unique way. I wanted my midterm to focus on objective 1d to mediate shared or parallel experiences and identities and most importantly part of objective 3b. Since immigrants voluntarily choose to come to America, they expected to conform to the American Dream story of freedom and opportunity. I think it is important to realize that immigrants coming to American are coming here voluntarily. Unlike minorities, they are not forced to leave their country and expose themselves to America’s freedoms. They obviously see more opportunities in our country compared to their native homelands. Each of my sources will discuss immigrants from different regions of the world and their motivations for traveling to the United States. They were all in search of something, something that will make their lifestyle and families economically and academically better. With every success story there comes consequences. With every geographical move made, part of the heritage is left behind. This is when the process of assimilation starts to run its course.

In reading “Soap and Water”, it became evident the author had a relatively tough time assimilating to the dominant culture and adopting its intellectual ways. Objective 3: color code was expressed heavily throughout this immigrant narrative. The color white symbolically means being clean and pure. Ironically, in order for the author to be accepted in mainstream dominant culture she had to appear fresh and crisp in her apparel to be a part of the educated and intellect. She had to symbolically cleanse herself close to the white race and submerge herself in their views of living the American Dream. It is known that appearance in America can associate you with a certain social structure and class. Dressing presentable can distinguish you from the economically poor class. Irish Immigrants from central or Eastern Europe typically leaves their old world for economic opportunities. The one advantage that she had as a Russian immigrant compared to other immigrants was due to the fact that she was actually considered white. Her economical status created road blocks that prevented her from succeeding. These road blocks were not necessarily her skin color. The author in “Soap and Water” also drew parallels in comparing her college experience similar to her entering the United States for the first time. She considered herself to be a liberated bird that was stripped of her natural freedoms. Birds are usually considered as being free spirited, traveling endlessly to many destinations and expressing the notes of being free. She could not be relatively free, and her going to college was supposed to set her mind away from bondage. By her wanting to experience this freedom in an intellectual way, she had to exemplify the “hard working immigrant” which can be similar to the American Dream also. According to the dominant culture working your way to get to the top, will eventually lead to success. As the author progresses in her studies, she quickly learned that it takes more than working hard to make it in America, but it has takes being part of the elite or middle class to have a successful immigrant narrative. You have to fully engage yourself in the American ways, and in her case she needed to physically mimic her outward appearance compared to the successful dominant culture.

My father once said to me, “Americans are taught to work for someone via “working in corporate America”, where as immigrants are taught to work for themselves, such as “owning their own business and local establishments”. Interesting to read in the “In the American Society” the parents in this narrative model this philosophy, in order to provide for themselves and provide a better future for their second generation of East Asia immigrant children. This family assimilated to the American Dream by moving up the ladder and creating prosperity. Their goal was not to focus on their ethnic and racial background, but to distinguish themselves by the concept of social class. What defines a hard worker?  Is a hard worker a person who chooses to work under someone and live the American dream or a person who chooses to work for himself and make his own rules? Working for yourself can help you keep your identity, your ethnic background and if you are successful, you can give other immigrants more opportunities that corporate idealists would not offer. I wonder if that could be the reason why they strive to work for themselves, maybe they know that America’s business would not be fair to other immigrants and give them chances to be successful and master the ultimate success, dream. This is a country of opportunity, however you have to be in the perfect position to receive the chance or know the right person to move up the ranks. The father in “In the American Society” had to be able to comprehend objective 1 and choose what route would benefit him and get him closer to the “American Dream”.  He chose the self sufficient and hard working route; he was able to create an optimistic immigrant narrative and a narrative that will give other immigrants a sense of hope.

The poem “Restroom” tells an immigrants story in an aesthetic and word pleasing way. The woman describes her experience of coming to America as a relief or uncontrollable sensation to release bodily fluids. Her story is going through the stages of assimilation, objective 2, and she is describing her first impressions of the country itself. Her story entails the uncertainty of repositioning herself in a new country and the barriers of language and cultural shock which can play a part in the initial experience.  The woman is experiencing three out of the six stages of objective 2c. In her story, she experiences stage one by leaving her native home of South Asia in hopes to be with her husband and be able to prosper and take advantages of freedoms that are not given to them. Stage two is her journey to America.  She travels alone in hopes to be reunited with her husband and to start their journey of work and surviving in foreign land. In stage three, she experiences her first cultural shock and first impressions of anxiety in the United States. She describes the language barrier between her and the officer, not being able to read certain signs in English, and the shocking scenery of something as simple as restrooms. It is interesting to read her amazement with the restrooms. If you read in between the lines and in depth, restrooms are just the surface level of why she is intrigued. In most countries clean water is not ample and available to everyone, using the restroom is a basic necessity that does not require mirrors and gleaming faucets. The restroom was one of her first views of women in the dominant culture and it gave her a glimpse of how she should assimilate. Language, education and appearance are part of the assimilation process, so this experience gives her a view of what she should become if she chooses to partake in the process.

