Another author who gave insight towards social justice is Josefina Lopez. Through her book, Detained in the Desert, she is able to give voice to various Mexican American generations and convey stories of what they go through due to racial discriminations and negative stereotypes. Lopez depicts scenarios of how Mexican Americans are being victimized based on their looks, language, and culture; for example, “hate crimes against Latinos” and name calling such as “Beaner” or “Wetback” (47, 52). As a result of experiences like these, various Mexican American generations are being induced into taking drastic measures such as virtually abandoning their roots and assimilating completely into the American culture by neglecting to speak or learn their …show more content…
ancestor’s tongue or customs. Fear and shame generate contemplations in Mexican Americans such as, “you will never know what it’s like to be me. You don’t have dark skin. Nobody ever questions your right to exist or succeed. You have no clue how hard it is to be an American when you look like me” (Lopez 43). On the other hand, Lopez also gives readers a glance into the younger generation’s manner of handling their ancestor’s customs within moments of discrimination to achieve social justice. Within the book Sandi, for example, gives face to a young generation that prefers to turn their backs on their heritage in order to be accepted by others yet when confronted with racial profiling she conjures her Spanish language and spirit to defend her entitlements as a Mexican American citizen who is being wronged. Furthermore and compared to Detained in the Desert, the article, ““The Costs of Getting Ahead: Mexican Family System Changes after Immigration,” written by Bacallao and Smokowski conveys contrary measures that some Mexican American families take, in order to keep their culture alive, as well as the consequences that come along with the cultural assimilation process as a Mexican American.
In fact, Bacallao and Smokowski found that, “Latino families' external boundaries often become rigid to preserve culture of origin beliefs and norms” (53). Interviewees in their study responded well to their family’s perseverance; ultimately resulting in the younger generation becoming more open to practicing certain Mexican customs while incorporating the American lifestyle. Moreover, according to Bacallao and Smokowski, “Adolescents said that practicing these traditions and rituals helped them preserve their Mexican cultural identities, their history, sense of familism, and ethnic pride even as they experienced stress and pressure to assimilate from social systems outside of their homes” (Bacallao and Smokowski 62-63). This study demonstrated that in order to entice the younger generation, to not abandon their roots completely, sacrifices from both generations were necessary; particularly sacrifices having to deal with losing part of their ancestor’s culture in order attain prosperity and make their family’s adaptation less
problematic. Additionally, it was found that this particular article also exposed how combining both American and Mexican cultures can be of great value to the younger and older generations. In their study, Bacallao and Smokowski found that, “Adopting and adapting U.S. cultural traditions and rituals…” allowed Mexican American youths to use their Americanized culture and knowledge as their own form of social justice, to fend for themselves and their family, especially when confronted with language barriers, negative stereotypes, and racial discriminations (63). Lastly, these findings all point to the fact that although change is unavoidable, without the insistence from the family to keep their culture alive various Mexican American generations might lean towards total Americanization in order to avoid undesired obstacles such as racial discrimination.
Racial discrimination is an ongoing reality in the lives of many Hispanics. Being a minority and living in poverty is tough. Hispanics have not always been very welcomed in America; they face challenges getting jobs, and being socially accepted. My Beloved World is a memoir by Sonia Sotomayor. Sotomayor grew up in a very poor neighborhood. She was diagnosed at the age of eight with diabetes, which was very dangerous because of the lack of technology. Her father died when she was very young, yet she is still successful. She is the first Latina Justice of the Supreme Court. Despite the challenges in her life, Sotomayor is driven, independent, and intelligent.
Alvarez demonstrates generational boundary when discussing,“The quince tradition has always been important, but there’s this retroculturation going on right now” (56). Alvarez illustrates that retroculturation is a pattern within the Hispanic community where loss of culture is present for a generation. Alvarez explains how the first generation wants to assimilate in America with their culture, while the second generation has adapted to American norms so they have lost their culture and no longer speak spanish; however, the third generation is born and bred in America and now wants to learn about their hispanic culture by learning Spanish. Teens shop at popular American malls but listen to Spanish radios to embrace diversity (56). Similarly, Munoz is confronted with the issue of generational boundaries when he admits, “I was born in 1972, a generation that learned both English and Spanish” (308). The generation before Munoz grew up speaking only Spanish which causes a barrier between one families generation to the next. Munoz speaks Spanish at home and English in public along with his other cousins who serve as translators for their household. While the second generation before Munoz have no way of following Spanish because they have already adapted to American norms and in some ways lost an important cultural aspect (308). Alvarez and Savan are interconnected because each
In “I am Joaquin”, women are represented minimal, unspecific, and stereotypical. The term coined by Gonzales was not inclusive to women. A lack of women’s acknowledgment engagement with the Chicano Movement is present in Gonzales poem. In these lines “I shed the tears of anguish as I see my children disappear” Gonzales gives the impression of stereotypical women (I am Joaquin) . An image of a mother stereotype is depicted instead of an image of women contributing and involved in the movement through activism and organizations. Women such as Dolores Huerta played a vital role in the evolvement of the Chicano Movement however, the Chicano Social Identity is not inclusive to women because women are defined by men. Dolores Huerta was an important farmworker organizer within the farmworker struggles.
Martinez, Demetria. 2002. “Solidarity”. Border Women: Writing from la Frontera.. Castillo, Debra A & María Socorro Tabuenca Córdoba. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 168- 188.
