Making Americans: Schooling, Diversity, and Assimilation in the Twenty-First Century

Cristina L. Lash

RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Volume 4, Number 5, August 2018, pp. 99-117 (Article)

Published by Russell Sage Foundation

For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/702892

[ Access provided at 2 Oct 2021 10:39 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] Making Americans: Schooling, Diversity, and Assimilation in the Twenty-­First Century C ristina L. Lash

How do schools teach American identity in light of immigration-driven­ diversity? This ethnographic study focuses on everyday nation-­making at Castro Middle School, located in a city transformed by immigration. Building on theories of bidirectional assimilation, I show how assimilation can produce new definitions of Americanness more recognizable to immigrant communities, facilitating their national identification. At Castro, bidirectional assimilation supported African American students’ descriptions of Americans in multi- cultural terms and their own identification as American. Assimilation between the school and the larger Latino and Asian student populations, however, was limited because of a binary racial paradigm that ex- cluded them from the national community. This study thus nuances the role of race as a barrier in the as- similation process, particularly as it unfolds in schools.

Keywords: assimilation, immigration, national identity, American identity, school diversity

For the past thirty years, the United States has are part of the third-pl­ us generation of Latino witnessed the highest rates of immigration to Americans (Ruggles et al. 2017).1 These demo- the country since the late nineteenth century, graphic and cultural shifts have raised new the current wave consisting primarily of immi- questions about the role of schools in the Amer- grants from Latin America and South and East icanization process. Specifically, how do Asia. The result is that nearly a quarter of all schools teach American identity in the context students in U.S. classrooms are either immi- of immigration-­driven diversity? grants or children of immigrants, many of The details of how schools “make” nation- whom speak a language other than English at als have been remarkably undertheorized home (Gándara 2013). The fastest-­growing within the sociology of education literature group is Latino school-age­ children, of whom (Waldinger 2007), despite the prominent role 8 percent are foreign born, 52 percent are U.S. of schools in the Americanization process (for born with immigrant parents, and 40 percent exceptions, see Banks 2008; Olsen 2000). Yet

Cristina L. Lash is a doctoral candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Education.

© 2018 Russell Sage Foundation. Lash, Cristina L. 2018. “Making Americans: Schooling, Diversity, and Assimi- lation in the Twenty-Fir­ st Century.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 4(5): 99–117. DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2018.4.5.05. Sincere thanks are due to the National Academy of Education/Spencer Founda- tion, the Research Institute of Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and the Stanford Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education for sponsoring this research. Direct correspondence to: Cristina L. Lash at [email protected], 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA 94305. Open Access Policy: RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences is an open access journal. This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-­NonCommercial-­NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Li- cense.

1. Author’s calculations based on the American Community Survey 2016 sample. 100 Immigration and Changing Identities such analyses are increasingly imperative as tural terms. Race, however, remains a signifi- the changing demographies of the nation have cant barrier in the assimilation process (Portes become a source of growing conflict across the and Zhou 1993). At Castro, the staff’s desire to country. The current political climate shows a reproduce a multicultural nation was signifi- rise in white nativism and hate crimes against cantly limited by a black-­white racial binary immigrants, people of color, Muslims, and paradigm in which race and diversity were con- LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) ceived almost exclusively in terms of blacks and members, including a significant spike in the whites (Perea 1997). Thus, although Castro staff days immediately following the election of consciously reduced the ethnic distance be- Donald Trump as president of the United tween the school and their small African Amer- States on November 8, 2016 (Federal Bureau of ican population, they did little to reduce the Investigation 2016; Miller and Werner-­Winslow ethnic distance with their much larger Latino 2016). On top of already fierce debates and pro- and Asian student populations, limiting the tests over the ethnic content of the U.S. history process of bidirectional assimilation. curriculum, such as in Arizona and Texas in 2010 and in Colorado in 2014, the recent rise Schooling, Assimilation, and in national intergroup conflict points to the Nation-­Making challenge facing schools to teach American According to the political scientist Elizabeth identity within a demographically and cultur- Theiss-­Morse, national members are able to ally shifting nation, and the need for research recognize each other based on social boundar- to examine these dynamics in context.2 ies that define the prototypical or core national This article thus focuses on the everyday (2009; see also Miller 1995). These social bound- ways that schools teach middle school stu- aries are often based on ascriptive characteris- dents what it means to be American in the con- tics, including race, ethnicity, and language text of immigration-­driven diversity and pres- (Theiss-Morse­ 2009; Smith 1991; Anderson ents findings from an ethnographic study of 1983), but may also be based on more civic at- Castro Middle School, a diverse school in a city tributes and political beliefs, such as liberalism profoundly shaped by immigration. It reveals and individualism (Smith 1991; Smith 1997). how American nationals and foreigners are This mutual recognition is necessary for na- “made” at Castro through direct classroom in- tionals to believe they belong together as a struction, school events and programming, group, though they will never meet most of and daily interactions between peers, teachers, their compatriots (see also Anderson 1983). As and staff. the political theorist David Miller notes, “na- The findings illustrate how efforts to reduce tions are not aggregates of people distin - the ethnic distance between schools and their guished by their physical or cultural traits, but minority student populations may be explained communities whose very existence depends as a process of two-way­ assimilation, whereby upon mutual recognition” (1995, 23, emphasis both mainstream institutions and immigrant added). How nationals imagine the social communities undergo ethnic change and be- boundaries of the national community often come more alike (Alba and Nee 2003; Jiménez influences which people or groups receive the 2017). Through this process of assimilation, a full benefits and protections of the state and social context emerges in which a “true Amer- full rights of membership within the national ican” includes the cultural attributes of partic- polity (Anderson 1983). Yet the existing litera- ular ethnic minority groups, facilitating the ture on national identity has done little to ex- national identification of minority students plain how children learn the boundaries of the and their definition of American in multicul- nation in the first place or the social processes

2. In 2010 in Tucson, Arizona, protesters fought a ban on ethnic studies curriculum. Marches and rallies in Aus- tin, Texas, the same year similarly opposed the school board’s decision to change ethnic content in the U.S. history curriculum. In 2014 in Denver, Colorado, debates and protests ensued over the school board decision to limit topics in U.S. history that emphasized race, class, and ethnicity, which were argued to be un-­American.

