Assimilation In American Life: A Mexican American Dream

Samuel Huntington’s article The Hispanic Challenge argues that Hispanics, specifically Mexicans, are not true American citizens. According to Huntington, Americans are people who believe in the American creed. However, he believes this creed is being threatened. For some time now, large influxes of Hispanic immigrants have been coming to the US and have brought their own culture with them. The writer of Speaking in Tongues, Gloria Anzaldua, believes that Hispanics have the right to hold onto their culture in America.

Hispanic Americans, or Latinos, are a very large and diverse ethnic group in the U.S. Altogether, they make up about 44 million people or 15% of America’s population. Individuals who make up this category can identify with various nationalities and backgrounds. However, the 2010 U.S Census – as stated in the textbook -- reported that 75% of its total Latino respondents identified being of Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban origin. According to the lecture notes, 65% of Hispanics claim to be Mexican Americans, while 8.5% are Puerto Ricans and another 3.5% are Cuban Americans. These are the three most common Hispanic origins and the rest of the Latino population identifies with other Hispanic nationalities. Of the three common nationalities that

Because of this lack of English education, we fail to assimilate the students to be functioning members of the United States. The way we are able to assimilate students is to create better programs for students who are learning English; that way, when it is time to enter the workforce, they will be able to understand what it takes to move ahead in this country. The article states that “Good bilingual immersion programs provide such an environment by giving English speakers and English learners ample opportunities to interact in and out of the classroom.” Assimilation relies on the need to acquire the social and psychological features of a group. Most Latino students in schools today hold a very small grasp on our language and our social system, which is partly due to the rampant segregation.

However, the fact is that most Americans have the impression that Hispanic immigrants are perceived as a threat for not assimilating into the American mainstream, more so into the Anglo-Protestant values. Why is that? Is it for fear that the Spanish Language may overrun the country? Similarly, Neil Foley, author of, Mexicans In The Making of America, asks the same questions, why fear? In his prologue chapter, Foley makes a point by proving the fact that in the past, Mexican immigrants were not a concern but were, “ let in to provide the labor force for the rapidly expanding economy”(2).

The Mexican American population is comprised of a myriad of different statuses. Many families have resided in this area since Spanish American first began to migrate and settle here. The lower class arrived in Texas along with Indian and Mexican immigrants to go to work on a Spanish ranch. Others more recently attained their status as citizens here after migrating from Mexico to the United States.

Culture is an essential part of a community’s identity, because it links individuals to a collective bond. The Americas have always contained a vast variety of cultural communities, especially in the United States. The US is known for being one of the most diverse nations in the world, housing hundreds of different cultures. Mexican-Americans display a strong sense of a cultural background, which falls as a subset of the bigger Latino culture that links all Latinos. Oral history is a major aspect on the Mexican culture, which contributes to the truth of how history in the United States actually happened.

One of the toughest adjustments, having been born to Mexican parents, is migrating to an unknown country where traditions and languages differ from one 's own. Though many pursue an education and strive for a better life, the purpose behind an immigrant, like myself, differs from the typical American. Immigrants strive for a life that was once impossible, going to school is not only to attain an education, but to better prove that we can also become successful regardless of our traditions and skin color. I lived in a country for over fifteen years, fearing deportation, not only losing a home, but potentially saying goodbye to a bright future. Although many feel empathy for Mexican-Americans, it is undeniably difficult to truly comprehend the immense trauma children and even adults undergo  upon experiencing racism and prejudice. Attending a

Growing up in a hispanic family directly affected the environment I was exposed to. Everyone around me always greatly emphasized the importance of family, being humble, and being generous.. My teachers, friends, family, and loved ones majorly impacted me and shaped me into who I am today.

For example this quote “Mexican Americans or Afro- Americans were considered dangerous radicals while law- abiding citizens to drop their cultural baggage at the border.” explains that when natives they drop all their ethics and traits to fit in. Image is everything early on, but not fitting into the community again is hard. The author also writes to persuade readers that that she is a true Latina, because she tries to take spanish lessons. Mexican Americans are also seen as people with little education and poor.

Immigration is deeply rooted in the American culture, yet it is still an issue that has the country divided. Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco, in their essay, “How Immigrants Became ‘Other’” explore the topic of immigration. They argue that Americans view many immigrants as criminals entering America with the hopes of stealing jobs and taking over, but that this viewpoint is not true. They claim that immigrants give up a lot to even have a chance to come into America and will take whatever they can get when they come. The Suarez-Orozco’s support their argument using authority figures to gain credibility as well as exemplification through immigrant stories. These strategies work on the rhetorical appeals ethos and pathos. Exemplification appeals to pathos by making the audience feel sympathy for the immigrants for what they give up, and authority figures appeal to ethos by giving credibility to an expert, by supporting the argument through strong facts. In this essay, I plan to explore how these rhetorical strategies act on their respective appeals, how this is used to strengthen the Suarez-Orozco’s argument to persuade their audience, as well as explore other sources that may support this claim.

Skerry offers, “Immigrant leaders and advocates claim that America is a racist society that will not allow "people of color" to become part of the mainstream of American life. Alternatively, it is argued that the assimilation of such individuals into that mainstream is an insidious process that robs them of their history and self-esteem. No one ever bothers to explain how both claims can be true”. Carroll Rodas quantifies assimilation in definition put forth by Richard Alba and Victor Nee as, "the decline of an ethnic distinction and its corollary cultural and social differences”. Speaking of the 11 million illegal resident immigrants, they remain fragmented and disjoined from the country in the underground makeshift community, unable to engage in a society’s common culture as requested of the assimilation process.

As can be seen, Hispanics dramatically have a big impact on American culture. They are innovating news ways to view different style that show their ancestry. From West Side Story to Selena Quintanilla Latinos keep coming up with more cultural icon. Even though, there are a lot of people trying to create different obstacle for Hispanics to pursue their dreams with their prejudices. They still manage to preserve even with the odds

After watching the movie “A Class Apart: A Mexican American Civil Rights Story”, I realized that I didn’t know much about how Mexico lost part of their land to the United States and about how hard life used to be for Mexican Americans compared to now. I learned about how Mexican Americans were treated in the United States. The movie was mainly about how Mexican Americans were discriminated and they were treated as inferior people. They were not seen as actual “Americans”, but as a second class, calling them names like “shiftless, lazy, dumb, etc.” Another important thing I learned is who was Gus García and what he did for Mexican Americans. His history made a huge difference making people feel stronger. He fought for his people and he didn’t stop until he won. Me being Mexican American makes me

Rush Limbaugh discusses multiculturalism and its possible failings to America culture. Limbaugh believes teaching minorities about their roots hinder their “future as Americans.” He continues to say “If you want to prosper in America, if you want access to opportunity in America, you must be able to assimilate: to become part of the American culture.” This statement, personally, implies other cultures cannot have the same work ethic and values as “regular” Americans, which is a presumptuous statement to make. To a certain point, yes, incoming immigrants and generational immigrants do have to adapt to the American culture, but their roots do not discount their ability to succeed in American society.

According to an article in The Huffington Post, Americans love to muse over the characteristic of our foreign immigrants residing in the country, and even if there descent have assimilated