Week 10 Response

A theme I would like to discuss in our last class is the idea of “becoming American”.  I think it would be interesting to look back on all of the texts we have read and compare how this journey or process of becoming American differs across social, ethnic, and gender groups.  Though the notion of “becoming American” was first introduced to our discussions by George Sanchez in his discussion of the Americanization of Mexican immigrants, immigrants of all backgrounds faced and continue to face similar assimilation efforts.  However, while European immigrants largely were able to “complete” this project of becoming America, blacks, Hispanics, and Asian immigrants often found themselves stuck as second-class citizens. This second-class citizenship is incredibly problematic and the repercussions of such are directly connected to the injustices occurring in our country today (as Jesmyn Ward demonstrates in “Sing, Unburied, Sing”). We must eliminate the idea that someone must “become American”.  When being a true American is synonymous with being white, non-white Americans are forced to sacrifice and diminish aspects of their own identity.  When a concept such as Americanization exists, it’s impractical to think that we can ever achieve a society where all are viewed and treated as equals.  Such assimilation impedes the celebration of non-white identities and prolongs the white supremacy that has dominated this country since its founding.  

I am curious to hear people’s thoughts on how it can be possible to move past this idea of becoming American and to reach a society where all identities and cultures are equally valued.