Camelia The Texan Identity

Corrido's are a narrative ballad used to communicate socially relevant topics often belonging to the artist's own regions. The origins of this Mexican musical genre is often discussed at large and doesn't seem to have an agreement for its origins but many believe it to have originated as an expression of Mexican Independence during the Mexican Revolution (Reuter, 122). Corrido's are an "oral archive that has documented 'the national consciousness' of Mexico," and should be easily memorable as they are passed from person to person and are often backed by simple musical instruments like the guitar (Sanchez, 13). These corrido's during the Mexican Revolution often sang about the Revolutionary leaders and their achievements, betrayal, death and

When we are first introduced to Camelia in the song, she is "Camelia la Texana," with no last name but an understanding that there seems to be a relationship to a state within the United States. This relation to the United States brings forth the identities of those who have immigrated to the United States or those who were born and raised in it. Going so far as to mean that the drug problem isn't simply within the Mexican identity, but also the American one. That this drug problem transcends barriers and is an international problem. Further into the song as they are passing the border and are asked by the immigration officer where they are from, it is stated, "Ella era de San' Antonio" (She was from San Antonio). Further cementing her relationship to the United States as she is from San Antonio, Texas, Camelia embodies the hurt that many Mexicans experience over border states like California, Texas, New Mexico, etc. There is even a rejection and indignation felt against the United States government as a result of the disposition and loss (Arce, 32). Here, land is a placeholder for identity and demonstrates the way that Mexico and the US are intertwined both in land but also in the drug style that follows them. Martha I. Chew Sanchez mentions that after the Mexican-US war the conversion in which Mexicans were turned into the minority aided in the institutionalized white privilege (2006, p. 15). Meaning that this struggle of identity for Mexicans within the United States, is a result of not only colonization from the white European but also as a result of the American ideology. This manner in which they had turned into the minority resulted in a loss of identity and searching elsewhere for a form of home. Many of those who experienced this loss of identity, also experienced a loss of land and