Crossing The Border Without Losing Your Past Summary

The reading Crossing the Border Without Losing Your Past by Oscar Casares discusses how even though people cross the border from Mexico, they still consider themselves Mexicans. Casares makes it evident how important it is to those people crossing the border to keep their culture alive and to still practice the traditions and ways of life from their home country. I think it was interesting to read about how even though immigrants assimilate into the American culture, they are still tightly connected to their country’s origin. I do not think immigrants are given enough credit because of how much they have to adjust to a new way of life while still keeping their culture’s traditions alive. I believe that they quickly adjust because they do not have a choice due to the way Americans act towards others and just the American culture itself. In essence, immigrants have a lot of pride in who they are. Also, many

families who come to the United States from other countries have a difficult time identifying themselves because people are so quick to label and categorize them.
The reason I selected this reading was because I wanted to understand what people experienced as they crossed the border into the United States.

Most importantly, I wanted to understand why people are so dedicated to their heritage even though they are apart of the United States culture. Even though this does not personally impact me, I have known other people who can relate to this first-hand so I wanted to become more aware, as well as, connect with what they go through and feel. During my reading 3 placement at Morse Elementary School in Poughkeepsie, I worked with two boys who were Mexican and fluently spoke both languages. When both students presented a poster about themselves, they described many aspects of their Mexican culture and when asked to identity themselves, they said they were “Mexican.” After reading the article and having this first-hand experience, this allowed me to understand what Casares is describing. This is another reason why I selected this reading because I wanted to see the connection and if there were any similarities or

differences.
Something new I learned was how Mexican-Americans and other immigrants that speak Spanish have been categorized into either Latino or Hispanic. This is new to me because I thought Americans who identify as having a Hispanic ethnicity struggle with being asked to identify their race. Perhaps, many Mexican-Americans are lumped into either one of these categories because of how diversified people among this category can be. This reading relates to me on a personal level because my boyfriend’s father and grandparents crossed the border from Quebec, Canada to the United States when they were young kids but still identify themselves as Canadians. Their children, who are born in the United States, also identify themselves as being Canadian. They have the special right to vote and pay taxes just as Americans can do. They celebrate Canadian traditions during the holidays and also speak in French, their native language to each other, even if they are not in Canada but out of respect of who their ancestors are and what they stand for. Their heritage is an extremely important aspect of their lifestyles and will be for the next generation of children they may have. I have heard them talk French numerous times and is interesting to see how they can switch back-and-forth between English and French with communicating. To me, I think they have assimilated into the American culture while still remaining anchored to their country’s origin. Most importantly, I learned how just because people move into another country or place, they can exist in both worlds and cultures.