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences making americans 101 that lead to eventual national identification, middle- ­class, and it was into this culture that including assimilation. immigrants were presumed to assimilate. No- Assimilation is, in fact, a process of ethnic tably, these theories share the assumption that change whereby “foreigners” become nationals the boundaries of the American mainstream even as the characteristics of a national may are normative and based on roughly the same change (Waldinger 2003, 2007). Moreover, the ethnocultural features, rather than socially image of the core national in large part directs constructed and contested (Anderson 1983). both the Americanization and assimilation pro- Only the immigrant community is presumed cesses for minority and immigrant groups. to undergo cultural change as it moves toward Classic theories of assimilation have treated a fixed point of Americanness. it as a process of cultural subtraction, whereby Sociologists have recently shifted on this the ethnic elements of the individual are point, suggesting a more dynamic construction stripped away and replaced with Anglo Euro- of the nation that is shaped by both immigrant pean cultural and linguistic norms (Gordon communities and the host society (Alba and 1964; Park and Burgess 1921; Donato 1997). In- Nee 2003; Jiménez 2017). Richard Alba and Vic- deed, the common school movement led by tor Nee, for example, argue that assimilation is Horace Mann in the late nineteenth century a bidirectional process of ethnic change expe- was in many ways designed to assimilate Euro- rienced by both the host society and the im- pean immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy, migrant community, leading to an overall de- and Poland into a common American culture, cline of ethnic distinction (2003). Rather than and to make American citizens who would presume that the mainstream is fixed as white serve the new republic (Tyack 1967; Labaree or middle class, the authors suggest that bidi- 1997). These European immigrants were even- rectional assimilation takes into account tually racialized as white as social acceptance changes made within mainstream institutions in antebellum America became defined by a (such as schools, organizations, churches) as shared hatred toward and distance from Afri- they also evolve toward a common culture with can Americans (Ignatiev 1995; Roediger 1991). ethnic minorities. Yet Alba and Nee do not de- As the boundaries of the American mainstream velop national identity as an independent con- became more defined by whiteness, these struct within their conceptual model. Although boundaries were enforced through structural they describe how immigrants become part of racism in American institutions, including the and eventually change the American main- Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Jim Crow poli- stream, they do not distinguish between the cies of the South, and the segregated “Mexican mainstream (defined primarily by the domi- schools” of the American Southwest. nant group) and the imagined national com- The early assimilation scholars Robert Park munity (Waldinger 2003). Tomás Jiménez sim- and Ernest Burgess believed that race, and spe- ilarly describes assimilation as a relational (or cifically whiteness, determined who was able give and take) process of cultural change be- to assimilate into a common American culture tween the host society and immigrant commu- and who was not (1921). Although assimilation nity over time, but adds that the host society was seen as fully possible for white ethnic has changed their understanding of American groups, it was (at best) only partially possible national identity as a consequence of long-­term for nonwhite groups, including African Ameri- immigration (2017). Still, this research leaves cans and the Japanese. Latinos were also open the question of whether these shifts in viewed as racial outsiders who would never national perceptions are shared by immigrants blend into the mainstream (Donato 1997). Later and their descendants, or how these new per- theories of assimilation emerging in the mid-­ ceptions of Americanness shape their national and late twentieth century—including those identification. forwarded by Milton Gordon (1964) and Ale­ This research thus provides an important jandro Portes and Min Zhou (1993)—similarly conceptual bridge between assimilation theory described the core group (or upwardly mobile and social theories of national identity. I argue sector) of American society as white and that through this process of relational or two-­

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences 102 Immigration and Changing Identities way assimilation between immigrant commu- tivation, and sense of belonging at their school. nities and the host society, the social boundar- Despite the lack of any specific blueprint for ies of the nation may change and a new how teachers should reduce this ethnic dis- definition of a core national (or “true Ameri- tance, as they are expected to tailor their in- can”) may emerge that is more similar to im- struction to the identities of the children in migrant communities. This new image of an their seats, a primary focus of CRT and CME American is also more recognizable to immi- has been to provide diverse students with ac- grant groups, thus allowing them to more eas- cess to a range of multicultural curricula and ily see themselves as fellow members of the academic learning tools that reflect their cul- national community and identify as American. tural identities. This article focuses on the interrelated pro- Staff efforts to reduce the ethnic distance cesses of assimilation and national identity for- with their students—for example, through CRT, mation within the context of schools—key na- hiring teachers of similar ethnic backgrounds tionalizing institutions. My analysis highlights to the students, or having school assemblies to the specific mechanisms of assimilation within celebrate the accomplishments of various eth- schools that allow for this mutual recognition nic groups—are, in fact, indicators of bidirec- to occur (or not), and how these processes tional assimilation between the students and shape students’ national identification. their schooling institution, resulting in an over- Education scholars have previously analyzed all decline of ethnic distinction. By reconcep- assimilation as a process of change occurring tualizing such school practices through the only among immigrants and their descendants lens of assimilation, the link between these (Ogbu and Simons 1998; Brown 2004; Yoon, practices and the emergence of new models of Simpson, and Haag 2010), rather than as bidi- Americanness within schools comes into rectional change with the host society. More- clearer focus. over, critical scholars within education have Although CRT assumes that schools will be strongly critiqued assimilation because of its responsive to the ethnic and cultural identities long association with ethnic erasure and posi- of students within the local context, some evi- tioning whiteness and standard English as the dence indicates that school reform since the cultural norm (Ladson-Billi­ ngs 1999; Valenzu- civil rights era has predominately focused on ela 1999). What has been missing is an analysis the experiences of African Americans, giving of how, over time, schools can also undergo far less attention to the incorporation of other ethnic change to become more like the minor- racial groups, including Latino and Asian sub- ity communities they serve. groups (Donato 1997). The education historian The closest theories that describe a cross-­ Rubén Donato argues that the experience of fertilization between student and school cul- African Americans and their struggle for civil tures come from the scholarship on culturally rights has dominated U.S. historical memory responsive teaching (CRT) and critical multi- and often serves as the frame of reference for cultural education (CME) (Ladson-­Billings current discussions in education reform (1997). 1995, 1999; Sleeter 2012). CRT and CME are par- Thus, Latinos and Asians are largely left out of adigms that construct racially and ethnically the historical record of civil rights, erasing the marginalized students as valuable contributors agency of these communities in desegregation of knowledge whose diverse experiences are as- and advocacy for bilingual education and cul- sets to student learning. CRT and CME also turally appropriate curriculum. According to have an explicit antiracism, social justice the legal scholar Juan Perea, these historical agenda that prioritizes equity and inclusion in omissions are evidence of a black-­white racial school programming and structures. One of the binary paradigm that dominates the racial dis- underlying assumptions of CRT is the belief course within the United States (1997). In this that the degree of ethnocultural mismatch (or paradigm, race in America is constructed pri- ethnic distance) between students and their marily or exclusively in terms of blacks and teachers, curriculum, and school culture pro- whites. It limits the sets of problems that may foundly influences student achievement, mo- be recognized in racial discourse, and creates

