I posted this before, but it seems fitting to add it in here.
Retired, with time on my hands, I volunteered to be a reading tutor at a Nevada middle school. I figured the majority would be Hispanics with an English problem.
That turned out to be correct, with a few whites that had attitude problems. The Hispanic kids were all eager learners and I mentioned that to the teachers. They told me the kids were bright, but the biggest hurdle was their fathers, who wouldn’t let them speak - or read - English at home. “Spanish is your heritage.” they were told. So much for assimilation.
I mentioned this to a teacher from Iowa, who said, “Oh, I DON’T believe that!” - end of discussion. I was too polite, but should have told her that denial was not just a river in Africa.
We had a limited choice of reading material, but I made it a point to emphasize our history and what a great country this was. Hopefully, some of it took root.
I worked with a Hispanic engineer who lived in Florida. There were times I had to ask him to send me an email (I was in California at the time) because I couldn’t understand his heavy Spanish accent over the phone. I finally asked one of his co-workers how long the guy had lived in America.
“Well, since he was born, and he’s in his 50s...”
She also said he didn’t allow English spoken in his home unless they had a visitor who didn’t speak Spanish.