Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors and Jerry Yang, the founder of Yahoo—These are the names of people who immigrated to America with bare hands, yet painted themselves a bright future. They exemplify that the American Dream is truly achievable for anybody, regardless of his or her background. Likewise, in the article “Indian Immigrants: It’s Obvious the American Dream is Alive and Well,” Vivek Wadhwa argues that immigrants can attain their American Dream despite coming from a foreign country. He claims that once immigrants put aside their differences and learn to network and exchange ideas, they can be successful. However, he falsely states that there are no hindrances to upward social mobility in America. Throughout his article, Wadhwa uses …show more content…
The struggle that immigrants face is best exemplified in “Growing up Asian in America” by Kesaya E. Noda. Noda describes that immigrants like her were denied citizenship and “were prohibited from owning, buying, or leasing land. They did not and could not belong [in America].” It is shown that as immigrants, Noda and her family had difficulties fitting in with the American citizens around them; they faced barriers that hindered them from reaching the American Dream. Furthermore, as immigrants assimilate into American customs, they begin to “put their differences aside” (Wadhwa). Similarly, Kesaya Noda meets her uncle at his farm with large tractors and sweet potato harvests. She “had no idea what it meant to buy [land] and make it grow green” (Noda), showing that Noda did not believe that the American Dream was attainable for immigrants, nor did she know the definition of “success.” However, seeing her uncle overcome these barriers and succeed, Noda proudly learns how to …show more content…
Noda’s story clearly shows that hurdles exist, but can be overcome. Ultimately, Vivek Wadhwa’s claim that immigrants can accomplish the American Dream is clearly supported by my family and Kesaya E. Noda’s story. Both of these examples portray that immigrants face hurdles when they first move to a new country. However, by learning about the American traditions and putting aside their own differences, immigrants can cohere with the community, making them a step closer to success. Although his overall theme for the article was true, Wadhwa wrongly states that there are no barriers to climbing the social hierarchy in America. Many immigrants succumb to language differences or difficulty finding careers, thereby disproving Wadhwa’s statement. Altogether, Vivek Wadhwa’s article encourages immigrants to “network, learn, and help each other,” and expresses that the American Dream is achievable for everyone. Although some may disagree and believe that the American Dream is like pouring water into a bottomless bucket, my mother’s metaphor shows its true nature: “Beta, trying to obtain success is like making your favorite kheer. The more sugar you put into
In the early 1830's, Mexican-Indians, seeking a better life in the "land of opportunity," crossed the border into America only to find themselves and all who followed forced to assimilate to a new culture. The white Americans pushed their food, their beliefs, their clothing style, and the English language upon these immigrants. Some of the seemingly brainwashed Mexican-Indians saw the American actions as signs of kindness and acceptance. Yet, fearful others considered being caught by the strict American border patrol a "fate worse than death" (490). Immigration officers warned "foreign-looking" people to carry citizenship identification at all times, and they "sneaked up on innocent dark-skinned people, and deported them," possibly also "mak[ing them] suffer unspeakable mortifications" (484, 486). Those legally able to reach America became subjected to American ideals and customs. The whites relocated those unwilling to live the "accepted American lifestyle" to specified areas. Aware of this law, Sancho cynically w...
America is a land filled with immigrants coming from different corners of the worlds, all in hopes of finding a better life in the country. However, No one had an easy transition from his or her home country to this foreign land. Not every race thrived the same way—some were luckier than others, while some have faced enormous obstacles in settling down and being part of the American society. Many people have suffered
The founder of the garden is a nine year old vietnamese girl, named Kim. She begins planting in dedication of her father, who passed away eight months before she was born She wants to feel apart of the family by crying and grieving with her mother and sister. Kim decides to plant peas, so her father can tell that she’s his daughter. . Ana is an older lady who lives in a small apartment.She likes to be entertained by others. Her role in the garden is the watcher. She depends on Wendall, who lives below her in the apartment building. She first sees Kim planting the peas and thinks the young girl could possibly be hiding drugs, money, or a gun. This tells us that Ana has trust issues and likes to know everything that’s going on. In chapter 2 of Seedfolks Fleischman chose certain characters to have certain characteristics. I wouldn’t use the word certain twice in one sentence.Ana is one of those people. In chapter 3, Wendall is called upstairs urgently by Ana. Fleischman writes, “But she planted ‘em way too early. She’s lucky those seeds even came up.” But they did, said Ana. And it's up to us to save them”(p.10). Wendall is being critical of whomever planted the lettuce, but all Anna wants to do is save them. Ana is willing to help out someone who she doesn't even know. If Ana hadn’t asked Wendall to save the plants forKim, the oriental girl who planted the lettuce would
Marbo was not happy when they took his land illegally and he thought he has his rights to go and fight to get the land back and he did not find it fair at all and he thought it was wrong. It was not fair when all the white people went and took away children from there parents and it was not fair...
