Analysis Of Mora's Essay Acculturation Is Bad For Our Health

In the essay, “Acculturation is Bad for Our Health: Eat More Nopalitos’ ” the complex health status of Latino immigrants in the United States is explained and argued by Juana Mora.
In her essay, Mora describes the current health issues and benefits surrounding Latino immigrants, particularly those from Mexico. Her main arguments surround the acculturation of immigrants, the inequality in health care, and the unsafe neighborhoods and environments immigrants are exposed to. Mora effectively argues her points through the implementation of the literary device: logos. Using logos in an argument essay is important because it appeals to the logical side of the reader and it establishes credibility to the author. Mora uses a number of examples of logos

through citing health studies, statistics, and experts. In her argument about the safety of the neighborhoods, immigrants are placed in Mora uses examples from a study about the health impacts on Latinos from their environments. According to Keating, (qtd. In Mora) “the League of United Latin American Citizens reported that 71 percent of Latinos in the United States live in counties that violate federal air-pollution standards” (662). Referring to studies such as this one are effective in persuading readers because they show that the author has spent time in backing up their argument and fact-checking it. Through employing logos, Mora sufficiently backs up her arguments about the health risks associated with Latino immigrants.
Mora’s essay is about the declining health of Latino immigrants, however, the bigger point she brings up is the way that the problems can easily be fixed. The majority of her solutions involve the community coming together to advocate for their wellness instead of waiting for others to fix the problems for them. One of her main solutions, in which the immigrants advocate for clean air and safer neighborhoods, is already happening in San Diego. Community action is important for advocating for much more than environmental issues. Unfortunately, there seems to be a surge of mass shootings and gun violence against the general public. Without community action against the legislators who refuse to reform gun laws, mass shootings are going to become the norm. Just like in Mora’s essay, reform starts with the people, not the legislators.