Which one is better “Mexican or Mexican-American?” This play talks about how people can be stereotype. Discrimination has been an issue in the United States from the beginning of the foundation, even before the movement of Civil Rights, African-Americans was the center of attraction for discrimination. Nonetheless, as United States keep on developing, discrimination was no more focused on the minority of African-American, rather the focus shift to the largest number of population and also on the majority that has the rapid and quickest developing community in American, which are the Mexican-Americans. Well, discrimination against Mexican-Americans is not surprising at all to people, amazingly Americans is not the only nation that discriminate …show more content…
Also, in line with the play, because of the nature and value of the Mexican-American, they were taken as someone who can be fed on Matinis, Langendorf bread and Apple pie made from home, just to keep them functioning. Mexican-American worker are also programmed to eat Mexican food only on ceremonial functions (Valdez 1037). This is why the Mexican-American do not want to be refers to as Mexican community, because they are considered to be sellouts. Miss JIM-enez the secretary, has Hispanic name as are last name, yet she is still researching for Mexican-American, as if she is not Hispanic. Even though, Mexican-American can decide to be either Mexican or American, they are still affect by Mexican or American communities stated by Los Vendidos, but the play makes the reader sees it as something exceedingly bad. In (Valdez 1033), the Secretary was completely offended, just because one of the Mexican-American worker change his word to Spanish in the middle of their …show more content…
In the play, Los Vensidos, the Mexican-American are considered as machine as well as other immigrants “They think we’re machine” (Valdez 1038), because of the way they were used by the Americans, before the movement of the Civil Rights. United States went through so much controversy, which affected the Hispanic groups. All the controversy comes from so many things like war, labor group, civil right and education. In Los Vendidos, there is scene that shows how the Mexican product is not accepted by the American, when the Secretary makes a statement that “made in Mexico? Mr. Sancho, I thought he was an American product. No, I’m sorry. We can’t buy anything but American-made product. He just won’t do” (Valdez 1036). Nevertheless, after the movement of the Civil Rights the Mexican immigrant and the Mexican-American receive the final liberty from
At the end of article they describe the pain Joaquín Murieta endured for being a honest and innocent man: “His soul swelled beyond its former boundaries, and the barriers of honor, rocked into atoms by the strong passion which shook his heart like an earthquake, crumbled and fell” (1). At the current time it didn 't matter if you were honest or not with law. If you weren 't white in 1850, you were considered an outsider. Since Joaquín Murieta was Mexican, he was not persecuted because of his transgression but because he was Mexican. The writer wanted to give you an idea of what it felt to be a Mexican and the mistreatment they got from the white
Vendidos or the sold out ones by Luis Valdez is an enlightening film about the Mexican struggle for survival in the United States. It is thought provoking and challenges the viewer to question some of the history and values that American education has engrained into our lifestyle. Although, the film is only about twenty-five minutes long, it is packed with symbolism and information about the Mexican history in the US. In particular, the film explores the Mexican identity issue.
the play. It looks at the person he is and the person he becomes. It
...the use of both the Spanish and English languages and the description of a meal of menudos, gorditas, and Coca-Cola symbolize Josie's two identities--Mexican and American.
The satirical tone exemplifies the realization of the paradox towards Mexican prejudice; the author satirizes society’s stereotype against Mexicans. Demonstrating how in reality some individuals view Mexican as robots instead of human beings alike to them. The author criticizes the label of a farmworker and in thus shows how society may perceive Mexican as only being good for fieldwork. Also, Los Vendidos was written around the time frame that Cesar Chavez sparked the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee; in which he and others fought for the rights of Farmers and against the oppression Chicanos faced. The author ridicules how society belittled Mexicans and exploited and enslaved them because of imbecilic reasons; such as lack of education, language, and skin color.
There are several ironies found in the character of Mr. Chivers throughout this play. Mr. Chivers constantly talks down to the Mexican workers at the mine, on the other hand, he also show kindness to them by taking care of a wounded mine worker. He demonstrates a sort of superiority about himself and the fact that he is an American.
