Five Generations of a Mexican American Family in Los Angeles: The Fuentes StoryRowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007 M04 9 - 198 pages Despite their citizenship and English monolingualism, Mexican Americans have long been known to remain largely working class, which, academically, has meant that they tend to be mostly high school graduates, with low rates of college attendance and completion. Attempting to understand this phenomenon, Five Generations of a Mexican American Family in Los Angeles chronicles the home, work and school lives of the author's multigenerational family throughout the twentieth century. Using oral histories of 33 members across five generations, the Fuentes story illuminates the interaction between race, ethnicity and class at home, in the labor market and in schools, which circumscribe the opportunity and resources (or lack thereof) for academic success. Generally, findings show that these factors work together to reproduce the family's social standing over generations. Equally important, the analysis reveals how the persistence and strength of the Fuentes' heritage cultural values (buena educaci-n and familism) have insulated them from the continued threat of racial discrimination and economic hardship in American life. The Fuentes story provides the reader with a keen view of the process by which Fuentes' moved from immigrants to ethnic Americans, and shows how they have gracefully survived the harsh and unpredictable nature of being of a racial minority and the working class. |
From inside the book
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Page 11
... graduation rate ; Fuentes members ' con- sistent placement in general and remedial tracks made available working- class occupations after high school ; the family's value of hard work en- sured members ' success on the job and resulted ...
... graduation rate ; Fuentes members ' con- sistent placement in general and remedial tracks made available working- class occupations after high school ; the family's value of hard work en- sured members ' success on the job and resulted ...
Page 21
... graduated from public high school , and no one attended private school . The jobs they held during their adolescence were in the labor , manufac- turing , and retail / service sectors , and they usually stayed in these jobs until they ...
... graduated from public high school , and no one attended private school . The jobs they held during their adolescence were in the labor , manufac- turing , and retail / service sectors , and they usually stayed in these jobs until they ...
Page 23
... graduation most went directly into the workforce , moving from job to job in search of a career , sometimes ... graduates . To date , there are no cases of divorce in the fourth gen- eration , and marriages range in length from six ...
... graduation most went directly into the workforce , moving from job to job in search of a career , sometimes ... graduates . To date , there are no cases of divorce in the fourth gen- eration , and marriages range in length from six ...
Page 27
... graduate ( 3 ) Third generation ( 10 ) ( masonry Fourth generation Semiskilled and skilled Skilled and lower white ... graduate ( 8 ) ; Associate degree ( 1 ) ; Bachelor degree and master of business administration degree ( 1 ) Eleventh ...
... graduate ( 3 ) Third generation ( 10 ) ( masonry Fourth generation Semiskilled and skilled Skilled and lower white ... graduate ( 8 ) ; Associate degree ( 1 ) ; Bachelor degree and master of business administration degree ( 1 ) Eleventh ...
Page 31
... graduating from high school . He , a short , strong , dark - skinned man , spends much of his time counseling and ... graduation . Florencia Trueba — As the youngest member of the family , Florencia cared for my great - grandparents in ...
... graduating from high school . He , a short , strong , dark - skinned man , spends much of his time counseling and ... graduation . Florencia Trueba — As the youngest member of the family , Florencia cared for my great - grandparents in ...
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Common terms and phrases
African Americans Anglo attended barrio brother buena educación Carlos Fuentes Chávez Chicano English Chicano movement chil child children's schooling claimed cohort counselor Cristian daughter despite Dora eleventh grade Elisa encouraged English Erica ethnic experienced family's father fifth-generation Florencia fourth-generation members Francis Fuentes children Fuentes family Fuentes home Fuentes members Fuentes parents Fuentes's Gerald grade graduate groups high school Hispanic homework Isabel Ivan junior high Katarina kids labor market language Latino families Latino students Laura learned literacy lives Los Angeles County Lydia Mario and Manuela married Mexican American families Mexican and Mexican Mexican immigrant middle-class mother Natalie Noemi older third-generation parental involvement participants percent race racial recalled responsibility role Samuel San Fernando Valley school experience second-generation Fuentes second-generation members siblings Simon sister social Spanish Spanish language story success teachers third-generation members Timothy tion tracks Valley wanted workers working-class younger Yvette