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences making americans 103 significant distortions in the way people learn To document the everyday practices of to view Latinos and Asians, including perpetu- nation-­making in schools, I conducted seven ating negative stereotypes. The relative absence months of ethnographic fieldwork in Castro of Latino and Asian subgroups from local his- Middle School during the 2014–2015 school year tories and U.S. history curriculum further rel- (Fox and Miller-Id­ riss 2008).3 I selected Castro egates the contributions and longtime strug- for its geographic location in Bridgeview, a city gles of these communities to insignificance in California that has been dramatically trans- and, ultimately, leaves teachers with fewer re- formed by immigration. Between 1970 and sources to apply CME to a wider range of cul- 1990, Bridgeview changed from a predomi- tural identities (Menchaca 1995; Oboler 1997; nately white working-­class city with a small Af- Yosso 2002). rican American population to a primary desti- At Castro Middle School, a black-white­ racial nation for immigrant families from Latin paradigm among the staff limited their ability America and Asia. By 2010, its Latino popula- to reproduce the image of a multicultural na- tion had grown to 40 percent, and Asians and tion among students and incorporate Latino Pacific Islanders made up another 25 percent. and Asian–Pacific Islanders at the school. The The diverse students at Castro well represent staff described their use of CRT and multicul- the changing demographics of the larger city. tural education as guided by their desire to cel- Most of the students are U.S.-born­ children of ebrate national diversity, promote tolerance immigrants. Their families represent an array and inclusion, and recognize injustice on the of national origins, including Mexico, Hondu- basis of race, income, and sexuality. Yet, in ras, Guatemala, China, the Philippines, Iraq, practice, the staff framed racial diversity as al- Saudi Arabia, and Fiji. The majority of students most exclusively blacks and whites. Thus, al- are Latino (55 percent) and predominately of though educators reduced the ethnic distance Mexican descent. Approximately 25 percent are between the school and their small African Asian or Pacific Islander, and include a fast-­ American student population, they did not as- growing Filipino population. Of the remainder, similate with the much larger Latino and 10 percent are African American and 7 percent Asian–Pacific Islander population. The findings are white. Test score data from the California further reveal that where Latino and Asian–Pa- Department of Education show that Asian and cific Islander students were not provided a Filipino students significantly outperform La- model of Americanness that was recognizable tino, Pacific Islander, and African American stu- to them (that is, reflected their racial, ethnic, dents at Castro and in the school district. In or linguistic identity), these students com- 2014–2015, 76 percent of students were low-­ monly defaulted to the hegemonic definition income and eligible for free or reduced-price­ of American as white and English monolingual. lunch. Although the socially diverse demographics M ethodology and large second-­generation student popula- Drawing from prior research on national iden- tion of Castro are increasingly characteristic of tity, I operationalized the construct of national schools located in urban centers across the identity to include values and beliefs (such as country, the ethnic diversity of the Castro staff democracy and individualism), cultural prac- far exceeds that of the national teaching force.4 tices and traditions (such as holidays and fes- Among the twenty-se­ ven staff members, includ- tivals), ethnoracial and linguistic boundaries ing the administration, teachers, and parent (how nationals distinguish themselves from outreach coordinator, the ethnoracial composi- foreigners based on ethnic, racial, and linguis- tion was roughly 56 percent white, 19 percent tic categories), and common myths and heroes African American, 11 percent Latino, and 11 per- (such as famous battles and political leaders) cent Asian–Pacific Islander. The diversity of the (Smith 1991; Theiss-Morse­ 2009). staff and students (including the limited pres-

3. I use pseudonyms for the school name, city name, and all names of respondents to protect anonymity.

4. The educator workforce nationally is roughly 80 percent white (U.S. Department of Education 2016).

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences 104 Immigration and Changing Identities ence of white students), and the progressive and history teachers, the principal, assistant social politics of the local region made Castro principal, academic counselor, and family out- a theoretically generative case to study how reach coordinator. School personnel shared American identity is constructed within a their thoughts on the meaning of American school where we would strongly predict a mul- identity in the twenty-fi­ rst century and dis- ticultural national narrative to emerge. Al- cussed how the social context of the school and though not generalizable in a statistical sense, local community influenced their pedagogy, the findings from this study also provide a programming, and organizational decisions. sharper lens on how, within other school con- Finally, I conducted semistructured individ- texts with pronounced diversity, the process of ual interviews with thirty-­five eighth-­grade stu- assimilation can lead to a new shared image of dents (ages twelve through fourteen) from the national identity between the host society and observed ELA and history classes to assess how immigrant community. peer interactions, school structures, and class- My methodology included participant ob- room lessons shaped how students conceptual- servations three days a week at Castro, docu- ized American identity.6 I selected consented menting how American identity was con - student respondents that represented the differ- structed during class lessons, in the curriculum, ent ethnic, racial, and generational status and through the social relations and structures groups at the school. The final interview sample of the school. This included observations in included seventeen Latino, nine black, four three eighth-­grade U.S. history classrooms and Asian–Pacific Islander, one white, and four other three English-­language arts (ELA) classrooms. or mixed-­race students representing a range of The principal recommended the three teachers ethnicities, including Mexican, African Ameri- who taught both ELA and history for the study, can, Nigerian, Honduran, Saudi Arabian, Fili- and these teachers volunteered to participate. pino, and Chinese. Nineteen of these students One ELA and history class served English learn- were males, sixteen were females. Most were ers (ELs) only, allowing me to assess whether second- ­generation immigrants, but the African American identity was constructed differently American students had typically been in the for EL students and mainstream students. I country for at least three generations. Four stu- conducted additional participant observations dents were immigrants. All interviews with stu- in the cafeteria, main office, and on the school- dents and staff were transcribed verbatim. yard, as well as at various school events (per- Using NVivo software, I coded, analyzed, and formances, assemblies, staff meetings, and so triangulated these data sources using a modi- on). I took photographs of school posters, mu- fied grounded theory approach (Charmaz 1995), rals, flyers, and notices as further evidence of guided by how national identity has previously the school’s institutional culture.5 been operationalized in the literature (that is, I conducted semistructured interviews with values and beliefs, cultural practices and tradi- thirteen school staff members to ascertain the tions, ethnoracial and linguistic boundaries, dominant model of American identity on cam- and common myths and heroes). I specifically pus, and the role of the school and local com- drew on Theiss-Mo­ rse’s social theory of na- munity in shaping this model. My respondents tional identity to determine which characteris- included nine seventh-­ and eighth-­grade ELA tics were used by the staff to describe core na-

5. A note on positionality, within classrooms, I alternated between being a quiet observer and engaging directly with students. Occasionally I served as a teaching assistant, made copies, and tutored. With the students, I positioned myself as a trusting adult keenly interested in their experience, but not a formal staff member. My identity as a Mexican American with an immigrant mother and my experience growing up in urban communi- ties were often points of connection with the students and helped build rapport and openness in our conversa- tions.

6. All students were given a consent form to return with the signature of their parent or guardian in order to participate in the interview. I informed students that their participation was voluntary and would not affect their academic evaluation in any way.

