So Mexicans are Taking Jobs from Americans
In “So Mexicans are Taking Jobs from Americans,” Jimmy Santiago Baca defends and shuts down the stereotype of Mexican workers. Many Americans hold resentment towards Mexicans presence in the work force, and believe that they are taking jobs away. However, many Americans don’t realize that these Mexican workers fill jobs that others do not want and are usually paid less than an American would be paid. In the beginning of the poem Baca addresses the American stereotype of Mexicans taking jobs from Americans in a very sarcastic manner. He then continues by telling the truth, that Mexicans are actually not taking jobs. He explains how Mexicans come to America to make a living for their family, which they aren’t able to get in Mexico. The poem is full of imagery, and symbolism to illustrate the American hypocrisy.
Within the first few lines Baca says, “And do you, gringo, take off your ring, drop your wallet into a blanket spread over the ground, and walk away?” (Line 4-6) the words “you”, “gringo” (Spanish slang for White Americans), “your” implies that Baca is addressing white Americans. The tone of this poem seems to be very bitter and sarcastic. In the poem Baca addresses how many Americans frequently say, “Mexicans are taking our jobs. Baca shows that they actually aren’t taking the jobs, they are earning them, and they actually need them. Baca begins the poem by asking if Mexicans really do come up to Americans and demand for their jobs stating:
I hear Mexicans are taking your jobs away.
Do they sneak into town at night, and as you’re walking home with a whore, do they mug you, a knife at your throat, saying, I want your job? (7-11)
Baca’s sarcasm is very blatant in these lines, and it ...
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...t it is clear they are doing the worth that is offered to them, just so that they could make a better life them and their “dying” children.
Baca asks “Do they come on horses with rifles, and say, ese gringo, gimme’ your job?” (3) The answer is no; for the most part Mexican immigrants take jobs that many Americans don’t want. Most people that cross the border do so to provide for their family, or to have a better life. As a result, they take jobs that pay them pretty much nothing. He later states that Americans should actually look at the bigger picture. Mexicans need the jobs to feed and provide for their children. Baca’s use of imagery, and symbolism paint the picture of American hypocrisy on Mexicans taking away American jobs. Baca mocks the racist commentary made by Americans to help the reader rethink the situation to show how ludicrous this misconception is.
In a story of identity and empowerment, Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem “Borderbus” revolves around two Honduran women grappling with their fate regarding a detention center in the United States after crawling up the spine of Mexico from Honduras. While one grapples with their survival, fixated on the notion that their identities are the ultimate determinant for their future, the other remains fixated on maintaining their humanity by insisting instead of coming from nothingness they are everything. Herrera’s poem consists entirely of the dialogue between the two women, utilizing diction and imagery to emphasize one’s sense of isolation and empowerment in the face of adversity and what it takes to survive in America.
In Richard Rodriguez’s “Proofs,” Mexican immigrant’s destination is described, as well as their perceptions and expectations of America. Rodriguez describes the passage to the United States as difficult, yet worthy. He states: “The city will win. The city will give the children all the village could not- VCR’s, hairstyles, drum beat. The city sings mean songs, dirty songs. But the city will sing the children a great Protestant hymn.You can be anything you want to be.” He also states: “Mexico is poor. But mama says there
In the book Drink Cultura by Jose Antonio Burciaga talks about how it is not easy to get into one place and get anything you want in this world or something you wish for, but it’s something you have to work for, like any other person. It also explains how it is being an immigrant, and how it is to grow up in the United States as in immigrant and how had it is, and the obstacles that as in immigrant we have to overcome. Antonio Burciaga specifically talks in his book the Chicano history, the language that we speak as a person, the family values and how we as a Chicano stick together. One quote of Burciaga is “Naces pendejo, mueres pendejo --- You were born a pendejo and you will die a pendejo (Burciaga10)”. This particular quote caught my attention because the author gives you a taste of what he experienced, and what kind of language they used. “When the wells of emotion are filled only by resentment, a crying sense of injustice, racist, affronts, deliberately designed frustrations to personal development and social worthiness (Burciaga131)”. This quote talks about how we as Chicanos have the motivation by bringing in our passion from the past, but as soon as someone brings that wall down of us having that one positive outcome, we can go into a lot of resentment towards other people, and think to ourselves at some point that we are worthiness. In chapter “The Motherland” the author talks about the pride people take about being Latinos, he talks about being back in Mexico and how it’s all so different once you’ve lived on the other side, a quote that gives you a mental picture would be “Many white Euro-Mexican will shrug their shoulders, declare they are 100 percent Mexican do not partition or categorize their ancestry. On the contr...
Mexican immigrants in the United States are willing to work hard and long hours throughout the day regardless of the amount of sleep or rest they may get. Conversely, this is not how Efren Mendoza, a public city bus driver, views Mexicans and he believes they are not motivated to achieve things in life. One would assume that he would understand how difficult it is for immigrants to assimilate in a new foreign country without knowing anyone or anything here, but he is not on their side and it is somewhat hypocritical of him because he himself is Mexican. It is as though Efren sees his own people as invisible individuals because he does not acknowledge all their hard work and sacrifices they may have gone through in order to arrive in the United States. He further proves his insincerity when he mentions that the “new wetbacks [are] picky about what jobs they’ll do [and that they] half-ass [the] work” that they are given to do (77).
