Description
Book SynopsisA powerful and challenging look at what success and belonging mean in America through the eyes of Latino high schoolers. This book challenges dominant representations of the so-called American Dream, those patriotic narratives that focus on personal achievement as the way to become an American. This narrative misaligns with the lived experience of many first- and second-generation Latino immigrant youth who thrive because of the nurture of their loved ones. A story of social reproduction and change, The Succeeders illustrates how ideological struggles over who belongs in this country, who is valuable, and who is an American are worked out by young people through their ordinary acts of striving in school and caring for friends and family. In this eye-opening book, Andrea Flores examines how ideological struggles over who belongs in this country, who is valued, and who is considered to be an American are worked out by young people through ordinary acts of striving in school and caring for friends and family. Through examining the experiences of everyday Latino high school studentssome undocumented, some citizens, and some from families with mixed immigration statusFlores traces how these youth, in the college-access program Succeeders, leverage educational success toward national belonging for themselves and their families, friends, and communities. These young people come to redefine what it means to belong in the United States by both conforming to and contesting the myth of the American Dream rooted in individual betterment. Their efforts demonstrate that meaningful national belonging can be based in our actions of caring for others. Ultimately, The Succeeders emphasizes the vital role that immigrants play in strengthening the social fabric of society, helping communities everywhere to thrive.
Trade Review"Through its focus on Latinx youth in the South, The Succeeders makes a much-needed contribution to studies on Latinx communities, immigration, and education." * CHOICE *
"Flores skillfully presents a regional landscape of how Latina/o students currently experience belonging and through their critiques incite us to consider what belonging
could be." * Ethnic and Racial Studies *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction. "Be Somebody": The Stakes of Academic Achievement
Part I Contexts of Belonging
1. City of Success: Living and Learning in Music City
Part II Learning to Belong
2. Mowing the Lawn and Getting Pregnant: Latinidad and Educational Exceptionalism
3. "Your Story Is Your Ticket": Becoming a Moral Minority and Reproducing Exclusion
Part III Unlearning to Belong
4. "Their Name Is Also Written on My Diploma":Striving for Parental Inclusion
5. "Education with Her Family": Caring for Siblings and Redefining Success
6. Somos Una Familia: Transforming Belonging and Making Friends into Family
Conclusion. Graduations
Appendix: The Succeeders Program
Notes
References
Index