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences making americans 105 tionals, peripheral nationals, and foreigners show that to our students. So I’ve—we’ve (2009). I then analyzed how the school repro- read materials from Latino—Latino and La- duced their model of a core national in their tina authors, we’ve read materials from Asian efforts to reduce the ethnic distance with their authors, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino authors. minority students (evidence of assimilation). So I’ve tried to look at the population of my Finally, I assessed whether the students repro- class and bring in materials that reflect, you duced the school’s model of a true American know, their contribution to America. and how this shaped their national identifi­ cation. Many of the staff expressed wanting to chal- lenge the view that American history belongs S taff Definitions of to only white Americans by bringing in cultur- American Identity ally responsive curricula. Ms. Fisher, for exam- Interviews with the Castro teachers and admin- ple, was a white teacher in her late fifties, and istrators showed that the staff shared a similar had taught English and history at the school vision of the American nation.7 They described for more than fifteen years. When asked what America as a land of great opportunity and free- lessons from American history she hoped her dom, including being a place where teachers students would remember in five years, she re- could present multiple perspectives on Ameri- sponded, can history, rather than a strictly Eurocentric perspective. They also described America as a I’ve written quite a bit of curriculum about diverse nation with respect to race, ethnicity, minorities represented in history and so religion, and sexuality, noting that this diversity when I go back and I look at some of the of culture is what makes the country great. things we’ve done and some of the things Some staff members directly tied the nation’s we’ll do in the future, it’s always that—that diversity to the country’s long history of immi- they see people similar to them represented gration. In general, the teachers and adminis- in history. So that would be the thing that I tration felt strongly about helping students would like them to remember . . . that all of learn and celebrate national diversity by incor- them represent history. It’s not just the rich porating curricula that was responsive to their white guys, which is what the books do a lot students’ own cultural identities. of times. The views of Mr. Freeman, an African Amer- ican ELA teacher in his mid-­forties, capture In addition to acknowledging the nation’s that of other staff members in this regard. He diversity, the staff described the unequal treat- believed that the school should include ELA ment of different social groups in the United and history curricula that reflects the diverse States as a result of historic oppression and identities of the students within Castro and the ongoing racism. Their examples of national nation. injustice included recent events in Ferguson, Baltimore, and New York where unarmed black I really am a firm believer that teachers in men were killed by police officers, rising anti-­ this day and age with our changing popula- immigrant sentiment, and the struggle for tion, not only in California but all across the marriage equality for gay couples. The staff United States, really need to be culturally sen- therefore wanted to help students develop a sitive, respectful and use materials that re- critical understanding of the nation that ac- flect the classroom. If we are truly a melting knowledged both diversity and inequality, and pot and every culture has something to con- to prepare students to better embody Ameri- tribute to the American experience, then why ca’s values of acceptance, inclusion, and equal- not use authors that have contributed and to ity for all.

7. I use American to refer to the people of the United States or the sociopolitical community that defines the nation (Anderson 1983). I recognize that the Americas include two full continents, despite the colloquial usage of America or Americans to describe the people of the United States.

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences 106 Immigration and Changing Identities

F rom Theory to Practice: with their African American students through Limited Assimilation at Castro school-wide­ events and contests. In celebration Although the Castro staff outwardly expressed of Black History Month (February in the United a desire to create the image of a multicultural, States), the students in the leadership class put multiracial America at the school, in practice, up a large poster-mural­ of African American celebrating diversity nearly always meant cel- heroes in the cafeteria that included activists, ebrating blackness and the contributions of Af- philosophers, and scientists. The school ad- rican Americans, rather than the broader eth- ministration also organized a mandatory as- nic representation of the school. Though sembly to celebrate Black History Month that African American students made up only 10 began with a photomontage of African Ameri- percent of the student population, the staff al- can figures and the principal leading students most exclusively reduced the ethnic distance in singing the black national anthem. Students between the school and the African American from the drama class performed monologues students. Consequently, they neither con- from speeches by Malcolm X, Booker T. Wash- structed a national image that included Latino ington, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. or Asian Americans, nor did they assimilate The STEP team performed several routines, and with their much larger Latino and Asian–Pacific the school counselor presented awards for a Islander student population. schoolwide contest for the best essay and art Bidirectional assimilation with African project that focused on the contributions of Af- Americans was visible at both the school and rican Americans.8 Notably, no other heritage district level. For example, a major effort within months were celebrated at Castro during the the school district was the African American school year.9 Achievement Initiative (AAAI), which priori- Beyond STEP, other aspects of African Amer- tized strengthening family engagement for Af- ican culture and identity were reflected in Cas- rican American parents at their local school tro’s art and music, as well as in the school sites, ensuring teachers were trained in imple- visual environment. On the outside walls of menting culturally and linguistically respon- campus buildings and the inside walls of class- sive pedagogy, and creating a school climate rooms were murals of African American fig- that was inclusive of African Americans. ures, including a mural outside the music class Schools were responsible for hosting two AAAI of jazz legend Louis Armstrong. One classroom meetings a year, yet at Castro, numerous after- had two large artistic renderings of African school events and assemblies throughout the American civil rights leaders Martin Luther school year were specifically dedicated to en- King Jr. and Bayard Rustin hanging in the front gaging African American parents and acknowl- of the room for the entire school year. edging African American students for their suc- Assimilation with African Americans was cess in academic subjects, elective courses, also visible at the classroom level. In eighth-­ sports, and school citizenship. These events grade history and English classes throughout were held either in the library in the center of the year, teachers led lessons on the accom- campus, or in the multipurpose room, which plishments of black Americans, including served as the prime location for all-sc­ hool showing videos about the lives of baseball events. According to the principal, AAAI events champion Jackie Robinson, the Freedom Rid- and similar school initiatives were equity-­ ers of the civil rights movement, and transgen- driven in an attempt to address the ongoing der actress Laverne Cox. Teachers also assigned achievement gap between black students and projects in which students had to research fa- Asian students at the school. mous black writers, scientists, philosophers, Castro staff also reduced the ethnic distance and activists and present these figures to the

8. Stepping is a dance form historically associated with the African American community that involves using the body to make rhythms using a combination of clapping, footsteps, and spoken word.

9. The staff did not, for example, arrange school events to celebrate Hispanic-L­ atino Heritage Month (Septem- ber 15 through October 15) or Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (May).

