Blog Post #3

This particular chapter of the book was quite interesting to read as it delved in detail to how education looked just a century ago. The concept of an “American” identity came about during this time period and the classroom was the main setting in which it was implemented and enforced. Immigrants were told to discard their language, culture, and traditions in order to assimilate into the new “American” culture and identity. Although it is important to adapt the cultural norms of the nation or state you live in, it is not necessary to forget where you come from. 

Another important topic touched upon in this chapter was how immigrants were treated, especially those who were from certain parts of Europe, those who could not speak English, and people of color. The criteria for being “intelligent” was to be able to speak, understand, and write English. These intelligence tests, which we still see in the form of SAT and ACT testing, were not accurate even for those who speak English. It was a huge disservice to those who could not speak English to be forced to take these tests and fail because they did not understand what the test was asking of them. This allowed for Caucasians to always be above those who could not speak English, but could speak other languages fluently.

The article titled “Civic Education and Changing Definitions of American Identity, 1900-1950” by Jeffrey Mirel discusses the difference between civic and ethnic nationalism. Civic nationalism is when a nation comes together in unity regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, etc. This puts people who live in the same nation under the same umbrella as residents of the nation. On the other hand, ethnic nationalism is when people take pride in “ties of blood” (Mirel, 144). This has to do with ancestry, race, ethnicity, etc. The United States during this time was trying to push this idea of civic nationalism without accepting the different cultures people came from; they simply wanted all to be under one category, American. 

Conducting the group assignment for this module was particularly fascinating as our group consists of women of color. One of our group members is an immigrant herself who has come here for a better education. During our discussion, we spoke about how certain attitudes that the United States government was exhibiting at that time are still being enforced now, but just at a smaller degree. For example, some immigrants still feel ashamed of speaking broken English or for their accents as it makes them seem “un-American”. On the other hand, we discussed that even today there are people who come to this country for better job opportunities for themselves and access to a stable education system for their children. 

This module resonated with me as my own parents are immigrants and my sisters and I are first-generation children. To some people, the fact that my parents speak three different languages (Urdu, Punjabi, and English) is fascinating while other people are stuck at the fact that they do not have an American accent when they speak English. They also came here for a better life in terms of work and education. To conclude, it is simply interesting to see how people to do this day are immigrating to this country for the same reasons as people a century or two centuries ago did.