Imagine living alone at 16, thousands of miles from your only family, no friends, and trying to gain land of your own. Hattie Brooks did just that, she was always known as Hattie Here-and-There because her parents died when she was young and she was shipped from relative to relative. She was bound to change that. She wanted something of her own, she wanted a home. So, in 1918 after receiving a letter leaving a homestead claim to her from a long lost uncle Chester she packed up all she owned and moved to Montana. She quickly found out how difficult and demanding farm life was. In order to own the land officially she had to prove up which included having to set 480 rods of fence, cultivate one eighth of land, and pay thirty-seven seventy-five
This nation was relatively stable in the eyes of immigrants though under constant political and economic change. Immigration soon became an outlet by which this nation could thrive yet there was difficulty in the task on conformity. Ethnic groups including Mexicans and Chinese were judged by notions of race, cultural adaptations and neighborhood. Mary Lui’s “The Chinatown Trunk Mystery” and Michael Innis-Jimenez’s “Steel Barrio”, provides a basis by which one may trace the importance of a neighborhood in the immigrant experience explaining the way in which neighborhoods were created, how these lines were crossed and notions of race factored into separating these
Moving from the unpleasant life in the old country to America is a glorious moment for an immigrant family that is highlighted and told by many personal accounts over the course of history. Many people write about the long boat ride, seeing The Statue of Liberty and the “golden” lined streets of New York City and how it brought them hope and comfort that they too could be successful in American and make it their home. Few authors tend to highlight the social and political developments that they encountered in the new world and how it affected people’s identity and the community that they lived in. Authors from the literature that we read in class highlight these developments in the world around them, more particularly the struggles of assimilating
Whether in the Old World of community, familial relationships and traditional values, or in the New World of non-traditional relationships, individualism and uncertainty, the struggle for survival predominates the immigrant narrative. Religious and racial intolerance, social upheaval, economic hardship, and political turmoil underscore the causes of emigration, but the New world was far from idyllic, and traces of these scourges checkered the landscape of the New World as well as the Mother land.
Everyone had to prove they were independent, capable, and willing to integrate into the cultural melting pot with its own identity of hard work, grit, and determination which established and fostered success in American society. But, not everyone who chooses to take the adventure and risk associated with becoming American wishes to share in this identity. Many feel it necessary to shun the American identity and observe it with a level of disdain. Disregarding the reasons themselves or previous generations may have immigrated to America for. In the short story “Mericans”, Sandra Cisneros illustrates this concept through a character in the story. “The awful grandmother knits the names of the dead and the living into one long prayer fringed with the grandchildren born in that barbaric country with its barbaric ways. (Cisneros)”. In the story it is later identified the children in reference were indeed born in the United States. “Awful grandmother” has an incredibly low opinion of the society in which her grandchildren were born. Barbaric, let’s take a look at that word shall we—“without civilizing influences; uncivilized; primitive (barbaric)”. The detriment of that perception seems to be counterproductive to the melting pot concept of the United
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream.
Daniels, Roger. Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life. New York: Perennial, 2002. Print.
Immigrants' lives become very difficult when they move to a new country. They are often discriminated against due to their race and/ or nationality. This problem occurs many times throughout Dragonwings, a book by Laurence Yep. In his book, the Chinese characters who immigrate to America face many challenges in their new lives. They are thought of as inferior, have to endure many hardships, and become lonely due to the fact that they must leave the majority of their families in China. In this book, the immigrants face multiple difficulties and challenges in the new world they know as the Land of the Golden Mountain.
"Immigrants and the American Dream." Society 33.n1 (Nov-Dec 1995):3(3). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale University. 26 Sep. 2006.
Ronald Regan describes America as, “…a place in the divine scheme that was set aside as a promised land” (“Loosing the American Dream”). Do Regan’s words have any truth to them? How can America be a promised land when immigrants are still fighting for the chance to pursue the American Dream and social acceptance? Immigrants have different motives for coming to America some may seek citizenship for political freedoms that they once did not have due to uprising civil wars in their native country. Others may come for social freedoms that they were not awarded in their home country due to sexual orientation. Others may come for economic freedoms that allows them to go from rags to riches. No matter the reason, immigrants risk everything for a chance to pursue the American dream. So why is it so hard for immigrants to earn a spot as a citizen of the United States of America? Why are immigrants still facing narrow-mindedness criticism for being foreign? It is time for Americans to change their prejudice views of immigrants.
The American Dream can obliterate any prospect of satisfaction and does not show its own unfeasibility. The American dream is combine and intensely implanted in every structure of American life. During the previous years, a very significant number of immigrants had crossed the frontier of the United States of America to hunt the most useful thing in life, the dream, which every American human being thinks about the American dream. Many of those immigrants sacrificed their employments, their associations and connections, their educational levels, and their languages at their homelands to start their new life in America and prosper in reaching their dream.