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences making americans 107 class. Students learned about leading abolition- formed at the school talent show, but at the ist Harriet Tubman; hip-­hop and rap artist Tu- time of data collection, this group was essen- pac Shakur; Barbara Jordan, the first African tially defunct and received little, if any, atten- American woman in the U.S. House of Repre- tion from the administration. sentatives; and Madam C. J. Walker, actress and Although Latino families represented the entrepreneur of the early twentieth century. In majority of students at the school, these par- two eighth-­grade history classes, teachers ents were not meaningfully incorporated into showed episodes from the 1970s television the activities of Castro. Many of the Latino par- miniseries Roots, describing the history of Af- ents had immigrated to the United States from rican Americans in the United States from the Mexico and Central America and were Spanish-­ perspective of descendants of African slaves. dominant, yet few staff members spoke Span- Students also read literature by African Ameri- ish at the school. One of these was Ms. Morales, can authors in their ELA classes, including the parent outreach coordinator who worked Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes, a story only part time at Castro. She organized a variety about identity, belonging, and poetry told from of educational workshops, English classes, and the perspective of black and Latino youth in translation services for parents. However, in- the inner city. formal conversations with Ms. Morales and La- In short, the Castro staff used critical mul- tino students suggested that she was one of the ticultural education—specifically, Afro-­centric few staff members Latino parents interacted programming, practices, and curricula—that with at the school. Whereas activities with Af- effectively reduced the ethnic distance between rican American parents through AAAI took the schooling institution and the African Amer- place in the center of campus, close to the ad- ican students. Moreover, the staff created a con- ministrative offices, activities for Latino par- text in which African Americans were “true ents were typically held in The Parent Center/ Americans,” despite ongoing inequality. Black Centro de Padres, which was located in a bun- Americans were projected as valuable members galow at the edge of the school campus. It was of both the national and school community rare to see Latino parents in other areas of the and were incorporated into a diverse model of school; the exception being the main office, the American nation. where parents typically went to handle disci- In sharp contrast to the African American plinary issues with their child.10 students, the Castro staff made little effort to At the classroom level, assimilation with La- reduce the ethnic distance between the school tino and Asian communities was also notably and the Latino, Asian, or Pacific Islander stu- absent. In seven months of observations at the dents, despite the fact that these groups to- school, only twice did staff members provide gether made up the vast majority of the student curriculum that included a prominent Latino population. The contributions of Latino and figure. On one occasion, the date was May 5, Asian Americans were entirely absent from popularly known in the United States as Cinco school assemblies, events, and the school vi- de Mayo, a holiday originating in Mexico cele- sual environment. While numerous classroom brating the defeat of the French by the Mexican walls displayed imagery of African American army at the Battle of Puebla. This holiday has figures, they did not display similar imagery of since become popularized in the United States Latino or Asian Americans. Nor were there stu- as a day to celebrate a stereotypical, cartoon dent groups or clubs like the STEP team that version of Mexican culture—including wearing reflected the musical or dancing traditions of panchos and sombreros and drinking Mexican other ethnic groups. Interviews with the staff beer—and has largely been detached from its suggested that in the past, a Polynesian dance historic significance. On this day, one of the club had briefly existed at the school and per- ELA teachers, Ms. Fisher, began class this way:

10. Although parents’ legal status may have affected their engagement at school, particularly among undocu- mented parents, it was largely unknown to the staff and was not collected for this study. That said, the staff typically included undocumented immigrants in their imagined vision of the national community.

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Ms. Fisher: We’re going to talk about César class had discussed Pancho Villa during the Chávez today. Why today? school year, possibly on a day when I was not Ava: (enthusiastically raises her hand) Because on- site,­ she responded that they had not cov- it’s Cinco de Mayo! ered him in the curriculum, but that she Sonia: What? wanted to include “someone from their cul- Ava: Cinco de Mayo. ture.” Indeed, Pancho Villa was a popular pick Ms. Fisher: That’s right. So we’re going to among the Latino boys in several of her classes. spend some time talking about him. As one Mexican American boy explained on his poster, he selected Pancho Villa precisely be- Ms. Fisher proceeded to have a discussion cause he was “the same culture.” However, this with the students about economic injustice, event highlighted the trivialization of Mexican then showed a video on César Chávez, noted culture at Castro. Rather than integrate mul- migrant labor activist. tiple models of Mexican American or other La- Several things were noteworthy about this tino American heroes into the curriculum, as event. First, Ms. Fisher did not explain the sig- the teachers had done with African Americans, nificance of Cinco de Mayo, including its origin Ms. Walker chose a Mexican national to repre- as a Mexican holiday that was then appropri- sent Latino identity. Consequently, in this class, ated by Americans. By contrast, on Saint Pat- the only option available to represent a Latino rick’s Day in March, both the mainstream and was to be a foreigner. EL teachers showed multiple videos in class Asian Americans and other ethnoracial explaining the historical origins and meaning groups were even more absent from classroom of the holiday to Irish Americans. Second, de- curricula than Latino Americans. On no occa- spite the complete lack of connection between sion was an Asian American hero discussed in César Chávez and Cinco de Mayo, this was the school curricula or programing. Moreover, sev- only day during the school year that Ms. Fisher eral history teachers skipped the limited con- chose to focus on a Latino figure, specifically tent provided in the U.S. history textbook that a Mexican American figure. César Chávez thus acknowledged the longtime presence of Chi- became a tokenized representation of Mexican nese and Mexican communities in the coun- culture more broadly, rather than a meaningful try.11 This included chapters addressing Chi- model of a Mexican American hero. nese immigrants and the Chinese Exclusion The only other occasion in which a Latino Act, the settlements and culture of Mexican figure was mentioned in class was during a fi- Californios in the early 1800s, and the Mexican-­ nal assignment for U.S. history in which stu- American War. Although teachers regularly face dents had to choose a historical figure to re- difficult choices about which content to cover search and portray for a living museum. The in a school year, as well as institutional con- teacher, Ms. Walker, gave students a list of straints around these choices (for example, American figures to choose from (or they could test- ­based accountability), these notable exclu- research another figure), which included sions effectively erased the early contributions mostly white American and some African Amer- and struggles of Asians and Latinos in the ican figures. Also on this list was Pancho Villa, United States. a controversial figure from the Mexican Revo- One teacher, Ms. Fisher, made some effort lution. When I asked Ms. Walker whether the to educate her students about “other” (non-­

11. The textbook used throughout the school district was United States History: Independence to 1914, published by Holt Rinehart & Winston (2006). Teachers described having a great deal of autonomy regarding which class- room materials they used as long as they met the state content standards for the eighth grade. This meant that the teachers’ reliance on textbooks varied a great deal, but was more common for teaching history than ELA. In California at the time of data collection, teachers were accountable to standards released in 1998 before the arrival of new Common Core standards. The standards expected students to know about Mexican settlements of the early 1800s, the outcomes of the Mexican-­American War on the lives of Mexican Americans today, and immigration to the northeast, but they make no mention of any Asian immigrants.

