Book 1, Post 2
Introduce yourself. Where are you from? Who are you? —These are the questions that I have repeatedly answered from my first day at elementary to the first day of my senior year in college. Even though the questions never change, I start to find these difficult to answer as time pass. My gradual understanding of others' expectations made me wonder how I should respond to these questions and frame my answers to adhere to their expectation. In American Like Me, the same struggle for identity is presented throughout the short excerpts written by the first- and second-generation immigrants. In hopes of finding a way to respond to these questions and understanding how people construct their own identity, I started the book.
In American Like Me, America Ferrera compiles stories from various American-born child of immigrant parents about their experience with constructing their American identity. Coming up with identity is not a straightforward and obvious process for most of them. Cultural clashes and the apparent difference in their upbringing, appearance, and religion all complicate this process. While there is some variance in their experience, a pattern can be summarized from their path of growth: a self-constructed identity is created during childhood. But as these individuals and their peers start to realize their difference (such as their skin color, language, and even origin), it resulted in confusion and even repulsion toward their original culture. Eventually, these conflicts allowed them to reflect on themselves and redefine their identities that they can live up to.
Why is the need to conform to an “ideal American” so strong? This question has appeared in the back of my mind several times while reading American like me. Even though the image of an ideal American isn’t explicitly depicted in any of the excerpts, it can be pieced together through the individuals’ descriptions of the American they once aspired to become: white, Christian, and English-speaking. The need to be the same as others and to adhere to this image in order to be an American is so urgent that some individuals gave up their language, became Christian, and were ashamed of representing their own culture. This, of course, is a myth that these individuals and America Ferrera want to break as they later live out their own version of American. As Bambadijan, a first-generation immigrant from Africa, phrased, “[to be an American] is about celebrating the diverse cultures and heritage that enrich this country. It’s about playing your part to help make it a better one.”
Hi Emily, I had no idea the book was so gloomy. For some reason, I was under the impression that this book would be about the success stories of immigrants. Anyways, I think I can somewhat relate to what you're saying. I grew up in Hong Kong and went to an international school here, where I was actually part of the ethnic minority in the scope of my class. From a young age, I always felt the need to be American like my foreign classmates in order to fit in. Eat the type of food they eat, talk the way they do, dress like them...It wasn't until my later years in middle and high school that I started to grow an appreciation for my ethnic and cultural roots. With that being said, I'm still glad that this was an experience I went through because it helped me realize the faults in the way I was thinking. Thanks for this article, I think I've found what I want to read next.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post! I was definitely interested in reading this book when Professor Hansen introduced it in class because I knew it was something that I could relate to. Even though I'm not an immigrant and I was born in the United States, my parents immigrated to America from Korea. I identify as Korean-American and oftentimes it's hard to balance because the two cultures clash, like you mentioned. I think you did a great job of explaining what the book is about and a great job of unpacking a difficult subject.
ReplyDeleteEmily, this is a lovely summary of America Ferrera's work. Like Brian, I'm very tempted to read it. My mother is from Thailand and my father is white, so while I'm not 100% an immigrant, I can relate to your comments on the "need to conform to an 'ideal American'..." I felt that strong impulse when I was younger too and like Brian, I only starting appreciating my Thai heritage in my late teens.
ReplyDeleteChildhood is so important, but often overlooked or marginalized. Children don't produce anything useful or say anything profound, so it's an understandable error. I come from the old-school "seen, but not heard" style of parenting, so I'm still biased, but books like this and posts like yours are helping to reinforce the obvious truth of the matter.
As someone born in the US from an immigrant family, I can definitely see in people around me how differences in identity lead to confusion and even repulsion from people's original culture. I think it's valid to try to fit in but it's also important to realize that cultural roots are part of who you are. It's also true that there is a stereotype of the ideal American that immigrants think of and aspire to be. But in my opinion, it would be more "American" to embrace your cultural differences and stand out instead of trying to erase your identity. Great post, I'm definitely more interested in reading this book.
ReplyDeleteBeing a child of Indian immigrants and growing up in the States, identity is something that I struggled with. You are torn between two cultures and are desperately trying to find somewhere to fit in. This is something you talk about your post and seems to be a big point of America Ferrera's book as well. Having all those different small stories within the book shows everyone's struggle to find their own identity. Well written, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteEmily, I absolutely love the question you posed in your post: "Why is the need to conform to an “ideal American” so strong?" I was thinking the same thing throughout the book, and I realized too that when I was younger all I wanted was to be like a "real American" and have parents that spoke perfect English without accents and do "American" things like watch football and baseball. There is no such thing as the "ideal American," and it is the diversity and richness that truly makes America so great.
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