This reading was difficult for me,
as I felt the authors’ views came across much too subjective for a book I was
hoping would present impartial data.
Foremost in my mind, as I was going through the initial chapters, was
that I very much needed to hear these results separated not only by immigrant
status, but by social class, including native and non-native results. My experience tells me that many of the
issues mentioned are the same problems also facing low-income native children
in this country. I do not want to diminish the very real issues that immigrants face, but I want to hear a non-biased view that takes into account the similarities that native children and their families face. The following three
examples come to mind: all parents want
a better life for their children; more cohesive families with strong ties will
be more supportive and involved in their children’s lives; parents who have to
work, sometimes multiple jobs, will not be as present in their children’s
lives. Many of the problems immigrant children have in low-income, urban schools are the same ones that the native children and their families are also having. The language issue is the main issue which can exacerbate assimilation, and I thought was one of the more interesting parts of the book.
I do
believe that immigration brings with it some very real stressors and
adjustments, and there are still people in this country who discriminate and
are cruel to those who immigrate, particularly if they do not look
‘American.’ I also agree that immigrants
are moving to a situation which is better than that which they have come from,
but this is felt more distinctly in the actual immigrants than in the children
of immigrants. The strongest statement
this book makes is really that the location immigrants settle in is important –
this creates the environment of safety (or not), acceptance (or not), good schools
(or not), etc. and helps immigrants assimilate into their new life, which, I
would hope, would be a bi-culture of their new world and their former
country.
In the
epilogue, I read, “A renowned historian once said that the history of the
United States is fundamentally the history of immigration.” (p160). This is what America is, and will always be,
more than any country in the world. As
difficult as it may be to live in this country for some people, as hateful as
some people can be, as flawed as our government sometimes seems to be, our
country is one that many people want to live in. Sure, it needs work. I am working on it at the education level –
with our students, immigrant and native alike.
I thought the book was very subjective, in terms of immigrant children, and not ALL children, keeping the topic of the book in consideration. I agree that many native families face some of the same issues as immigrants, however I think it's in the favor (if you can call it that) of the immigrants that they had to get here first before they could experience these issues. I also agree with your comment regarding the effects of location. I would also add that while a given environment can shape their community, so can the immigrants (or any group of people, for that matter) shape their environment.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that the book was primarily subjective in nature, I also feel that it is one of the only ways to really get across the issues that immigrant children and children of immigrants encounter in their lives. While hard facts and data can be useful to get a sense of where things are at, it is only the first step in considering that some of the people are going through.
ReplyDeleteEven under similar stresses, different individuals will react in different ways. One thing that the book did fairly well is show that under different dispositions, the end results of how the children behave can be drastically different. In addition, no amount of data is going to accurately display the tug of war between assimilating into a new culture and maintaining ties to the families old ways.
While some more data could have been useful, I don't really think that some of the subjective parts of the book could really be considered to be biased. The book often refers to the fact that immigrant children and children of immigrants are often both at the highest and lowest end of achievement, and while it does talk about the challenges they face, it doesn't paint a picture that it is all gloom and doom for all of them, or the other way around.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that many issues mentioned in the book(especially the negative aspects) are faced by poor and ignorant people( doesn't matter to which ever race they belong). But, the poor native people atleast know the language of the country(English), which many immigrants are not conversant in. That can be a serious disadvantage when they are starting a new life in America.
I'm glad you raised the question of "native" children also facing some similar issues as immigrant children or children of immigrants (as the book distinguishes).
ReplyDeleteIf we extract some of the statistics from the book—i.e, that immigrant children or children of immigrants comprise approximately 25% or so of the nation's students AND ADD the native population, as you have here, who face some (but definitely not all) of similar challenges (social class, in particular), we see that the content and intent of this course becomes absolutely fundamental to a future career as a teacher.
Given that the book was published in 2001, we only can imagine the deeper stress upon families since the economic downfall and subsequent hardship experienced since 2008.
Thank you for highlighting some of these aspects that give rise to an even "larger" discussion of the text.