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Christian) religions and holidays, including a Asian identities within the school, they repro- lesson on Chinese New Year, yet the accompa- duced a token or essentialized representation nying classroom discussions and assignments of these identities or constructed them as for- had the effect of distancing Chinese culture eign. It was thus not surprising that when Cas- from American culture. Ms. Fisher began the tro students were asked during their interviews lesson by telling the class, “Today you’re going to describe Americans, they in many ways re- to write an essay about whether you should cel- produced the boundaries of American identity ebrate Chinese New Year or American New Year that were reflected in school practices and cur- to work on your argumentative writing.” She ricula. then passed out an article with two passages for the students to read. One passage was about Ass imilation and Student celebrating the New Year in America and the National Identification other was about celebrating the New Year in This article began with the assumption that China. After reading the passages aloud as a becoming American happens through the pro- class, Ms. Fisher prepped the students on how cess of assimilation. I therefore expected that to write their essays. bidirectional assimilation would support the national identification of immigrant and mi- Ms. Fisher: You need to choose one. [Ameri- nority groups by creating a modified image of can New Year or Chinese New Year] a core national that was more ethnically sim- Carlos: I thought you could choose both. ilar to these groups and thus more easily rec- Steven: Yeah. ognizable. At Castro, interviews with eighth-­ grade students showed that African American Without addressing these comments, Ms. students were indeed more likely than other Fisher went on to explain her model for writing ethnic groups to reproduce the multicultural the essay. Yet, as this brief exchange shows, the national narrative put forth by the school staff students disagreed with the premise of the as- that included African Americans specifically. signment, which made them choose which hol- They also more strongly identified as Ameri- iday to celebrate as opposed to being able to can themselves. However, in this same con- celebrate both holidays, traditions, and cul- text, where Latinos and Asians were rarely de- tures. In reality, many Chinese Americans in picted as American nationals or were absent the United States celebrate Chinese New Year from the national narrative altogether, Latino, and the New Year on January first, and many Asian, and Pacific Islander students predomi- non–Chinese Americans participate in Chinese nately reproduced the ethnocultural image of New Year celebrations. The assignment, how- Americans as white and English monolingual ever, presented a forced choice: in essence, stu- that is prevalent in mainstream media and dents could either be Chinese or American, but policy (Linton 2009; Gándara and Hopkins not both. Celebrating Chinese New Year thus 2010). Based on this definition of American- turned into a marker that you were not Ameri- ness, Latino and Asian–Pacific Islander re- can. spondents typically separated their American To summarize, although the staff made tar- English identity from their ethnic minority-­ geted efforts to include African Americans as language identity, or did not identify as Amer- true Americans within the national imaginary ican at all. and to reduce the ethnic distance between these students and the school, the same could Arcf i an American Student not be said for other ethnoracial groups at Cas- Perceptions of Americans tro, including Latino or Asian students. Using African American students at Castro generally pedagogical strategies in line with CME and believed that America is a multiracial society CRT, the staff directly challenged the hege- that offers freedoms and opportunities not monic construction of true Americans as exclu- available in other countries. Consistent with sively white and of European descent. However, the staff’s views, they also believed that diver- when they attempted to incorporate Latino or sity, tolerance, and multiculturalism were na-

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences 110 Immigration and Changing Identities tional values, despite the country’s ongoing you’re prejudiced about people basically. struggle with racism. Like you don’t like that person because they Lucas’s description of Americans well exem- believe in this, or they have that skin color plifies the common view among the African but . . . yeah . . . I mean, you can’t really live American students, specifically that Americans in this country if you’re not really accepting are a diverse people of many backgrounds and of different kinds of people. That’s what I cultures, rather than a fixed, homogeneous cul- believe. ture. His own mixed ethnic identity as African American and Fijian reflects this diversity. Beyond diversity and acceptance, African American students described other aspects of I would describe [Americans] as, you know, American culture and disposition, including they’re diverse in culture, like they’re not just that Americans are smart, loud, dress a certain one. They’re like, they can be Italian and Ger- way, enjoy sports, like to party, like to be “out- man, like especially with the . . . Caucasian side the box,” walk with swagger and convic- people, like they’re not just one. They’re not tion, know how to behave in certain social en- just German, specifically. They’re like Italian, vironments, and have knowledge of American Irish and so forth and so on. And like with history and heroes. Notably, they also dis- Hispanic people, they’re not just Hispanic, cussed that Americans are free to be who they they’re El Salvadorian and Puerto Rican and choose, say what they want, and (with the ex- Spaniard. So it’s, you know, it’s just a mix of ception of breaking the law) do what they want, cultures with everybody. They’re not just one which they believed was not possible in many particular thing. other countries. These freedoms were also im- portant to their identification as American and African American students also commonly their sense of national pride. Brandon, for ex- suggested that to be American is to be accept- ample, discussed how his daily freedoms and ing of all people, regardless of cultural back- opportunities made him feel American and set ground, and to reject prejudice. Concurrently, Americans apart from people in other coun- African American students often attributed tries. their strong identification as Americans to the fact that they shared these national values. The Author: So how about for yourself personally, views Levi expressed typify those of many of do you think of yourself as American? his African American peers, who like him, grew Brandon: Yeah. up in the highly diverse community of Brid- Author: How come? geview. I asked Levi to describe the values he Brandon: Because I was born in the U.S. and thought were important to Americans and lived in the U.S. all my life and I have the later whether he identified as American him- freedom to do what I want and when I self. wanna do it. Author: Are you proud of, or, how proud of Levi: Important values . . . Especially in Amer- you are you being American? ica, you shouldn’t be really judgmental of Brandon: Very, because some people are born everyone, because everyone is so different not American, and probably going through and you can’t really . . . You have to be ac- hell, so for me to be American and living a cepting of people. good life, it makes me happy because some [. . .] people don’t even—can’t even do most of Author: How about for yourself personally, do the things I do every day. They have to suffer you think of yourself as American? so . . . Levi: Yeah, I think of myself as American. Author: Sure, what are some things that you Author: How come? feel like you do every day that other people Levi: How come? I mean, I feel the culture. I’m don’t get? really accepting of all people. Unless, you Brandon: Fast food, basketball practice, hang- know, like you have some bad thoughts, like ing out with friends, homework, talking on

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the phone. Most people can’t do that every eyes. They used these ascriptive features to con- day. struct a social boundary that determined who was also partially American and who was for- An important distinction between African eign. American students and other students at Cas- Emilio’s view captures this position well. tro was that African American students rarely Like most of the Latino and Asian–Pacific Is- used ethnocultural descriptors to define Amer- lander students at the school, Emilio is bilin- icans, including race or language. Only one stu- gual and a U.S.-­born child of immigrant par- dent mentioned race as a defining feature of ents. He grew up in Bridgeview but his parents Americans, but as a measure of inclusion rather are from Mexico. Here Emilio uses a combina- than exclusion. This student, Olivia, said that tion of race, language, and accent to distin- her racial identity as African American is what guish full Americans from others. made her feel American. She also used the ex- ample of African Americans overcoming slavery Author: Do you think you can tell when some- to exemplify that Americans (broadly) are one is not American? strong and smart. African American students Emilio: I think everyone says this—that it’s also rarely used English to describe fellow na- because of your color and your accent. tionals. Nearly all of them saw value in learning Author: What do you mean by color? multiple languages and believed this should Emilio: Usually everyone is white. My friends be required of all Americans. In their view, that are American, fully American, they’re one’s identity as a true American was based less all white. They’re usually not tanned. They on specific ascriptive attributes, and more on have light hair, like light brown or blonde. pluralism, acceptance across social differences, Their accent is full-­on English. They don’t and freedoms. Based on these definitions, Af- have an accent. rican American students strongly identified as American.12 This definition of American in terms of En- glish and whiteness strongly affected the na- Lt a ino and Asian–Pacific Islander tional identification of Latino and Asian–Pa- Student Perceptions of cific Islander students and their relationship Americans to school. Although most Latino and Asian–Pa- In contrast to the African American students, cific Islander students identified as American Latino and Asian–Pacific Islander students to some degree, their connection to American most often described Americans in ethnocul- identity predominately came from their iden- tural terms, specifically as white and English tity as English speakers. This also meant that monolingual. They also commonly conflated Latino and Asian–Pacific Islander students felt their national, racial, and linguistic identities, American when they were in settings where unlike their African American peers. they mostly spoke English, including at school. Latino and Asian–Pacific Islander students Conversely, they felt less American or not Amer- generally believed that true Americans—whom ican when they spoke Spanish, Tagalog, or they sometimes referred to as American Amer- Mandarin, or when they were in an environ- icans or full Americans—speak English, do not ment where minority languages were domi- speak another language, and do not have an nant, usually at home or with their family. accent. The majority of these students also de- Roughly half of the Latino respondents de- scribed Americans as white, explicitly noting scribed being split as both Mexican and Amer- their white or light skin, blond hair, and blue ican for this very reason, rather than identify-

12. The one white student interviewed for this project, Kaylee, had a similar view of Americans as the African American students. Kaylee described Americans in terms of their freedoms and rights, and specifically refer- enced the struggle of African Americans for freedom as an exemplar for why Americans nationally have the freedoms they do. She said she learned about these freedoms from videos in history class, including a video on the Freedom Riders of the civil rights movement.

