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Immigration expressed through music
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Traditions are passed on generation to generation in every culture. The U.S-Mexico border consists of numerous customs that have lived for hundreds of years. This essay examines Jose’ Pablo Villalobos and Juan Carlos Ramirez-Pimiento essay “Corridos and la pura verdad: Myths and Realities of the Mexican Ballad” which discusses the corrido. Chapter six, “Everyday Border Heroes” of Patricia L. Price’s book Dry Place which illustrates the reasons to the devotion to unofficial saints. Futhermore, this essay reviews five of the twenty myths that Aviva Chomsky confronts in her book “They Take Our Jobs!”. In the essay “Corridos and la pura verdad: Myths and Realities of the Mexican Ballad, Villalobos and Ramirez-Pimiento discuss the Mexican Corrido, the issues it relates to, and its relevance to the border culture. The issues the corrido relates to involve the question as to whether the descriptive verses in the ballads are factual or fictional. The corrido is relevant to the border culture because many of the subjects are drug traffickers that are regarded as heroes. Villalobos and Ramirez-Pimiento explain that “The MEXICAN, CORRIDO, or ballad, has been popularly portrayed as a cultural form that registers events and subjects that state-controlled records do not” (Villalobos, 129). Many people question whether these events are being recorded in history books and state controlled records accurately. As an example the authors recount the story of Hector Felix Miranda also known as “El ‘Gato’ Felix” (Villalobos, 133). According to the prohibited corrido by Enrique Franco, Hector was killed in “…in a mere attempt at silencing the voice of the people…” (Villalobos, 131-132). The second corrido the authors discuss is the narcocorr... ... middle of paper ... ... the fact that “although only 10 percent of what an average immigrant earns here, the money sent home represents 50 percent to 80 percent of the household income for those at home in Latin America. Ninety percent of immigrants’ wages are spent in this country” (Chomsky, 46). Chomsky is able to refute the five myths that are expressed in the book by finding holes in the arguments for those myths and giving examples how the contrary is true as far as the relation of immigrants and the economy. The Corrido, devotion to saints and immigration all thrive on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Corrido reminds each generation that they have a voice. Loyalty to unofficial saints provides each generation a sense of hope that circumstances will go their way. In addition, exposing the myths of immigration may offer the next generation a chance for a better way of life.
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
Alfredo Corchado — is the author of the book named " Midnight in Mexico:A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness”. We are, probably, all interested in finding out the facts, news, and gossips about Mexico. This country was always associated with something mysterious. For me personally, the title of the book seemed to be very gripping, I was interested in revealing the secrets of life in Mexico, thus I decided to read this book. I was really curious, what can Alfredo Corchado tell me about the life in this country, the country, where the constant massacre is the picture, people used to see. In his book, the author tells the reader about the real situations, which took place in Mexico, reveals the secrets of the people’s lives and tells the story from the “inside”. He describes the way he lives his life, and does his work. The " Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness” is a memoir. Author tries to transform his own experience into the story line. Corchado shows the reader the darkest episodes of Mexican society, while relying on his own experience.
`La Tierra de Alvargonzález' is similar to the old ballads in its content of crime and violence. Machado leaves much of the background o...
The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly captures a Mexico in its true light.
¡Diles que no me maten! A short story by Juan Rulfo, which depicts the reality of a peasant’s life in rural Mexico. This short story is about a farmer who had a disagreement with the landowner after asking if he would be able to share his animals’ food. Due to the refusal the farmer sneaked his animals at night to feed them; however, when the landowner found out he killed one of the farmer’s cattle. As a result, the farmer killed his landowner; consequently he had to hide for over 40 years only to be murdered later on by the landowner’s son. This paper will discuss the following ideas; themes explored in the short story such as family, death and revenge. Then, an analysis of the strong need of survival and the symbolism of corn crops. Continuing to the structure of the short story and what it adds up to the overall understanding of the story. Finally, there will be a conclusion of all the aspects and what findings are reached after reading this short story.
Rosales, F. Arturo. Lecture 2/14 Film The US-Mexican War Prelude. Weber, David J. - "The 'Path of the World'" Foreigners in Their Native Land: The Historical Roots of Mexican Americans.