Mexico’s problems originally began upon the arrival of the Spanish in 1492, as illustrated in Major Problems in Mexican American History by Zaragosa Vargas as well as in the video documentary, Chicano!. The sequence of events which date back to the precolonial Spanish days and take place in Mexico’s history eventually provoke the national movement that called for social justice and equality, especially after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Then came the question of group and individual identity. Those of Mexican heritage were broken up into the groups "Chicanos," which were the ‘Americanized’ Mexicans or the Mexicans born in the United States, and the actual "Mexicans," who were the native born people which were discriminated against the most.
Los Vendidos means the sell-outs. All the characters in the play sold-out at some point during the play. The characters sold out both their races and their way of life. I would say that the person who sold out the most was the Mexican-American because he sold-out both his Mexican, his American heritage and way of life. He wanted to be perfect, so when he found that the Americans and the Mexicans had their flaws he sold them out. He now has to search for a new and perfect race to identify with.
One of the key themes in the play revolves around Islamophobia in America. The play opens on Abdul Samee Marcario Lopez Hassan who is having an argument with his parents over changing his name to “Sam.” Abdul Samee’s reason for changing his name is due to the high amounts of Islamophobia and racism in the corporate world. He is trying to “play the game” in order to obtain a good job. Although everyone in America is supposedly guaranteed an equal chance, Abdul Samee notes that the moment he changed his name to “Sam” on his resume, he received multiple calls and job offers. Furthermore, Yasmina reveals in the play that she works at a grocery store in
I think this play is a lot about what does race mean, and to what extent do we perform race either onstage or in life:
Orkin, Martin. “Othello and the “plain face” Of Racism.” 2nd ed. Vol. 38. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 166-88. Shakespeare Quarterly. Folger Shakespeare Library in Association with George Washington University, Summer 1987. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. .
Bertolt Brecht successfully accomplishes this in his work through his technique called the alienation effect where “he forces the audience to look at everything in a fresh light and, above all, to think” (Barranger, pg. 121). His main goal by using this was for the audience to “absorb his social criticism and to carry new insights out of the theater into their own lives” (Barranger, 121). Valdez applies this technique through his use of the Secretary, representing the American population as a whole, and the stereotypes of the Mexicans. When she is first introduced to Sancho, she comes with a list of criteria for what the Mexican should acquire including: “suave, debonair, dark, but not too dark, beige, American-made and hard-working” (Valdez, p. 1288). From the start of the play, Mexicans are already being stereotyped on how they should look and act to be accepted by Americans and their culture. This gets the audience thinking of their own perception on Mexicans and what qualities they might consider if they were in this situation. From the qualities represented of each of the “models,” the Secretary then denies any quality of the model that isn’t sufficient enough for her liking, and “shops” around until she finds the right
Some say that this play is racial in that the family is black, and what the family is going through could only happen to people of that race. One prominent racial is...
According to one of the characters of the play; the actions are scattering illusions and showing the realities along with provision of flashback that is adjoint with the protagonist like Henry Reyna. He is the one who is criticized in the white media as a hero. This insolent and existential actor always remains covered with the shades of Testati-Poka; the God of education. Rayna is a patriotic American who was about to step out of the war in the pacific region and become a culprit of Los Angeles Police. But the very moment, he got interrupted, while he was celebrating with his girlfriend. And the story goes on with a struggle and fight… while on the other hand, the Los Vendido is also a production of Chicano theater written and directed by Luis Valdez. This play is based on the examination of the Latin and Californian stereotypes and reflecting a light on how they were treated by the federal government and other local authorities. This short play is basically shot in the Honest Sancho's Used Mexican Lot and Mexican Curio Shop. This shop is a fictional store that sells a variety of models of Mexican and Mexican American, they can be operated by
In the 1964 play Dutchman by Amiri Baraka, formally known as Le Roi Jones, an enigma of themes and racial conflicts are blatantly exemplified within the short duration of the play. Baraka attacks the issue of racial stereotype symbolically through the relationship of the play’s only subjects, Lula and Clay. Baraka uses theatricality and dynamic characters as a metaphor to portray an honest representation of racist stereotypes in America through both physical and psychological acts of discrimination. Dutchman shows Clay, an innocent African-American man enraged after he is tormented by the representation of an insane, illogical and explicit ideal of white supremacy known as Lula. Their encounter turns from sexual to lethal as the two along with others are all confined inside of one urban subway cart. Baraka uses character traits, symbolism and metaphor to exhibit the legacy of racial tension in America.