What Are the Chances: The American Dream

What Are the Chances: The American Dream

By. Robert J Wegner

The United States of America is a country that is founded on the concept of immigration. Before Columbus’s discovery of North America on October 12, 1492, this was a land that was inhabited by an indigenous people; American Indians. From that time on the United States has become the “Melting Pot” of the world; a mixture of different foods, clothing, ethnicities and cultures.

In our class discussion on Marisa Alicea’s chapter, we reviewed some of the stereotypes of Spanish-Americans. I was shocked to see that “Lazy was on of the first labels brought up. For seven consecutive summers I have had the opportunity to work with many Latin Americans and I can honestly say that after that they were among the hardest working people that I have ever had the chance of meeting. I have had countless talks with my co-worker Miguel, who was born and raised in Argentina, he frequently compares the two lands with stories that aways start off with "In my Country". He originally left his homeland and moved to the United States with his infant son in the 90’s. He left the rest of his family behind in hopes of obtaining the American Dream. With little education (and only speaking broken English), he was able to find a job that pays around $13/H. The company we work for offers plenty of overtime, which Miguel is more than happy to work. He averages approximately 40hours/week at $13/H and seven hours a week overtime; which pays around $19.50/H (time and a half). Knowing how many hours a week and how much Miguel is getting paid, I can assume he has a gross pay of $31,500/Y.

As I read Marisa Alicea’s chapter on Latino immigration I found it to be surprisingly one-sided. I do agree that Latin American’s are scrutinized, over-worked, under appreciated, and poorly compensated for the hard work they do in the U.S. After completing our assigned reading, I found myself wondering; why do migrants stay in this country, let alone risk their lives, to step foot on American soil?

According to the World Bank, the United States has an average of income of $49,956. In Argentina, the average pay per capita is approximately $11,452 per year. That is even more than the Mexico’s average income in 2012 of $9,747. Most of the people that I work with constantly set aside money to send back to their country of origin. This got me thinking, exactly how much money is being made here in the United States and sent to family’s in Latin American countries? The World Bank also claims that in 2008 $45.9 BILLION in remittances were sent to Latin American countries from the U.S. If immigrants were truly unhappy or thought that they could be more more “successful” in their home country, most of that money would go to the airlines or to Coyotes to get them back to their homelands. 

All in all I do agree with many of the arguments that M. Alicea’s made. I agree that the distribution of land at the conclusion of the Mexican American War was unfair. I agree that Spanish Americans do not have equal opportunities for jobs, education and compensation as “whites". I also agree that it is difficult to distinguish weather Cuban’s migrated to the United States for “political” or “economical” reasons. I believe that people that come here to work, have a chance of earning more than they would in their home country. That they work hard and make huge sacrifices all in order earn one of most sought after possessions in the world; the American dollar.

I also believe that M. Alicea’s chapter put a lot of blame on the American/Mexican/Cuban/Puerto Rican governments and failed to mention problems on the opposing side; such as: the 113 billion tax dollars per year that the estimated 13 million illegal aliens (and their U.S. born their children) cost to our governments (Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration Statistics). Deportation over conviction of criminals and the cost that illegal immigration has put on our health care system under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA).

Although it is a corrupt and broken system, as long as the United States has a need for cheep labor in our factories, assembly lines, agriculture industry etc. people will continue to fill these jobs, earning unfair wages and working in poor conditions. All of this makes the abolishment of occupational stratification seem like more of a dream than a reality. I am sure that many Polish immigrants, Irish immigrants and Italian immigrants felt this way after arriving in the “Land of opportunity” when they were overworked and underpaid for many of the same jobs that Latino Americans are working today.

What Are the Chances: that last year Miguel’s 19 year old son won a million dollars on a scratch off lottery ticket, bought his father a home in Arlington Heights and moved back to Argentina to take care of his mother? They are slim to none; about the same as the abolishment of occupational stratification  happen here in the United States. Who knows apparently the lottery doesn’t discriminate, after all anything is “possible” with The American Dream.

Works Cited

Alicea, Marisa. "Sociology." Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 35-56. Print.

"GDP per Capita (current US$)." Data. World Bank, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD>.

"Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act." Ascension Health. Ascension Health, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://www.ascensionhealth.org/index.php?option=com_content>.

"USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

"Illegal Immigration Statistics." Illegal Immigration Statistics., 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://www.illegalimmigrationstatistics.org/>.