Abstract

It is becoming evident that the dual application of acculturation and assimilation is being enforced by the acceptance of cultural pluralism in the United States.  A fine analysis of this idea can be observed in the process of naturalization and the collective decisions of both naturalized citizens and eligible immigrants. In order to examine the foundation of these “collective decisions”, I volunteered at the Community Learning Center of South San Francisco where I am able to study the  basic struggles of the immigrants in obtaining citizenship, how private and public organizations help them with the process and motivations of their perseverance in obtaining  citizenship. Such venture involved learning the nuances of the naturalization process mainly through simulations in the citizenship class that I volunteered at.  From this work, I discovered the vital part that English proficiency plays in the process and the overall integration of immigrants to mainstream society. The question of allegiance is also presented in not only  the physical test but also within the applicants who are very much indebted to the United States that paying taxes, voting and serving in the army are not hard civic responsibilities to comply to. This kind devotion involves an abstract and internal modification of established views – a transformation that is difficult to do. Ultimately, the ability to take office after obtaining citizenship and the increasing numbers of minority politicians is a testament of overcoming the adversaries of running for office as a minority as well as the strong desire to represent the needs of a diverse group.  Hence, the obstacles presented in the process of naturalization and the collective actions taken by the immigrant populations enforce the dual application of both acculturation and assimilation in the overall process of integration of immigrants to mainstream society. Consequently, the political presence and cultural visibility of certain ethnic groups influence the bilingual society that United States is heading to, the ongoing demographic change and growing multiculturalism in the country’s established institutions.

Rusty Statue of Liberty

Should we limit immigration? With the economic downturn it doesn’t seem logical to still work on reuniting families or increasing diversity. Can we perhaps take a break while the country recovers?

As I examine my current bias right now, I wonder if it easy for me to agree on limited immigration just because I myself is in the country right now. I do believe on the idea of carrying capacity of all systems and Malthusian catastrophe. The United States can be a generous nation that welcomes that tired and weary of the world but there has to be some limit for this generosity. In my ever so practical mind, the effort to help a few thousands can eventually jeopardize the welfare of the rest if the system collapses.

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

                                                                    I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Does this still apply?

The Humbling Effect of the United States

Many professionals from other countries take less skilled jobs in the U.S or specifically study a different filed just to get a job. Doctors usually become nurses and lawyers become typical government employees. However, this is not the humbling effect that I find most, well, humbling.

Although wealth is scantly and fairly distributed among different classes, society isn’t as stratified.  Anyone can go to Safeway and everyone shops at Target.  Food, both typical and exquisite is easily obtained by people – rich or poor.

Despite of all these, what humbles me the most is the diversity in this country. Each person that hailed from a different country has a different story to tell, hardships to overcome and sacrifices to make. During my sessions with the citizenship class, an individual or two would share their story with me. A gentlemen from Fiji told me that he was a boxer that from his country with no formal education. This makes it hard for him to learn English for instance yet his skills are sufficient for the purposes his job. He shared his reverence for the law through an anecdote about man that he restrained for assaulting another man. He has distinct tattoos on his knuckles and square glasses that reminds me of the old man from Up. I am his unofficial class aide and during the “graduation” potluck, he brought samosa for the class . He was so happy to know that I liked his recipe. It warms my heart at how much he feels gratitude towards me.

Another woman that I met from the class is a widow from Brazil.  She is such an adorable old woman who still goes to the gym and is very much eager to learn more English in the future. Her story is a bit tragic. Her husband was murdered by a drunkard while they were vacationing somewhere in Brazil. Not feeling safe anymore, she took her kids to the United States and supported them in their new country alone. 

During the last day of the class, Marta, my mentor, distributed a worksheet with a picture of MLK. The title of the activity is  “I have a dream ..” This is when the widow from Brazil shared her dreams of learning more English, of how the United States helped her support her family and many more. Other students shared their dreams and Marta wrote them all on the board.

Halfway of all the sharing, my eyes started watering. These people are not the people who just aim to benefit from government entitlements or freeload from other Americans. They too have dreams to fulfill with even some of them with strong passion for helping others despite of their old age. In some of them, I share a common ground – desire to fulfill my goals, responsibilities and to affect more people with all my accomplishments. 

In them, the American dream lives on.  

Bias on the Scale of Challenge

Is it hard to get  an American citizenship?

Fulfillment of the eligibility requirements aside, I realized that the process is fair yet still difficult for many immigrants.