In a country full of inequities and discriminations, numerous books were written to depict our unjust societies. One of the many books is an autobiography by Richard Wright. In Black Boy, Wright shares these many life-changing experiences he faced, which include the discovery of racism at a young age, the fights he put up against discriminations and hunger, and finally his decision of moving Northward to a purported better society. Through these experiences which eventually led him to success, Wright tells his readers the cause and effect of racism, and hunger. In a way, the novel The Tortilla Curtain by T.C Boyle illustrates similar experiences. In this book, the lives of two wealthy American citizens and two illegal immigrants collided. Delaney and Kyra were whites living in a pleasurable home, with the constant worry that Mexicans would disturb their peaceful, gated community. Candido and America, on the other hand, came to America to seek job opportunities and a home but ended up camping at a canyon, struggling even for cheapest form of life. They were prevented from any kind of opportunities because they were Mexicans. The differences between the skin colors of these two couples created the hugest gap between the two races. Despite the difficulties American and Candido went through, they never reached success like Wright did. However, something which links these two illegal immigrants and this African American together is their determination to strive for food and a better future. For discouraged minorities struggling in a society plagued with racism, their will to escape poverty often becomes their only motivation to survive, but can also acts as the push they need toward success.
The role of strong female roles in literature is both frightening to some and enlightening to others. Although times have changed, Sandra Cisneros’ stories about Mexican-American women provide a cultural division within itself that reflects in a recent time. The cultural themes in Cisneros’s stories highlight the struggle of women who identify with Mexican-American heritage and the struggle in terms of living up to Mexican culture – as a separate ethnic body. The women in Sandra Cisneros’ stories are struggling with living up to identities assigned to them, while trying to create their own as women without an ethnic landscape. In Sandra Cisneros’ stories “Woman Hollering Creek: and “Never Marry a Mexican” the role of female identities that are conflicted are highlighted, in that they have to straddle two worlds at once as Mexican-American women.
Family is the most important social unit of Hispanic life. It is a close-knit entity that includes immediate and extended family members. Typically, the father is the head of the family and the mother rules the house (Clutter, n.d.). Vacations are usually taken to relatives’ houses to promote togetherness in celebration of birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, and communions. In times of need, the family is the first line of aid, and Hispanics typically live with their parents until marriage. While this deviates from American ideals for individuals aged 18-35, it actually provides young adults the opportunity for future success because so much money is saved from greatly reduced housing costs (Williams, 2009).
The eternal endeavor of obtaining a realistic sense of selfhood is depicted for all struggling women of color in Gloria Anzaldua’s “Borderlands/La Frontera” (1987). Anzaldua illustrates the oppressing realities of her world – one that sets limitations for the minority. Albeit the obvious restraints against the white majority (the physical borderland between the U.S. and Mexico), there is a constant and overwhelming emotional battle against the psychological “borderlands” instilled in Anzaldua as she desperately seeks recognition as an openly queer Mestiza woman. With being a Mestiza comes a lot of cultural stereotypes that more than often try to define ones’ role in the world – especially if you are those whom have privilege above the “others”.
As a traditional, collectivistic cultural group, the Latino population is believed to adhere deeply to the value of familismo. (Arditti, 2006; Calzada, 2014). Familism is an emphasis on the importance of the family unit over values of autonomy and individualism”. (Santistaben, 2012). Family is considered to be the top priority in the Latino culture. Comparatively, at times, this isn’t true of our busy, work devoted western culture. In western culture we think of our family in a nuclear sense made up of a: mom, dad, and siblings. Conversely, Hispanic culture focuses on the whole extended family including aunts, uncles, grandparent, and cousins. Their culture believes having close connections with the entire extended family benefits the development of their children. The entire family helps the child by giving them differing levels of social and emotional support. (American Home Resolutions,
The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria, an essay written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, discusses the racial stereotypes Cofer struggles with as a Latin woman who travels across America. Throughout her life, Cofer discusses her interactions with people who falsely misjudge her as a Latin woman. Additionally, Cofer mentions other Hispanic women she has met in her life, who also suffer with racial assumptions. Although several people would disagree with Cofer and claim that she is taking racial remarks too seriously, racial stereotyping is a significant issue that should not be overlooked in our society. People should not base someone’s worth by their outward appearance or their ethnic background.
I will begin to examine the Mexican American ethnic group, probing the historical circumstances that impelled them to come to America, focusing on the structure and functioning of their family life to determine or, at least, to raise clues about how and why they have been able or unable to maintain an ethnic identification over the generations, and take a brief look ahead to being to speculate what the future endeavors are for this ethnic group and their constitutive families.
Clutter, Ann W., and Ruben D. Nieto. "Understanding the Hispanic Culture." Osu.edu. Ohio State University. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. .
Montoya, Margret E. "Masks and Identify," and "Masks and Resistance," in The Latino/a Condition: A Critical Reader New York: New York University Press, 1998.
Kanellos, Nicolás, Felix M- Padilla, and Claudio Esteva Fabregat, eds. Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States: Sociology. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1994. Print.
The ethnic- Mexican experience has changed over the years as American has progressed through certain period of times, e.g., the modernity and transformation of the southwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, the labor demands and shifting of U.S. immigration policy in the 20th century, and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Through these events Mexican Americans have established and shaped their culture, in order, to negotiate these precarious social and historical circumstances. Throughout the ethnic Mexicans cultural history in the United States, conflict and contradiction has played a key role in shaping their modalities of life. Beginning in the late 20th century and early 21st century ethnic Mexicans have come under distress from the force of globalization. Globalization has followed the trends of conflict and contradiction forcing ethnic Mexicans to adjust their culture and combat this force. While Mexican Americans are in the struggle against globalization and the impact it has had on their lives, e.g., unemployment more common, wages below the poverty line, globalization has had a larger impact on their motherland having devastating affects unlike anything in history.