Dear America

Dear America

by

Jose Antonio Vargas

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Dear America makes teaching easy.

Rich Fischer Character Analysis

Rich Fischer was the superintendent of Jose Antonio Vargas’s school district and one of his key mentors during high school. He remains an important part of Vargas’s “white family.” Fischer helped Vargas get into college, set him up with immigration lawyers, and even taught him how to drive. Like Pat Hyland, Mary Moore, and Jim Strand, Fisher also supported Vargas throughout his careers in journalism and activism.

Rich Fischer Quotes in Dear America

The Dear America quotes below are all either spoken by Rich Fischer or refer to Rich Fischer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Citizenship, Belonging, and Identity Theme Icon
).
Part 2, Chapter 3: An Adopted Family Quotes

Without realizing it, I replaced Mama, to whom I barely spoke at the time, with Pat, Sheri, Mary, and Gail. I couldn’t talk to my own mother while I was collecting mother figures.

Related Characters: Jose Antonio Vargas (speaker), Vargas’s Mother, Mary Moore, Pat Hyland, Rich Fischer
Page Number: 64-65
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 6: Ambition Quotes

As we walked down Montgomery Street, looking for his parked car, Rich broke the silence.

“You’re not going anywhere. You’re already here,” Rich said. “Put this problem on a shelf. Compartmentalize it. Keep going.”

I’m not sure where my life would have gone without those words. I pocketed and referenced them whenever any kind of doubt surfaced. Put this problem on a shelf. Compartmentalize it. Keep going.

Related Characters: Jose Antonio Vargas (speaker), Rich Fischer (speaker)
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 7: White People Quotes

Recently, after meeting some members of my “white family,” which is what I call the folks from Mountain View High School, a Mexican American friend asked me why I think all those white people helped me. Was it “white guilt”? The “white savior” thing? I laughed out loud. It’s neither of those. I told him that even though I know that they’re all white—physically, that is—I didn’t think of them as white people when I was growing up. I associated white people with people who make you feel inferior, people who condescend to you, people who question why you are the way you are without acknowledging that you, too, are a human being with the same needs and wants.

Related Characters: Jose Antonio Vargas (speaker), Mary Moore, Pat Hyland, Rich Fischer
Page Number: 86-87
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 16: Second Coming Out Quotes

As people mingled with each other through the buffet dinner of chicken curry, samosas, biryani, and naan, I realized that I had made a mistake by keeping everyone apart all these years. I was afraid that they wouldn’t have anything to talk about. It was not until my family life, my school life, and my work life all converged in that Indian restaurant that I discovered that they indeed had something in common: their generosity to me.

And to be seen by so many people, so many good people, meant that I was here, and maybe even that I was supposed to be here.

Related Characters: Jose Antonio Vargas (speaker), Lola, Jim Strand, Mary Moore, Pat Hyland, Rich Fischer, Uncle Rolan, Teresa Moore
Page Number: 118-119
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Dear America LitChart as a printable PDF.
Dear America PDF

Rich Fischer Quotes in Dear America

The Dear America quotes below are all either spoken by Rich Fischer or refer to Rich Fischer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Citizenship, Belonging, and Identity Theme Icon
).
Part 2, Chapter 3: An Adopted Family Quotes

Without realizing it, I replaced Mama, to whom I barely spoke at the time, with Pat, Sheri, Mary, and Gail. I couldn’t talk to my own mother while I was collecting mother figures.

Related Characters: Jose Antonio Vargas (speaker), Vargas’s Mother, Mary Moore, Pat Hyland, Rich Fischer
Page Number: 64-65
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 6: Ambition Quotes

As we walked down Montgomery Street, looking for his parked car, Rich broke the silence.

“You’re not going anywhere. You’re already here,” Rich said. “Put this problem on a shelf. Compartmentalize it. Keep going.”

I’m not sure where my life would have gone without those words. I pocketed and referenced them whenever any kind of doubt surfaced. Put this problem on a shelf. Compartmentalize it. Keep going.

Related Characters: Jose Antonio Vargas (speaker), Rich Fischer (speaker)
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 7: White People Quotes

Recently, after meeting some members of my “white family,” which is what I call the folks from Mountain View High School, a Mexican American friend asked me why I think all those white people helped me. Was it “white guilt”? The “white savior” thing? I laughed out loud. It’s neither of those. I told him that even though I know that they’re all white—physically, that is—I didn’t think of them as white people when I was growing up. I associated white people with people who make you feel inferior, people who condescend to you, people who question why you are the way you are without acknowledging that you, too, are a human being with the same needs and wants.

Related Characters: Jose Antonio Vargas (speaker), Mary Moore, Pat Hyland, Rich Fischer
Page Number: 86-87
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 16: Second Coming Out Quotes

As people mingled with each other through the buffet dinner of chicken curry, samosas, biryani, and naan, I realized that I had made a mistake by keeping everyone apart all these years. I was afraid that they wouldn’t have anything to talk about. It was not until my family life, my school life, and my work life all converged in that Indian restaurant that I discovered that they indeed had something in common: their generosity to me.

And to be seen by so many people, so many good people, meant that I was here, and maybe even that I was supposed to be here.

Related Characters: Jose Antonio Vargas (speaker), Lola, Jim Strand, Mary Moore, Pat Hyland, Rich Fischer, Uncle Rolan, Teresa Moore
Page Number: 118-119
Explanation and Analysis: