Silva 1

Sofia Silva

Huerta

English 1S

7 November 2017

Blissful Ignorance of the Model Family

The last line of the Pledge of Allegiance reads, “For liberty and justice for all.” A line

that today only seems to apply to the model family. The government is failing to understand that

this country cannot and will not return to times such as the 1950s in which many aspired to be a

model family. It is understandable to want to return to a time of predictable family life and

economic stability but these things are no longer possible. Class, culture, gender roles, and our

economy have continued to develop and so we must adapt and evolve with it. However, in a

country in which the president is openly stating, “When Mexico sends it’s people, they’re not

sending their best” and calling them “rapists” he is singling out mexican people and painting

them in a negative light, segregating people that make up a quintessential part of our country.

The myth of the model family is a portrayal of the picture perfect “American” family meant to

suppress the economically disadvantaged and alienate multicultural families so they can be

exploited.

As the wage gap continues to grow, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand

and accept ethnic minorities. America idealizes capitalism to the point where money is the most

important thing, but fails to provide fair opportunities for minorities. Award winning teacher of

history and family studies Stephanie Coontz wrote an essay called ​What we Really Miss about

the 1950s​ in which she states, “...many individuals, families, and groups were excluded from the
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economic prosperity, family optimism, and social civility of the 1950s” (Coontz 37). Thus,

refuting the idea that the 1950s were ideal. The same issues of economic and social inequality

continue to exist even today. In other words, “..politicians are practicing quite a double standard

when they tell us to return to to the family forms of 1950s while they do nothing to restore the

job programs and family subsides...” (Coontz 37). There is a clear distinction of income based on

the color of your skin but it doesn’t make a person any less valuable to the country. Naomi

Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian, award winning professors of sociology, coauthored the article ​The

Color of Family Ties: Race, Class, Gender, and Extended Family Involvement ​which is featured

in ​Rereading America​. Gerstel and Sarkisian’s research states, “...Blacks and Latinos/as tend to

have far less income and education than Whites” (48). In an evolving society you need higher

education in order to have an income that can give you a comfortable life and sustain a family.

Regardless, minorities have both less education and are more likely to be at or below poverty.

In Addition, America’s acceptance of the myth of the model family encourages the social

segregation of minorities. In ​Rereading America ​edited by Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and

Bonnie Lisle, they define acculturation as,“... the process of internalizing cultural values-- leave

us with a set of rigid categories for “good” and “bad” parents, [with] narrow conceptions...”

(Colombo, Cullen, Lisle 5). Therefore, if our views are never challenged then we continue to

place people in these boxes and isolate them from society. Social isolation can be as simple as

crossing the street when you see a person of color walking in your direction, or even being

denied an opportunities. No one is born “color blind” and everyone has bias, but we have to fight

our instinct to make the world as inclusive as possible. In Gerstel and Sarkisian’s article they

state, “Commentators often emphasize the disorganization and dysfunction of Black and Latino/a
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family life. They suggest that if we could “fix” family values in minority communities… all their

problems would be solved” (Gerstel, Sarkisian 51). However, these families are not broken to

begin with. If commentators like these continue to make these false statements about minorities

they are closing opportunities for them. Minorities came to this country to work and contribute,

but it is an increasingly difficult task when the country is treating them like second class citizens.

“...in our research, we find that social class rather than culture is the key to understanding the

differences in extended family ties and behaviors between Whites and ethnic minorities”

(Gerstel, Sarkisian 47). Differences in economic standings blind people from seeing that

although culturally you value different things, everyone deserves to be treated with the same

respect. Everyone deserves the same opportunities, and no one should have a better or worse life

depending on their racial background. Gerstel and Sarkisian also state, “We often hear that Black

and Latino/a, especially Puerto Rican, families are more disorganized than White families”

(Gerstel, Sarkisian 45). In other words, media is giving information that isn’t completely true, or

lacks sound reasoning. If the media gives misleading information then it will become a common

misconception. Therefore increasing the importance of viewing information through multiple

perspectives. Workers of the ​Center for Migration Studies​, Robert Warren and Donald Kerwin,

wrote a factual journal called ​Mass Deportations Would Impoverish US Families and Create

Immense Social Costs​ where they stated that, “¾ of minorities are self employed, having created

their own jobs and in the process creating jobs for many others” (3). This refutes the common

misconception that undocumented people are taking jobs away from those with citizenship. If

you consider undocumented minorities your competition you will attempt to isolate them in

order to secure the best possible outcome for yourself, without realizing that undocumented
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workers are a large contributing factor in our economy. In fact, undocumented workers are often

left to do jobs that citizens don’t want to do and are still referred to as living “in the shadows”

(CMS 3). For Example, my father came to this country nearly forty years ago and worked as a

migrant worker, a dishwasher, a janitor, and anything else that would allow him to put food on

the table for his family. By saying that undocumented workers live “in the shadows” it seems as

though undocumented people have something to hide when in reality they are only seeking to

have a better lifestyle for themselves and their family: “The American Dream.” It is the opinion

of experts Warren and Kerwin to, “...keep the mixed status U.S. families intact,... a legalization

program for their undocumented members” (CMS 7). Concluding that it would actually cost the

country more money to deport undocumented families, and hurt the economy. Undocumented

workers are essential to the continuing function of our economy, so instead of victimizing them,

society should strive for inclusion.

The expectations of the 1950s were of an independent family, however, after the postwar

financial decline, it became impossible for this to continue a realistic expectation. There were

many reasons why the 1950s were not an ideal time to live, a major one being the false pretense

of reality. According to Coontz, “In the 1970s, new economic trends began to clash with all the

social expectations that 1950s families had instilled in their children” (40). In this quote Coontz

shows the ignorance of commentators when stating how ideal the 1950s were. While the 1950s

did have incredible financial stability, these false expectations were cemented in their children

and would later become impossible to fulfill. The clash their children experienced is due to the

change of economical growth. The 1970s marked the peak, as well as the decline of financial

growth which made the expectation of independence impossible to meet. Society failed to
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prepare the future generations for the crash the economy would have. By painting a false reality

the families of the 1950s were able to maintain a blissful life. However, in addition to the false

financial expectations, there were many social issues that were simply dismissed. Issues such as

gender roles have evolved, making it so the model family is no longer an ideal. The model

family strives for uniformity but our society today encourages everyone to be unique.

America has changed since the 1950s and it is idiotic to want to return to a time that was

never ideal to begin with. Our households, gender roles, and economy have and will continue to

change. Minorities make up an increasingly important part of the United States economy, and

single parent and same sex marriage households are increasingly common. Instead of trying to

go back to a time of blissful ignorance, we should work towards being more inclusive and

creating a society in which all can thrive regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, or

economic standing. Ultimately, the myth of the model family is a portrayal of the picture perfect

“American” family, but America applies to all that are here, not just those who “look like they

belong”. The myth of the model family is damaging our society, and it is important that we

acknowledge it and make a conscious effort to change.