*Vargas, Zaragosa . "Major Problems in Mexican American History.." Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.. (2011): n. page. Print. .
Crouch, Ned. Mexicans & Americans : Cracking The Cultural Code. NB Publishing, Inc., 2004. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
Throughout time, stories have been passed down from generation to generation in order to make sense of our world and to share that understanding with others. The main thing that has changed is in the way that we tell these stories, which most commonly has always been between one another. But every new medium has given rise to a new form of narrative. “Los tres hermanos (The Three Brothers)” and “El indito de las cien vacas (The Indian and the Hundred Cows)” are two Tales of the Hispanic Southwest that I feel the reader could truly relate to in terms of the important moral lessons that were meant to be taught and inferred. The lesson in “Los tres hermanos (The Three Brothers)” involves understanding that the characters involved failed to consider the needs of the thirsty and hungry, the unsheltered, the old and are justly served with moral ruin, death, and perhaps worst of all, eternal damnation, while “El indito de las cien vacas (The Indian and the Hundred Cows)” ultimately involves the notion that God helps those who help themselves.
The United States cannot afford to lose the economic gains that come from immigrant labor. The economy would be suffering a greater loss if it weren’t for immigrants and their labor contributions, especially during the 2008 U.S. recession. The U.S. economy would most likely worsen if it weren’t for the strong labor force immigrants have provided this country. Despite the mostly negative views native-born Americans have towards immigrants and the economy, their strong representation in the labor forces continues today. Immigrants aren’t taking “American” jobs, they are taking the jobs that Americans don’t want (Delener & Ventilato, 2008). Immigrants contribute to various aspects of the economy, including brining valuable skills to their jobs, contributing to the cost of living through taxes, and the lacked use of welfare, healthcare, and social security when compared to native-born Americans, showing that the United States cannot afford to lose the contribution immigrants bring into the economy.
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).
Life in Mexico was, before the Revolution, defined by the figure of the patron that held all of power in a certain area. Juan Preciado, who was born in an urban city outside of Comala, “came to Comala because [he] had been told that [his] father, a man named Pedro Paramo lived there” (1). He initially was unaware of the general dislike that his father was subjected to in that area of Mexico. Pedro was regarded as “[l]iving bile” (1) by the people that still inhabited Comala, a classification that Juan did not expect. This reveals that it was not known by those outside of the patron’s dominion of the cruel abuse that they levied upon their people. Pedro Paramo held...
A common argument among those opposing further immigration is that foreigners take U.S. jobs and cause unemployment among the displaced American workers. In the July 13, 1992 edition of Business Week , a poll states that sixty-two percent of non-blacks and sixty-three percent of blacks agree that "new immigrants take jobs away from American workers." This is a widely held, if erroneous belief, among Americans. However, Julian L. Simon, author of The Economic Consequences of Immigration , states:
Thompson, Art. “Illegal Immigration Hurts the Economy.” Opposing Viewpoints: Immigration. Eds. David M. Haugen, Susan Musser and Kacy Lovelace. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2009. 30-35. Print.
Cartel activity has become so prevalent in some parts of Mexico that it has actually obtained its own sub-culture, coined narcocultura. Narcocultura is a combination of dress, music, dialect and many other cultural aspects that have rises from the cartel’s influence in Mexico. One aspect of narcocultura that has taken the country by storm is the soundtrack of cartels: corridos. Artists sing about killings, drug transactions, kidnaps, and many other aspects of the cartel. The popularity of theses songs is revealed by Grillo: “on the streets of Culiacan, market stalls sell hundreds of CDs whose covers show artists with Kalashnikovs, clad in cowboy hats, ski masks, or paramilitary uniforms” (177). The cartels’ influence is materialized through these records and reveals how engrained they are in society. There presence in Mexico is not hidden but out in the open. These records show the cartels’ ability to not only to infiltrate Mexican popular culture, but also how the population has become infatuated with narcocultura. It it has become a lifestyle that Mexican have attempted to replicate through singing, dress, and slang like cuerrno de chivo (goat’s horn). Through this culture, the cartel has created a pop-sensation that has helped spread their