Analysis Of Ch. 13 Latino Lives: Trying For The American Dream

Ch. 13 Latino Lives: Trying for the Americano Dream This chapter presents an idea of the American dream to the readers with the use of surveys and focus groups. For starters, chapter 13 opens up with the idea of the “American dream” being a subjective idea – something I, Alicia, will explain to the class (10 minutes). For some people, it implies monetary or material gain and success, for others, it implies the idea of freedom and opportunity. The idea of the “American dream” has lured countless of people, including immigrants, to migrate to the United States in hopes of a better life. However, there is this idea that assimilation must occur in order for Latinos to achieve their very own definition of the “Americano dream” as well (Fraga,

English proficiency is something the authors place an emphasis on, for language is a great factor in terms of assimilating into a brand new culture. Elina will explain the concept of assimilation, which is “a multigenerational process by which the “characteristics of members of immigrant groups and host societies come to resemble one another”” (Fraga et al. 2016, p. 330). With the concept of assimilation tackled, Danny Barocio will explain the different types of assimilation – cultural, structural, and marital (10 minutes), which will help the class gain a better understanding of the question that is posed at hand: Is assimilation necessary in order to achieve the “Americano dream”? There is almost (arguably) a consensus that the American dream is becoming “harder to achieve” (Fraga et al. 2016, p. 331) with each passing day, however, there are people that believe assimilation is the key to achieving this dream. For example, with cultural assimilation, immigrants will change their culture – in any way, to fit the standards of the majority. Rather than it being a one-way process (assimilation), it is a two-way process (acculturation). As for structural assimilation, immigrants participate in integrated organizations of American society, such as social/civic/work organizations or the US military (Fraga et al. 2016, p. 334). The last type of assimilation the authors analyze is marital assimilation. Latino immigrants can become part of American mainstream through marital or family integration (Fraga et al. 2016, p. 335-337). Overall, assimilation into the mainstream of America poses complexities for Latin@s. The purist of the American dream is always not that easy to achieve, especially when Latinos face potential roadblocks- such as poor schools, legal status,