Stereotypes In Becoming American

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People have many reasons for wanting to lead a life in the United States. However, many of those reasons stem back to the idea of family. One of the largest reasons for people to leave their country for the United States has to do with being able to provide for their children. When parents realize the hardships they are facing and that there does not seem to be another option, they consider migrating to the United States. They believe that only a life in the United States will provide them with the money they need to put food on the table for their children. (Abrego 25) This ties in with the reading Economic Life, in the Catholic Social Thought book. Everybody deserves to have the right to a proper economic life and without suffering. However,…show more content…
Ghadar, author of Becoming American, focused on some of the myths and stereotypes that surround immigrants. One of the myths was that immigrants do not want to learn English. It is easy to see why some Americans may think this, simply because immigrants that they meet may not know English. However, that is no excuse for treating them any differently, because “not wanting to learn English” is a myth, and it does not apply to all immigrants. In fact, according to Ghadar, a large percentage of them actually do want to learn English and are in the process of learning it, so that they can better prepare themselves for work in the United States. To say that “ all immigrants do not want to learn English” is a very ignorant statement and not at all valid. ( Ghadar 8) Another unfortunate myth that revolves around immigrants is that they are criminals. Immigrants have the lowest crime rates of any other demographic group in the country, yet on Google, millions of hits appear when you search “immigrants & crime”. People create a stigma or myth revolving around a group of people and they pass the idea along. Soon enough, large amounts of people begin to believe what they hear, despite the fact that statistics and evidence prove differently. (Ghadar…show more content…
The separation and trauma is unnecessary. Vicino, author of Suburban Crossroads, takes on a differing viewpoint and provides information from “the other side” of the argument. He qualifies opinions that are opposed to immigration and undocumented people. On the very first page, Vicino put a quote said by Trustee Paul Humpfer, about a suburban town called Carpentersville. He said, “If the law passes, the welcome mat for illegal aliens is removed from Carpentersville. Carpentersville will be a better, safer place to live and work when this ordinance passes.” (Vicino 1) This was in regards to passing an ordinance that would force any non-citizens out of the town. He said that, “many illegal aliens are hiding in Carpentersville”, and he believes that this should be under more control and that they should not be allowed to live in the town. I am actually very familiar with Carpentersville, as it is near a town that I live in. It is a notoriously low-income suburb about fifteen minutes away from middle and upper class surrounding towns. A lot of the kids from Carpentersville went to our school district’s schools, and there was a lot of debate of whether people wanted them to go to our schools or not. It is sad that people believed that the kids from Carpentersville were not worthy enough to go to our school. Going back
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