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences 112 Immigration and Changing Identities ing as a hybrid Mexican American identity. celebrating American New Year and Chinese Their American side was their English- ­ New Year, the interviews with Latino students speaking, school-­going side, and their Mexican suggest that many have internalized a forced side was their Spanish-­speaking family side. separation between their ethnic and national Laura’s interview best demonstrates the feel- selves. Yet instead of choosing one or the other, ings of many Latino students. Laura is a most Latino students felt an attachment to second- ­generation Mexican American and a bi- both. At the same time, they saw this hyphen- lingual English-Spanish­ speaker. Here she ex- ated or split identity as an indication that they plains her split identity as half American and were not fully American. half Mexican: For Latino and Asian–Pacific Islander stu- dents who defined American identity in terms Laura: I feel that I am half and half because a of both English and whiteness, these students large proportion of my life revolves around either struggled to identify as American or did being American because I speak a lot of En- not identify as American at all, including those glish, and because the community around who were U.S. born. In their view, whiteness me is mostly people who live in here and functioned as yet another boundary that pre- who speak this language. But then, there’s vented them from seeing themselves as full always the other half of my family . . . they Americans. Take Sam, for example, a second-­ speak Spanish. We usually have that. . . . generation Chinese American who struggled how would you explain it? Not so much be- with this issue. When first asked to describe lief, but it’s the culture we share together. Americans, Sam characterized them as white So half—like my life usually revolves around and blond. He then elaborated that you could the American side, but then I have some tell Asians and Hispanics were not American parts of my life where it’s the Mexican and because they “look different than white peo- I talk and I’m used to being in like a ple.” I later asked Sam whether he identified as Spanish-­speaking community and I have American. He responded this way: the stereotypical Spanish food and those kinds of things. Sam: Yeah, I think. Author: Got it. So, which aspects of your life Author: Okay, how come? do you feel like the American side revolves Sam: Because I was born here and. . . . I don’t around? know. I don’t know. I’m not sure. Laura: School, education. That’s the large Author: You’re not—okay, so what makes you part, a large proportion of my life. not sure? Author: Yeah. Sam: Because my parents are a different race, Laura: That’s like my number one thing. . . . yeah. Because it’s English, because . . . we’re usu- Author: Okay. You’re saying they are a differ- ally taught that. ent race. What are you referring to? Sam: Errrr, I don’t know. Laura’s association between her English Author: That they’re—that they’re Chinese or identity and her American identity was com- that they’re Asian? mon among the Latino and Asian respondents. Sam: They’re Asian. Indeed, studies of American identity among immigrant and second-­generation minority Sam questioned his identity as American be- groups have found a similar association be- cause of his family’s racial background. In his tween American identity and English (Lippi-­ view, to be American is to be white, and as he Green 2012), and between this association and and his parents are Asian, he cannot be a true schooling (Olsen 1997; Olsen 2000). Notably, American, despite the fact that he was born in students like Laura have learned to compart- the United States. This same feeling was shared mentalize their American English identity and by U.S.-born­ Latinos, as well as Filipino immi- their ethnic Spanish identity. Much like the ac- grants who similarly defined Americans in tivity when students had to choose between terms of whiteness. Whereas English fluency

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences making americans 113 provided an avenue for these students to at age constructed by the staff, mirroring the rel- least partially identify as American, race served ative absence of these communities from the as an impenetrable boundary that prevented historical memory of the nation (Donato 1997). these students from identifying as core nation- Thus, Latino and Asian students were less able als. to recognize their fuller cultural selves in the Even Julie, a mixed-race­ Pacific Islander and national community, and often reproduced a white student whose family had been in the definition of Americanness based primarily on United States for over three generations, simi- English-­speaking ability. larly described “straight Americans” (true Americans) as white and rejected identifying Di scussion and Implications as American herself: “I don’t personally think This article illustrates the role of bidirectional I’m an American because like, I’m like mixed assimilation in shaping both shared notions of with so many different cultures. . . . I don’t national identity and national identification. I think I’m just straight American, like straight theorized that bidirectional assimilation can white people. I’m mostly Pacific Islander, and produce a modified definition of a core national so that’s why I like, tend to not think that I’m that is more ethnically similar to immigrant and American.” minority groups, facilitating the identification Julie preferred to identify as Islander or Ha- of these groups as American. I showed empiri- waiian and distanced herself from Americans cally how this relationship plays out within one she felt were both homophobic and prejudiced of the most important institutions in the Amer- against nonwhite groups. Her perspective is icanization process: schools. Although many particularly illuminating because it shows that factors contribute to how children imagine the an ethnocultural description of Americans ex- nation, the role of schools in shaping national tended well into the fourth generation of perceptions should not be underestimated.13 In Asian–Pacific Islander students, suggesting schools, students learn the nation’s values (free- that this description does not necessarily dis- dom, democracy, equality), the common lan- appear with more generations in the United guage, and the history of the country and its States. people. Thus, although findings from this study Latino and Asian–Pacific Islander students are not generalizable statistically, they show thus viewed the American nation in fundamen- how new shared notions of Americanness can tally different ways from African American stu- emerge through the process of assimilation dents, largely because of their different percep- within highly diverse schools. tions of how race and language were social In the case of Castro Middle School, staff ef- boundaries to national inclusion. These views forts to reduce the ethnic distance between the may be partially explained by the dramatic dif- school and African American students were ference in the way Latinos, Asians, and African guided by their image of the nation as multi- Americans were included within the national cultural and racially diverse, which they wished imaginary of the school. African Americans to reproduce among students. However, obser- were consistently constructed as core members vational data showed that in practice, bidirec- of the national mainstream and the achieve- tional assimilation at Castro was limited by a ments of African American students were cel- racial paradigm that constructed race and di- ebrated. This provided an image of Americans versity in America as almost exclusively limited that was more ethnically similar to the African to the experiences of blacks and whites (Perea American students, enabling them to more eas- 1997). Thus, while the staff reduced the ethnic ily recognize themselves as members of the na- distance with their small African American stu- tion (Miller 1995). However, Latinos and Asians dent population through school programming, were almost entirely left out of the national im- events, and curricula that highlighted the ex-

13. Other factors may include parent background, local politics, and dominant portrayals of Americans in the media and policy. However, little empirical research has actually explored how these other factors shape the national perceptions of children.

