@article {Lash99, author = {Cristina L. Lash}, title = {Making Americans: Schooling, Diversity, and Assimilation in the Twenty-First Century}, volume = {4}, number = {5}, pages = {99--117}, year = {2018}, doi = {10.7758/RSF.2018.4.5.05}, publisher = {RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences}, abstract = {How do schools teach American identity in light of immigration-driven diversity? This ethnographic study focuses on everyday nation-making at Castro Middle School, located in a city transformed by immigration. Building on theories of bidirectional assimilation, I show how assimilation can produce new definitions of Americanness more recognizable to immigrant communities, facilitating their national identification. At Castro, bidirectional assimilation supported African American students{\textquoteright} descriptions of Americans in multicultural terms and their own identification as American. Assimilation between the school and the larger Latino and Asian student populations, however, was limited because of a binary racial paradigm that excluded them from the national community. This study thus nuances the role of race as a barrier in the assimilation process, particularly as it unfolds in schools.}, issn = {2377-8253}, URL = {https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/4/5/99}, eprint = {https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/4/5/99.full.pdf}, journal = {RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences} }