Ron Grossman and Charles Leroux’s July 31 Page 1 story on the struggles of Mexican immigrants in Little Village (“Just trying to fit in”) struck a familiar chord with us. Throughout the year, the Illinois Ethnic Coalition has been compiling profiles and personal narratives on Chicago’s ethnic communities, which will become part of a book to be released this fall.
While it is common to associate ethnicity with tribalism, all of our scholars and writers relayed ethnically based values and traditions that served to keep their communities together in the American diaspora. Many of the older immigrant groups, and African- and Native Americans, see these traditions eroding through a process of Americanization that favors consumerism over community and equates success with economic status. The newer immigrant groups we profiled are struggling with the same concerns; among them, how to hold on to their children.
Despite the current embrace of multiculturalism, America is more comfortable with sameness. Historically, social pressure to assimilate has been considered essential to nation-building. But as your reporters indicate, it exacts a price from those who pay the toll and an even greater price from those who, for various reasons, do not consider “melting” a viable option.
