1960s through1980s: Vision of Hopefulness and Disillusionment over the United States

For my research thesis, I really want to focus on a family's perception of what it means "to be American" in the United States for the years, 1960s-1980s. Even this simple statement is extremely vague and broad, but I want to explore in detail why "what it means to be American" is such a complicated yet curious theme to deconstruct. The reason why I chose these articles correlates with my Essay Assignment I completed for my American History 81 class I took last semester (this class was a requirement for my American Studies Major, hence that connection to this class!): using a personal interview with newspaper articles written during the 1960s and 1980s, detail the perception of the United States as either a beacon of hope or disillusionment. However, this perception is not supposed to uphold some form of truth or to portray a general consensus of the United States. A perception of the United States is just that - A PERCEPTION, a new idea or consideration of a conversation that many people can relate to.

Even more specifically, I want to focus on a migrant family's perception (about education and work) of the United States as they  earned their US Citizenship Status years after arriving to the United States. These 1960s and 1980s articles focus on how certain migrant Latino communities viewed the United States and vice versa. At this point in time, the US experienced the Vietnam War; therefore, the question and opinion of patriotism and being American would come into play. This where I want to start my research: 1960s and maybe end up to the present.

The Time’s article, “It’s Your Turn in the Sun,” notes how Hispanics and Latinos have the firmest values towards family. The article emphasizes how Hispanics “come from strongly patriarch societies…and have a strong regard for the family and maintain close kinship ties across the generations.” I found this information interesting because it highlights the values of the Latino community before coming to the United States. I really like how the article pinpoints a very personal piece of information (such as religion, language, etc.) that may broadened out to the population in a bigger scale. A few things that I noticed while reading closely: the terminology of the Latino community (Latino being the term that I prefer and use) varies, the article does not include any interviews, and the title of the article does not really get explained throughout the article.

Article:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/168438329/It-s-Your-Turn-in-the-Sun-Printout-TIME