A conversation with my aunt stands out in my memory in regards to this matter. She basically scoffed at the idea of GOING to a class for filling out an application and later having a 15-20 minute interview with an examiner. “I even did it all myself”, she said. She then explains to me the process from her memory.

I’m amazed at how it bothered me.  Not only like a munchkin ‘so small and narrow minded’, my aunt  seemed awfully arrogant during that moment. Let’s start with background. Philippines was an American protectorate for 10 years – thus establishing a bilingual education system and a very western society in the Philippines. My aunt then grew up in an environment with English used everyday and with a culture almost similar to that of the United States. Now, education level. Often times, non-English speaking countries send immigrants that barely finished high school or grade school due to daring circumstances. Average Filipino immigrants on the other hand typically go up to 8^th grade in addition to T.V and other outlets to know the English language. There is no comparison really when it comes to the two situations for the Philippines have a lot of advantage.

Is it because of the environment I grew up in the last 4-5 years that I’m more understanding of these things? Or is it my experience at CLC? Perhaps both? 

Hopefully my cousin doesn’t get infected by this munchkinmania.

 

Now, is the process fair? The immigration policy of the United States have evolved away from the Ellis Island procedure and now focuses on  reuniting families,  getting skilled laborers, increasing diversity and providing refuge for politically displaced individuals or refugees. Regardless  of the procedures – both good and bad – that the country legislates, I think that it is   entirely up to the country to decide even if that may mean excluding others the chance to immigrate to the United States. A half hearted gesture with liberal immigration policies that do not reflect the overall sentiment of the people for immigration will cause more problems for the immigrants once they get inside the country. Racism is a big one and lack of resources is another. It really would just be difficult.

The N-400 Application

The process of naturalization is like an AP Test – the curriculum is taught to the test.  It is composed of a fact based test and an interview that is conducted through a verbal examination.  The writing section of the application is an extension of the fact based test.

First, applicants are asked conversation starter questions. Then they are asked questions from the N-400 application just to see if the info that they put matched with what they know.  After this, they are asked 10 possible history and civic questions from a list of 100 that are published. If once applicants get 6 questions right, the examiner stops asking question. For applicants that are 65 years old or older, they are only asked questions from a pool of 20 questions where they have to answer 6 right from the 10 questions that can be asked. Near the end of the interview, the examiner will ask for the applicant to point to a certain question and read it. The applicant will then write down the right answer on a piece of paper in complete sentence.

In this process the following skills are examined: reading, writing and comprehension skills along with civics and history knowledge.  However, abstract skills like social attitudes are evaluated as well. Questions like “what is your favorite color” or “how was your day?” are questions that are geared at testing verbal comprehension of the applicants. A tricky aspect of the whole process is the interpretation of signs and signifiers that are not universal to many immigrants. A firm handshake is crucial- as oppose the kiss on the hand for the ladies in many countries.

Beauty of Local Services

 I think it makes sense that seniors take classes like econ and US gov at the senior year of each student. It maximizes the application of the facts.  As I volunteer at the community learning center, I get to see the “grassroots” government services that is more intimate that something like Medicare or Medicaid. I guess it’s just that these services are more tailored to specific needs of the people that it has more appeal. 

The most interesting thing is how I am able to evaluate my views as I encounter various things like CLC. From my studies, I know that my views are mostly republican but liberal in terms of single issue topics like abortion or gay marriage.  As I think about the sequester and the very realistic dilemmas (not solutions) portrayed in the show Parks and Recreation, I thought about which departments would have to be affected by the cuts. It’s a no brainer that the less essential services will have to be cut like parks or like free classes but seeing the people that are benefitted by these programs make these decisions hard.

I learned that the overall establishment of CLC is a reflection of what kind of culture Grand Avenue has. The immigrants which settled the area often don’t have time or broad abilities to help the second generation of their family (perhaps born or raised in the US) with their homework – which make sense. In this kind of situation, we can see the dissonance in culture – primarily in language and lifestyle – as the kids are instructed of native ways at home and mainstream American lifestyle outside of their homes. CLC, then serves as a mediator.

This sort of arrangement make South San Francisco beautiful overall.

Their Hard Day’s Night

Their Hard Day’s Night

It only occurred to me that adult education is different than the kind of teaching that I’m used to – that is with kids.

Through a rough estimation, I can say that 45 yrs. old is the average age in our class of 10-15 students (it varies every session). These people have real jobs, with real wives and kids to support. I would assume that many of them come to the class after a day’s long work only to be bombarded by history facts. Sometimes, there is at least one student with a tire expression.