In the poem “Mexicans Begin Jogging” by Gary Soto, it tells the story of a Mexican man who is working at a factory during a border patrol raid. Soto’s boss yelled for everyone to run after the border patrol van doors opened. Soto shouted that he was an American and his boss replied “No time for lies,” and being a good employee he ran.(193) This is something that happens every day here in America at various factories and other places of employment. This country has had a broken immigration system for many years, and stories like this will continue to happen, until something is done to fix the problem once and for all. America has been faced with a host of problems from its inception, and like all of these other problems, with the use of hard work and compromise a solution can
As people immigrated to the United States, legally and illegally, particularly Hispanic workers, they began to look for jobs to provide for their families. They took jobs that Americans did not want: they accepted the low-paying, physically-demanding, and temporal agriculture jobs. Since many did not speak English and were uneducated, some even illiterate, they were easy targets for farm owners to exploit. Immigrant workers were often not paid, had low wages, and because of such conditions, some even died. In addition, they also lived and worked in appalling conditions, some workplaces did not even have suitab...
Sia mentions many things, which leave the audience thinking about the injustice that immigrants are given. Sia believes that the only reason the government of the United States allowed immigration was so that American’s would have someone there to do their dirty work. She clearly states this in a line from her quote, “…you gave us visas to do what you thought was beneath you…we are tired of sleeping where your waste it sent…”(Sia, 165) With this quote, It’s very noticeable that Sia has very strong and passionate feelings towards this topic because of all that she has been through, she is tired of all of this and wants a change. Despite all that she has said, she states that even though the immigrants might be sleeping where the first world’s waste is, the immigrants would still work hard to match their salaries and status. “…so we comin’ over. And you can’t do shit. Your children are too spoiled to stop the immigration problem.” (Sia, 165) This quote from the poem proves that the immigrants are going to do anything possible to match up to the first world and no one can stop
The language of Gloria Anzaldua’s “We Call Them Greasers” can be used to disseminate the culturally constructed codes and conventions which influence the realities of both the author, and the poems’ fictional speaker. The poem illustrates the intolerant and brutal nature of border rangers as they sought to rid Mexican border towns of their inhabitants. As well as its language, the subject matter of the poem, too, is telling of the author’s cultural influences, which influence the stance she takes on the subject matter. Anzaldua constructs the poem’s speaker, however, to be a person who holds views which are in staunch opposition to her own. This use of clear contradiction helps readers identify underlying messages meant to be conveyed and understood beyond the text of the poem itself.
The author is using personal experience to convey a problem to his or her audience. The audience of this piece is quite broad. First and foremost, Mexican-Americans just like the author. People who can relate to what the author has to say, maybe someone who has experienced something similar. The author also seems to be seeking out an audience of white Americans who find themselves unaware of the problem at our borders. The author even offers up a warning to white America when she notes, “White people traveling with brown people, however, can expect to be stopped on suspicion they work with the sanctuary movement”(125). The purpose of this writing is to pull out a problem that is hidden within or society, and let people see it for what it is and isn’t.
... their jobs” (immigration pg. 63). Hispanics fight back commenting on how they “take jobs Americans don’t want”. Hispanics say they come here to have a better life for their family and themselves and a job. Americans say Hispanics are criminals, drug dealers, etc. and should stay in their country. Yes, it is true Hispanics are usually in gangs; go to jail, do drugs etc. But Hispanics say they start doing those types of things because they don’t have money to take care of their family, so usually they will do anything for their kids to have a good life. The different POV arguments are endless.
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
I felt more for Mexicans because of the way they were particularly illustrated. Typically, the Mexicans were the ones usually tending to Americans. I could feel the minority complex that Herrera was establishing within the words of his poem. The theme of individualism versus collectivism was very much present in ““Mexican Differences Mexican Similarities”. My mood for the majority of this poem was negative, yet I re read the poem just to try to note the positive aspects of Herrera’s poem. I was trying to look through different lenses, but at the end of the way I still feel as if I was more biased to one side –the
This poem is about a girl who has two completely different cultures which are American, and Mexican. The author mentions different struggles that she had to go through being a bicultural person. In lines 14 and 15 of this poem, the author writes “An American to Mexicans a Mexican to Americans”. This is showing that because of her different cultures, no one really accepts her. To the Americans she is not American enough, but to the Mexicans she’s not Mexican enough. In this poem, the author creates this idea of not having a sense of belonging. This could be different if people could just overlook one’s culture, and accept people based on their hearts, not their
In reality, the Mexican maid does have more power because while she does not have his jeep, handcuffs, or gun, she “knows where to rest, where to drink” (28-29). Also in the second stanza she says that “your jeep has a flat and you have been spotted by the sun”, so the Mexican maid will most likely be better off than the border patrol because she knows the land and how to use it, as well as the ability to speak Spanish (22-24). The border patrol sees it as a disadvantage because she cannot speak his language, but speaking Spanish is a benefit actually because of where they are and it would probably be crucial in that type of setting. In this poem there is a playful tone presented although the underlying issue in these stanzas is a very serious and controversial one that is going on right now. The idea of writing this poem in the form of children playing a silly game is to simplify and make clear of the point of views of the border patrol and illegal immigrants and the type of things that go on every day at the border. This poem expresses what usually happens at with illegal immigrants and what they call La
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