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences 114 Immigration and Changing Identities periences and culture of African Americans, In contrast to the African American students they did not assimilate with their much larger at Castro, Latino and Asian–Pacific Islander stu- Latino and Asian student populations. Latino dents more often reproduced an ethnocultural and Asian identities were notably absent from model of Americanness, defined primarily as the national community within the school. On English monolingual and white. This definition the few occasions when they were included in led many of the Latino and Asian students to curriculum, they appeared in an essentialized either split their national and ethnic identity or foreign form, as in the examples of César into two non-­overlapping parts (such as English Chávez and Pancho Villa. American and Spanish Mexican), or to reject an This disparity in representation may be American identification outright. These find- partly due to the limited availability of alterna- ings are consistent with studies of ethnic and tive racial frames within the American national national identity among Latino and Asian stu- imaginary and mainstream institutions. The dents in college (Devos, Gavin, and Quintana history of slavery, the national trauma of the 2010; Cheryan and Monin 2005), second-­ Civil War, and the iconography of the civil generation Latino and Asian Americans (Bloem- rights movement have profoundly shaped the raad 2013; Lash 2017), and high school immi- racial discourse and historical memory of the grants of various backgrounds (Olsen 1997) that country. The lack of shared national memories found similar associations between American and mainstream curriculum materials that ac- identity, English, and whiteness. We might pre- knowledge the contributions of nonblack mi- dict that these associations would disappear nority groups means educators have limited with more time in the United States and more resources to construct a national image that exposure to American multiculturalism. Yet the challenges a black-white­ racial binary para- interview with Julie (fourth-­generation Pacific digm, even in a school like Castro, where staff Islander white student) suggests that, rather members take a race-­conscious approach to than a marker of students’ newcomer status, school inclusion. ethnocultural descriptions of Americans are Despite these disparities in practice, assim- more likely a reflection of the history of colo- ilation between the school and African Ameri- nialism and the continuing racialization of La- can students at Castro was shown to support tino and Asian groups as Other, inferior, or for- their national identification. The staff con- eign (Tuan 1998; Oboler 1997; Kim 1999). Still, structed African Americans as true Americans, the persistence of the ethnocultural narrative despite ongoing racism in the country. This im- among the Latino and Asian students at Castro age enabled African American students to more is noteworthy given the school’s concerted ef- easily recognize themselves as core nationals forts to construct a national image that was in- and to identify as such. These findings contra- clusive of African Americans. dict those of Theiss-Morse’­ s national study of Certainly the ethnocultural model of the na- American identity, which showed that strong tion has deep roots in U.S. history and contin- American identifiers were more likely to define ues to be reproduced at the macro-­level of prototypical Americans in ethnocultural terms mainstream media, language policy, and anti-­ and black respondents were more likely to con- immigrant policies (Linton 2009; Gándara and sider themselves atypical Americans relative to Hopkins 2010; Chavez 2008), as well as at the other racial groups (2009). This study suggests meso- le­ vel of school practice (Olsen 1997; that theories of national identity must take into Lippi-­Green 2012; Pérez Huber 2011; Crawford account the potential of assimilation to shift 2000). It is therefore possible that the school’s the definition of a prototypical American away message of national diversity was not enough from an ethnocultural model and toward a to counter the hegemonic ethnocultural narra- model that reflects the identities of historically tive from being reproduced among Latino and marginalized groups. In local contexts where Asian students, particularly given that these this is the case, ethnic minorities—including students were not presented with a model of African Americans—may more likely view Americanness that included their ethnic or ra- themselves as typical Americans. cial identities at the school. Scholarship from

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences making americans 115 sociolinguistics further suggests that the tional and group level. Future research should strong association between standard English continue to explore assimilation in context, and whiteness (Bucholtz 2001) effectively posi- providing important nuance to existing quan- tions African Americans as distorters of English titative scholarship. or not “true English-­speakers” (Lippi-­Green This study carries a number of implications 2012). This may explain why Latino and Asian for schools and classrooms as they navigate a students who described true Americans pri- changing national terrain. How we define our- marily in terms of English did not include Af- selves as a nation and whom we see ourselves rican Americans in their description, especially becoming as a result of the influence of immi- given the staff’s regular enforcement of stan- gration has significant implications for na- dard English as the linguistic norm of the tional educational standards, language policy school. More research is needed to explore decisions, textbook and curriculum design, and whether Latino or Asian students have a more teacher education and professional develop- pluralist view of the nation and stronger na- ment. Findings from this study may therefore tional identification if they attend a school with guide policymakers, curriculum designers, and a more critical language ideology or more ex- practitioners toward creating a national narra- pansive view of national diversity. tive that is inclusive of our increasingly diverse Although this study confirms the ongoing population. At the micro level, this study also significance of race in the assimilation process, illuminates the conscious and unconscious it provides important nuance to the existing ways that school staff members transmit mes- literature on this point. Sociologists have pos- sages to students about who does and does not ited that race may be a barrier to the incorpo- belong in the nation. As student’s sense of be- ration of immigrants within the host society, longing is significantly linked to academic but largely characterized the host society (or at achievement and motivation (Osterman 2000), least the upwardly mobile sector) as white, An- the findings suggest that educators should en- glo, and middle class (Gordon 1964; Portes and sure their model of national inclusion aligns Zhou 1993). My findings reveal that even in a with school practices at the organizational, pro- local context where the American mainstream grammatic, and curricular level, as well as in included blackness, race still presented a bar- daily interactions with students. Educators rier to the incorporation of Latino and Asian must also reflect on how their model of diver- students. This study also complicates Portes sity may exclude students from full member- and Zhou’s argument that interaction with ship in the national community based on race, native-­born youth of the inner city and ties to language, or culture. African American culture will necessarily lead to downward assimilation and a rejection of R eferences mainstream America (1993). The findings from Alba, Richard, and Victor Nee. 2003. Remaking the Castro suggest that were mainstream institu- American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contem- tions to construct an image of the nation that porary Immigration. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard includes African American identity, this would University Press. support a positive American identification Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined Communities: among these youths. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of National- Finally, this research shows how the process ism. London: Verso. of assimilation and the outcome of national Banks, James A. 2008. “Diversity, Group Identity, identification are both influenced by local defi- and Citizenship Education in a Global Age.” Edu- nitions of the mainstream. The findings dem- cational Researcher 37(3): 129–39. onstrate that district policies, school leader- Bloemraad, Irene. 2013. “Being American/Becoming ship, the ethnic composition of students and American: Birthright Citizenship and Immigrants’ staff, and the politics of the local community Membership in the United States.” Studies in all shape how the boundaries of the nation are Law, Politics and Society 60(1): 55–84. reproduced among youth, as well as how the Brown, Bryan A. 2004. “Discursive Identity: Assimi- assimilation process unfolds at the institu- lation into the Culture of Science and Its Implica-

rsf: the russell sage foundation journal of the social sciences 116 Immigration and Changing Identities

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