The not so “American Dream”

My uncle Rafael was born in Colon Panama in 1958. His mother immigrated to the United States when he was 3 years old leaving him behind with the rest of her family. After settling in, his mother had 4 additional children and joined the American lifestyle. When Ralph was 10 years old his grandmother advised him that he would be going to America to stay with his mother and his new siblings. After notifying the school of his leave, the kids at his school treated him differently and called him by the name of Satan. As he landed at JFK International Airport he looked up as snow began to fall, a concept he was never aware of. Due to his insufficient English skills, he was put into the 4th grade which was a year behind the American children his age. His new classroom setting provided him with 3 hours of ESL every day, where he met other Hispanic children from all over Latin America. Embarrassed by his deep Spanish accent he refused to talk to other kids at the school. His first attempt to assimilate was when he called out “foty eight” instead of forty-eight, in response to a math question and all the children began to imitate his accent. From then on, Ralph began trying to speak more like an American. The only place where he felt recognized and comfortable was with his siblings and parents. After graduating school he went to Columbia where he learned about American History. During his years at Ivy League Universities, he realized that in America he was not going to be seen as a Hispanic Immigrant but he would be seen as a Black man who came to America. He started to cope with the fact that even after he started living comfortably in America as an immigrant he would have to work twice as hard to live comfortably as a Black Male and that the “American dream” was not easy to be a part of. Later on, he joined the Air force eventually advancing through the ranks and retiring as a lieutenant Cornell with a Bachelors degree, mediation certification, and Masters degree in military operation. Today Ralph is a retired Post Master General from the United States Post office residing in Alabama with his wife.