Kevin Johnson How Did You Get To Be Mexican Essay

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Kevin Johnson’s book How did You Get to Be Mexican is a detailed account of what it is like to live a life of mixed identity. He illustrates the issues of diversity, assimilation, race relations, and affirmative action in our society today to attempt to give us a better understanding and view from the “insider’s” perspective of what it is like to be of mixed heritage. Kevin Johnson was born in 1958 out of an inter-racial marriage, with his mother being of Mexican-American descent and his father being of Anglo descent. Throughout his entire life, growing up, Kevin was torn between his two identities. His mother did not acknowledge her true roots of being Mexican-American but rather referred to herself as “Spanish” whereas his father wanted and encouraged Kevin to embrace the Mexican part of himself. He was torn between the two, leading him to question his identity and ponder the question: “What does it mean to be Latino?” The core of the book lies in Johnson’s detailed accounts of just how hard it is to live your life being of mixed heritage. In his early stages of life, he …show more content…

I felt, however, that Johnson could have done a better job of explaining just how he felt emotionally about his identity and also of how he came to the decision of marrying and choosing to embrace more his Mexican culture than that of his Anglo culture that was bestowed upon him at birth. Overall, the book is an insightful read. For those who are of mixed identity or have family or friends that are of such, it brings to light just how hard and difficult it is to be brought up by two completely different cultures. The book helps to show that someone cannot just adequately balance both sides because in the end a decision must be made just as Kevin did. He chose the Mexican side of him and married into that

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