Olsen't Chapter 5

In the first few pages, students share accounts of their feelings of being in the United States and their feelings about their home country.  I was so sad to hear some of these.  Sandra, from Brazil, actually sheds tears because she is so homesick and doesn't have a sense of belonging in the U.S.  Her account was beautiful in what she was sharing but very sad to hear.  Hanh, from Vietnam, also feels this.  It was interesting that two students who are so very different related on a level, however.  Hanh shared because she was trying to empathize with Sandra.  What is most bothersome about these is how we are all guilty of categorizing people.  The chapter has a great explanation of it on page 117: What constitutes a pan-Latino population? What is an immigrant need? Do Brazilians and Central AMericans and Mexican newcomers and Chicanos belong in a single category either as immigrants or as Latinos? With what implications? The process ocurring within Madison High and Bayview reflects national trends toward broader racialized categories; and works against the national specificity in the identities that immigrants bring with them.  The process is not, however, without fissures and conflict for the students themselves.