Becoming American, Becoming Ethic

by Dublin, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9781566394390
• ISBN10: 1566394392
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-04-22
• Publisher: Temple Univ Pr

Summary

More than at any time since the 1920's the issues of immigration and ethnicity have become central to discussions of American society and identity. Becoming American, Becoming Ethnic addresses this contemporary debate, bringing together essays written over the past eighteen years by college students exploring their ethnic roots-from the experiences of their forbears to the place of ethnicity in their lives.The students range from descendants of Europeans whose families immigrated several generations ago to Asian and Latin American immigrants of more recent decades to African-Americans and Hispanics-some have more than one ethnic heritage to grapple with, while others have migrated from one place to another within the United States. Together their voices create a dialogue about the interplay of ethnic traditions and values with American culture.These are moving personal reflections on the continuities and changes in the ethnic experience in the United States and on the evolving meaning of ethnicity over time and across generations. Despite vocal concerns in recent years about ethnic divisiveness, these student writings show how much many young Americans share even in their differences. Author note: Thomas Dublin, Professor of History at the State University of New York at Binghamton, has taught courses on immigration and ethnicity for nearly 20 years. He has published several books, most recently Immigrant Voices: New Lives in America, 1773-1986 and Transforming Women's Work: New England Lives in the Industrial Revolution.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(14)
PART I Family Traditions
Life after Terceira	15	(5)
Virginia Correia
Coming to Terms with My Heritage	20	(9)
Tanya Mlodzinski
The Family History of a Fourth-Generation Pole	29	(9)
Sara Kindler
My Paternal Forebears	38	(7)
Michele Kitko
The Loss of My Family's Ethnic Ties and the Strengthening of Their American Identities	45	(7)
Rachel Koch
What's a Tyrolean? The Immigration of Mario Leonardi to America	52	(10)
Karen A. Gryga
Turetzky Family Assimilation: From Grandparents to Father to Me	62	(6)
Marc Turetzky
Changing Worlds: The Immigration Experiences of My Paternal Grandparents	68	(7)
Stephanie A. Courtney
Roots Paper	75	(7)
Raffi Ishkanian
A Family History	82	(3)
Bob Vaage
My Austrian-Italian Ethnicity	85	(7)
Susan Carnicelli
East Side Story: What West Side Story Left Out	92	(10)
Josephine Burgos
Three Generations in America	102	(6)
Gloria Genel
Where I Stand and Why	108	(7)
LaToya Powell
PART II Our Parents, Ourselves
A Challenge of Loyalty	115	(10)
Lynn Sugamura
A Bicultural Experience	125	(5)
Shana R. Rivas
My Family History	130	(5)
Cecilia Pineda
Being an Other	135	(8)
Melissa Algranati
Discovering My Ethnic Roots	143	(6)
Sang-Hoon Kim
The Experiences of My Parents in Italy and America	149	(9)
Peter Bosco
Getting to Know My Parents So That I May Know Who I Am	158	(5)
Lizette Aguilar
Finding Home	163	(8)
Ann Fenech
The Assimilation Problems of My Family in America	171	(12)
Soo Y. Kim
PART III Ethnicity in Our Lives
The Oreo Cookie: Black on the Outside, White on the Inside	183	(4)
Cathy Thompson
Should I or Shouldn't I?	187	(6)
Jaime Dominguez
My Experience with Immigration/Assimilation in America	193	(5)
Catherine Tagudin
Leaving Home	198	(8)
Anh-Dao Nguyen
Being Indian in America: My Ethnic Roots and Me	206	(7)
Lila Shah
My Immigrant Experience	213	(4)
Vladimir Sinayuk
Triple Identity: My Experience as an Immigrant in America	217	(7)
Puwat Charukamnoetkanok
Two Poems	224	(5)
Rose Rameau
Afterword	229	(6)
Appendix: Sample Roots Paper Topic	235	(2)
Notes on Contributors	237