I inherited the course ("The Fractured American Dream") but not any guidance or material with which to teach it. I thought we'd do a few days on the mythos of "American Dream" and talk a bit about the ideal versus the reality through some essays about early US immigration before moving on to other facets of the dream,

Damn, Kristin, what I wouldn't give to come in there and give you a hand...

Kristin, that class sounds fascinating. Maybe you could do an online version? (Kidding!)

Heh. Thanks. So far we did a concept map using about 30 quotes about the "American Dream" that I pulled from all kinds of sources, read/analyzed Lazarus' "New Colossus" (the Statue of Liberty poem) and an excerpt from a critical essay about Lazarus' "conflicting citizenships," contrasted a photograph of the Statue of Liberty with Dali's painting of the Colossus of Rhodes (Bartholdi based the SoL on earlier depictions of the Colossus) to discuss artistic purpose and message and to contrast Victorian and Classical values, and read Mary Gordon's personal essay about a woman going to visit Ellis Island because it was the only "historical American landmark" that she felt any real connection to. The quiz today was to get them to synthesize all of this information into some early thoughts about the tension between the myth of the dream and the political realities. And the first day of class was Tuesday!

ETA: Java, thank you! And Barb, if you know of any good short essays or stories about Cuban immigration under Castro, I would love to see them.

ETA#2: Jesse, thank you!!

I just read that to him (hope you don't mind). He got a big goofy grin on his face and huge eyes. We will see. I'm not above bribery at this point.

Java is the best. What an awesome incentive.

Btw (and I'll really shut up after this, because I'm going to go pick megan walker up from the airport--YAY!), here's the passage from Mary Gordon's article that most shocked and horrified me:

“By the 1880’s, the facilities at Castle Garden had grown scandalously inadequate. Officials looked for an island on which to build a new immigration center, because they thought on an island immigrants could be more easily protected from swindlers and quickly transported to railroad terminals in New Jersey. Bedloe’s Island was considered, but New Yorkers were against the idea of a ‘Babel’ ruining their beautiful new treasure, ‘Liberty Enlightening the World.’ The statue’s sculptor, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, reacted to the prospect of immigrants landing next to his masterpiece in horror; he called it a ‘monstrous plan.’ So much for Emma Lazarus.”

Talk about bitter irony.

Kristin, on the Ellis Island/NYC side of it, maybe something by Anzia Yezierska? I've only read her novels, but I know she's got a few collections of short stories, too.

I just read that to him (hope you don't mind).

Not at all.

He got a big goofy grin on his face and huge eyes.

Good!

We will see. I'm not above bribery at this point.

I prefer to think of it as incentive. ;)

because I'm going to go pick megan walker up from the airport--YAY!

Damn I am so wishing I could join in.

Kristin, it's perhaps a reverse of what you're looking for, but a fascinating article nevertheless:

Cuban-Americans thoughts about reclaiming their land and homes (2006). What's interesting to me about it is that this article is already over two years old-- people were planning then for Fidel and Raul Castro to eventually cede power (preferably by dying). Cubans have been planning and hoping for fifty years. A dream, regardless of what side of the border it comes from, is a powerful thing.

On This site there are a ton of links to articles and photographs. In the menu along the side, you'll see specific headings for the Balsero crisis, Mariel, Camarioca, defectors, and pretty much anything else you might want to know about. Some of the articles are in Spanish, so let me know if you need help with translations.

The thing I have never exerienced being covered (but it may in fact be) is how different immigrant groups are reviled, and then assimilated. I am Italian-American, and for my generation, it seems no big deal. However, as late the 1970's my boss, who is also Italian American, was told by her now husband's family that she wasn't good enough for their son because she was "black" and Italians had taken their jobs. Now, I am sure that this, at least in part, means that my boss's inlaws are not particularly enlightened people, but my mom lived in a predominantly Italian American and Black neighborhood growing up in the 50's and 60's, and not only were they separate from each other, but also separate from the "white" people. But now, today, I don't experience any significant prejudice as an Italian-American, so I guess it is sort of a success story of assimilation, or something. I don't know, but it fascinates me.

But now, today, I don't experience any significant prejudice as an Italian-American, so I guess it is sort of a success story of assimilation, or something. I don't know, but it fascinates me.

I think, too, it also depends on the geographical location. Because in Miami, there has continued to be an influx of Cubans into the city over the years, there are still a lot of prejudices-- not just by the non-Cubans, but also by the Cubans who came over in the late fifties/early sixties, who were educated, upper-class people, who did work hard, who did experience the American Dream, whereas a lot of the people who came over from Mariel on, had already experienced more than a generation's worth of Communist rule, so they came over with a completely different set of "rules" and expectations. It wasn't uncommon for them to be looked down upon not only by Americans, but also by the Cubans who'd come over a generation before.

Interesting, interesting dynamic that has sparked a lot of emotion.

There was a book published a few years ago called something like "How Jews Became White Folk," about the shift toward thinking of Jews as "white." I remember seeing something about a work force (maybe on the railroads?) that had three pay scales: white, black, and Italian.