Borderlands/La Frontera Book Review

I immediately decided to to interview my brother, Henry Ropella, for this project after reading Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Chicano author Gloria E. Anzaldúa because I was struck by the poignancy of the preface, “Living on borders and in margins, keeping intact one's shifting and multiple identity and integrity, is like trying to swim in a new element” (19). Henry is twelve years old, in middle school, and is Latino, my family having adopted him from Guatemala when he was a baby. I want to know how he feels about his Latino heritage while living in a predominately white small town and what part he thinks it plays in his identity, especially since identity is often scrutinized in a cliquey environment of Middle school. By comparing

He articulated that growing up in America with an all white family felt like ‘one life’ and that he often thinks about how he would have a completely different life if he had remained in Guatemala. Being adopted and raised by a white family in a predominantly white area while also being Latino has also made Henry feel as if he has a ‘white identity’ as much as a Latino identity. In Borderlands, Anzaldúa spoke of a similar plight being Chicano and not knowing how to answer when her heritage is questioned since she has Mexican roots, but was encouraged to speak English/act white to succeed in America. Anzaldúa believes that trying to balance two identities, especially when one is to please the culture one is raised in, “ makes for psychological conflict, a kind of dual identity… we are a synergy of two cultures with various degrees of Mexicaness or Angloness” (85). The similar plights of Henry and Anzaldúa of being unwilling/unable to conform and feeling conflicted about the identities they have to balance helped me gain insight of how important it is for people of color to have a space in which they are able to express their identity, especially if people often make incorrect assumptions about