Immigrants come to the United States to expose themselves to freedoms that they do not have in their native country. Objective 2 considers the different stages of assimilations and how both dominant and immigrant cultures can influence each other in language, values, and different practices. Another view that the dominant and immigrant culture share are the views and faithful beliefs that The Declaration of Independence document provides, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. The Declaration of Independence outlines the equality of all races and gender groups. This is one of the major reasons “besides economic prosperity” why immigrants from all over travel and reside in the United States. Equality for other ethnic groups and genders are not practiced in other countries across the globe. People will travel to experience rights that they feel naturally inherited to. This important document closely resembles the immigrant narrative by keeping the civil human rights to individuals. One of the promising truths of this document is that it’s in our constitution and government to provide rights to our citizens, and it is within the rights of the people to control and have a voice “democracy” in our government. Also, the naturalization of foreigners gives immigrants hope to have certain freedoms of a natural citizen. It gives them a chance to become a citizen and assimilate to our culture. Of course, they will have to lose or suppress some of their heritage to be an American, but it is the chance you take to provide a better lifestyle for yourself and family and generations to come within your origin of identity. The Declaration of independence gives the immigrant narrative a chance to have an uplifting and success story for other immigrants and their narratives to model.

The significance of cultural narratives is to tell a story, a story describing the immigrant’s movement to America. It’s also a guide which describes the origin of the immigrant’s travels and their quest from the old world in hopes of obtaining a better life in the new world. As first time immigrants begin to settle, their cultural narrative begins to evolve through their future generations. When future generations are born, such as the immigrant’s children, grand children and so on, they tend to fully assimilate to the dominant culture. Their traditional ethnic background becomes less involved, and America’s cultural values, language, beliefs, and social society are heavily imposed upon them. By the children assimilating to the dominant culture, it causes a rift between them and native family members. They are no longer associated with their ethnic background, yet they are associates of the American identity. Each immigrant’s narrative can either be optimistic for other immigrants follow or as a warning that coming to America will create numerous sacrifices. Since it is a type of storytelling, it can possibly have an interesting plot, which will be more aesthetically pleasing to the audience. The chronological events can also describe their journey in a way for others to understand and express interest to their narrative. Each region of the globe from Europe, to South and East Asia, Africa, Mexico and South America has unique experiences in regards to their mobility and travel. They have different reasons and motives to in migrate. As a result, these cultural narratives will give the dominant culture and other immigrant an insightful education of their adventures and allow a decision to be made to pursue or remain content.

Minorities in America: Is it more challenging than being an Immigrant?

Assimilation means to adopt the dominant cultures values, beliefs, and patriarchies. Black minorities and Native American minorities share some of the same struggles of assimilation to the American dream. What is unique about the minority narrative compared to the immigrant narrative is the fact both of these minority groups are forced throughout centuries to assimilate and adapt involuntarily. On the other hand, immigrants across the globe have migrated to America either by choice or solely in pursuit economic prosperity, religious and humane freedoms or simple more opportunities. I want to compare the African American and Native American minority class to the Mexican Immigrant. I think that the Mexican Immigrants have an advantage compared to other groups because they stay in close proximity of Mexico. They do not have to give up as much of their culture and ethnic background and the still have a close grip of their identity as a whole. Color code, the term minority and assimilation will be compared and contrast heavily throughout my paper. I feel that these three themes greatly describe the minority race. It distinguishes their existence compared to immigrants, and it gives their narratives a different edge and perspectives.

The first group of people to discover America was believed to be the American Indians. What classifies them as a minority, is the forceful stripping of their identity and land by the European settlers. The minority narrative How the White Race Came to America particularly focused on Objective 2a: Assimilation and the Melting Pot. The White race brought with them some destructive gifts to their culture which changed who they were and made their identity similar to the dominant race. In the narrative the items were “a flask of rum, a pack of playing cards, a handful of coins, a violin and a decayed leg bone.” These five items are the key items that stripped them of being a unique group of Native American and become a replica of the dominant group of the White race. What makes this ethnic group different from the Black minority race is this land was originally theirs. They do not strive to be a part of the American Dream as blacks would. The Indian reservations are ways for them to keep their culture and keep the ties of their heritage intact and successfully travel across generations. The negative impact of this particular form of assimilation is the idea of them readapting to something which was once theirs. If they were to fully absorb the dominant American culture then so much history would be lost and the protection of the value of this land would be in vain. Even though the United States have certain laws for Native Americans to have a free education, or able to have their own government laws in the reservations, they are classified as the minority.  Simply put; they are outnumbered. It is easy to say that Native Americans do not dwell in the American Dream, but instead they exist in the American Nightmare. What freedoms and liberties they once had, are gone, and they are somewhat controlled by the dominant culture and its laws.

