"My family disowned me for choosing an American lifestyle": First-generation kids on growing up different

Too "white," too "Americanized," daring to have a boyfriend: First-generations on getting on with the family

By Whisper Staff - Salon Staff

Published October 10, 2015 2:45PM (EDT)

(<a href='http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-224794p1.html'>tommaso79</a> via <a href='http://www.shutterstock.com/'>Shutterstock</a>)
(tommaso79 via Shutterstock)
I feel like I'm too white for the Mexicans but too Mexican for the whites. I hate making race the issues but that's how I feel. First generation American problems.

I'm the first generation of my family to be born in this country. I think my mom secretly hates how "Americanized" I am.

The cultural and generational gap between me and my family can be overwhelming sometimes. It's difficult being first generation American.

I'm a first generation American and my family disowned me for choosing an "American lifestyle"

I do well in school and I am a good kid. My parents think I'm going to destroy my life because I have a boyfriend. Being first generation is tough.

I was born in America but my family is from England so i have an accent and everyone makes fun of me for "faking an accent" when it's just American mixed with English

Shout to all the kids who grew up as the first generation in america. Filling out/reading government and official paperwork for your parents since age 12.

I don't think college is for me, but I'm afraid to be a dropout. My parents would kill me. Being a first generation in America is hard.


By Whisper Staff

MORE FROM Whisper Staff

By Salon Staff

MORE FROM Salon Staff

Related Topics ------------------------------------------

First-generation Americans Immigration Whisper Stories