Other than having a difficulty of putting myself above the position of adults in the class, I haven’t figured out my niche as well.  Yes, I pass handouts and lead readings but other forms of helping, I don’t do. And so I just watched the class unfold with special focus on the student. I still don’t know where I stand that it’s hard to assert my helping hand.

It’s amazing. The effort that they put in the class often does not match the fatigue in their eye.  They remain attentive.  Sometimes, Martha would ask the students about their culture or personal life and the whole class would either be rocking with laughter or be sympathetic, depending on the nature of the experience being narrated. It humbles me to the ground of how much these people are trying to obtain citizenship when others take it for granted. As a student, I feel ashamed of my pathetic whinings in school and the fact that I don’t take my studies seriously sometimes.

And so for the class I just watched and handed out worksheets and smiled and laughed along with them. I don’t know but it was just me but it feels like the mood was lighter with a smiling teenager in the room. I would always have that small smile and the students would smile back. I’m not fond of smiling but they make me smile.

They really are beautiful people that humanize the immigration issue for me.

My Hard Day’s Night

On my first day of mentorship, I was introduced to the curriculum, routines and focus of the class.  Essentially, the class is like an AP class where the curriculum revolves around “the test” or in the citizenship class’s case, filling out the N400 application form and passing the interview.

Citizenship applicants must know American history, government structure, and of course, the English language. There are 100 possible history questions that can be asked during the interview and the goal is to get at least 10. In answering, the applicant’s English writing and speaking skills will be evaluated with the vital purpose of ensuring that the person does apply the proper usage of the English language.

As an avid learner, veteran AP test taker and a sympathetic stranger, I was thrilled to help. But I didn’t know how to connect with students. How does a teenager tell an adult stranger that he’s doing something wrong?

 I find it awkward for many reasons. I was raised to submit to my elders. This cultural artifact is so engraved in my personality that I don’t know how to correct one of the students. To me, it is a little rude. I am not in equal footing with the students in terms of age and culture. How do I tell them to read a passage for me? Or say that word so and so is pronounced as so and so? Yet, I still asked them to read a passage for me and pronounce the word so and so as so and so.  It was painful. To make it worse, I still don’t know their names and it’s very much comforting that I’m not really good with names.

The byproduct of this inner turmoil is insecurity. It feels like I can ask them to do something but they can just ignore it. Why? Because I’m not the real teacher and I’m just a kid. Plus, they’re not getting their money’s worth by not having Martha as much. It’s like the sad lonely faith of a substitute teacher.

However, this is the first day and I do overanalyze.

Getting to the Topic – Obladi Oblada Life Goes On

Being too full of bright ideas, isn’t as helpful sometimes.

My heart was set on doing a comparison of teaching techniques used in low performing schools as oppose to teaching approaches used in medium to high performing schools. I was going to make the nearest elementary school in the Tenderloin area the base of my operations and Sunshine Gardens Elementary School as my other headquarters. I wanted to further expand that simple comparison by  learning how these teaching techniques are reflective of the demographic, economic, and cultural composition of the school itself. I was going to do all this.

But then I started learning about loans and bonds from my economics class. And so, an idea came to me. What if I examine reasons and factors that sustain the growth of predatory loaning? Perhaps touch on the cycle of poverty and the nonexistent formula to break the cycle of poverty?  Great idea, indeed. Working with a prototype mentorship letter where certain lines can just be filled in with specific names of banks, I printed several copies and approached known banks in my area.  I was received well by the typical tellers and their suit and tie – with the Chase representative bearing the most charming smile – but in the end, the prospect mentors that I approached never got back to me.

The answer was in my own backyard, my textbook and my peers.  Acculturation and Assimilation? Salad Bowl over melting pot? I live in California for god sakes. Also, the due date for the mentorship letter convinced me even more that THIS will be my topic. With this in mind, I contacted Martha Bookbinder from the Community Learning Center  of South San Francisco (CLC) so I can enlist her as my mentor.  CLC has an intimate relationship with the Hispanic community by Grand avenue and Martha just happen to be the instructor of CLC’s citizenship class.  

Working with Martha during the summer of my sophomore and junior year, it was not difficult to ask her to be my mentor and so I got my mentor letter signed and my awesome idea two days before the due date.

The long process of getting to my final topic for the Capstone Project reflects the curriculums of my classes and also, the existence of critical thinking that years of bubble-shading have not fully destroyed just yet.