This second minority group, obtained this title due to the forceful kidnapping from their homeland to enter America are the African American minority. Unlike immigrants who voluntarily travel to the United States, African immigrants were forced as slaves against their will to cater to the dominant “White race”. Being black in America, is living in a country and not knowing who you are, not being able to trace your ancestors, not knowing which part of Africa you are form or if you have other ethnic identities mixed in you. This is a troubling way to live. In the slave story, Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass An American Slave Douglass does discuss all three themes of color code, assimilation and the term minority. What makes minorities differ from the dominant race is the color of their skin. The darkness of the skin pigment or mulatto complexion has always distinguished them from the White race. In the beginning of Douglass narrative he describes the complexions of his family members, “both colored, and quite dark. My mother was of a darker complexion than either my grandmother or grandfather.” He makes note that, being dark is what makes him a slave and inferior to the white race. He also discusses assimilation by learning how to read and write.  Douglass describes a painful separation from some of the Baltimore boys, only because they were assimilating him to the dominant race by educating him, “I had received many good lessons from them, and was still receiving them…” Education by itself is way for a minority and immigrant group to assimilate. Learning the language and being able to communicate can help them cultivate into the mainstream stream culture and be able to participate in social activities. And the term minority is completely different than the term slave. A slave in America, one was simply property and compared to lifeless objects and animals. They did not have any freedoms; they were not even considered people. What opened up Douglass eyes to consider him as a human being with freedoms was when he married his wife Anna and traveled up North as freed slaves.  He states. “We now began to feel a degree of safety, and to prepare ourselves for the duties and responsibilities of a life of freedom.”

What makes Douglass minority narrative different than the Mexican Narrative of El Patron is Douglass has no sense of identity. His name was given to him by slave owners, and changed throughout the years. He has no closeness to his family, because buying and selling of the slaves were very prominent, and separation anxiety was something that he always experienced. And he does not know too much about his African heritage of background. He is blinded from this knowledge, and not made aware. They force the slaves to adapt to the American way of life without having any freedoms. The characters in El Patron have close ties to the border, their language and their Mexican race. The Martinez family knows a great wealth about their family history from the great grandfather and other generations and they had education on the Hispanic history of the wars that have occurred. Since Mexican immigrants are so close to the border of Mexico, they are not giving up a large portion of their identity. They can still understand and know about their history as a people and family history also. Blacks on the other hand, are neglected from these freedoms. Traces of family history, historical past in Africa and family blood lines can be a bit of a blur or and leave their minds with a space of ignorance of the unknown.

Again since I am an African American minority, I feel that the views of modern Blacks have changed compared to the established freedom of our once slaves ancestors. We have enjoyed the privileged to read and write, we have liberated ourselves from slavery, but still we are kept in some type of minority bondage compared to the dominant race. Sometimes I think, “Will we ever truly be considered equal?” Yes, our current laws and government have legally established blacks as citizens and freed, but we are still unconsciously unequal to the dominant or white race. Instead of minority blacks being constitutional equal, we have to assimilate. In reading “The Lesson” there is either sympathy for these children or a sense of hope. This class is used to feeling inferior to the dominant race, they express this feeling as the uncomfortable to walk into the toy store, “not that I’m scared, what’s there to be afraid of, just a toy store. But I feel funny, shame.” These children have not fully assimilated, only because they are still resisting. Minorities live in a culture where some may think “It takes a neighborhood to raise a child’ even in children’s discussions, they try and calculate how much a sailboat would cost to feed a family. The minority culture has a sense of family instead of being an individual. The American dream consists of individuals who try and climb the ladder of success without any help, but with the knowledge and hard work to get to the top. These two different views contradict each other a great deal. Lower class minority dream is to be able and make it out of the ghetto neighborhoods and be able to help other minorities to climb to the top with you. Some students will go through the stages of assimilation if they choose to be a part of the dominant race. Yes they are minorities, but even with minorities, they can also follow somewhat of the immigrant narrative assimilation. For those who chose to live the American dream, the thought of taking care of the community has to be replaced with the idea of taking care of themselves only, and be considered an American individual.

Immigrants and minorities share similar struggles. Color code and assimilation consumes majority of the issues they interact with on a day to day basis. To the average eye, no one can physically tell who is an immigrant and who is a minority. Majority of all immigrants and minorities could be passed for each other. Blending of many races is another way to narrow the lines and specifics of races. Biracial children who are African American sometimes have to label themselves as blacks, while other biracial children of different ethnicities have a choice between white and the other minority race. The article Intermarriage and Assimilation the percentages were not alarming or shocking. Assimilation of Blacks and Native Americans are far too common. To assimilate to the dominant culture, blending of the races will occur and people will classify themselves as either other or a mixture of races. This will confused the traditional American mind frame of just black, white and Hispanic, but it will open more doors in considering people as human beings instead of ethnic or racial background.