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When I was eight years old, I visited my family’s town for the first time; I walked the dirt roads with my cousin talking about the North. As I walked with her I felt the stares, it was obvious I was not from there, a foreigner. In my own culture I was seen different, I was a Chicana, an American with Mexican heritage. They could tell us apart by the clothing I wore compared to my cousin’s tattered jeans and stained white t-shirt, it was obvious. I came from the American privilege, I did not know how to make a tortilla, I did not struggle, and compared to them my simple home was a mansion. The difference to this day surprises me; at that age I knew my privilege. For many years I felt lost but with the help of my family and experiences, I was shown that identifying, as a Hispanic was important to my identity. …show more content…
My family is one of the many reasons why I began to accept and understand my heritage.
For them being Mexican is a source of great pride, they are proud of their country and they love where they come from. I was born in the US they felt I was too Americanized, they urged me to accept my heritage but I was young and confused. My family helped me see how rich my culture was during my trip to Mexico. As I sat there with my extended family, laughing about the stories about my parents back when they were my age, I saw that by not embracing my culture, I was also not embracing my family. My parents taught these values to me, just like they were taught in their youth. My values are a very defining part of my personality, they help me decipher from what is right and what is wrong. They teach me what it means to be a person who not only is proud of their culture but also has a good system of
values. In my junior year of high school, I experienced racism for the first time in my life. It happened when I was heading back to a debate tournament with my team, my friend was giving two others and myself a ride back to our school. It was late and we were driving carefully and following the traffic laws because we know how suburb police could be. What we did not expect was being stopped because “We did not look like we belong.” we were stopped because we were four Mexican kids in a nice area. After we were let go I felt so angry, one of my teammates burst into tears saying that she thought this only happened in the movies. This experience taught me a valuable lesson, strength, after that day I learned I had to be strong to put up with prejudice I endured that day. It impacted me because while many would take that as a way to be ashamed of their race, it made me even more proud. Because I knew that I was strong enough to persevere though the stigma. I have noticed that many Chicanos attempt to abandon their heritage because they feel ashamed, for me my background is a source of great pride now. I used to be like them, I was ashamed that I was a Mexican, but with the help of my family I learned that it was vital to my personality. By embracing my background, it made me grow as a person. Because of my values that were handed down to me, I am a person who values ambition, strength and a good sense of humor. My experiences taught me that I will always run into some type of prejudice but I have to preserver in order to succeed. I identify as a strong ambitious Mexican-American woman, because of my family and experiences I can say that I know my identity.
In Sueños Americanos: Barrio Youth Negotiating Social and Cultural Identities, Julio Cammarota studies Latina/o youth who live in El Pueblo, and talks about how Proposition 187, the anti-immigrant law, is affecting Latina/o youth in California (Cammarota, 2008, p. 3). In this book review, I will write about the two main points the author is trying to get across. The two main points I will be writing about are how Proposition 187 is affecting the Latina/o community, and about how Latina/o youth are copping in the El Pueblo barrio. Afterward I write about the two main points the author is trying to get across, I will write a brief description of the author and write about the author’s strengths and weaknesses.
Harvest of the Empire is a valuable tool to gaining a better understanding of Latinos. This book helps people understand how varied Latino’s in the United States are. The author also helped give insight as to how Americans reacts to differences within itself. It does this by giving a description of the struggles that every Latino immigrant faced entering the United States. These points of emphasis of the book were explained thoroughly in the identification of the key points, the explanation of the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class, in addition to the overall evaluation of the book.
Traditionally history of the Americas and American population has been taught in a direction heading west from Europe to the California frontier. In Recovering History, Constructing Race, Martha Mencahca locates the origins of the history of the Americas in a floral pattern where migration from Asia, Europe, and Africa both voluntary and forced converge magnetically in Mexico then spreads out again to the north and northeast. By creating this patters she complicates the idea of race, history, and nationality. The term Mexican, which today refers to a specific nationality in Central America, is instead used as a shared historic and cultural identity of a people who spread from Mexico across the southwest United States. To create this shared identity Menchaca carefully constructs the Mexican race from prehistoric records to current battles for Civil Rights. What emerges is a story in which Anglo-Americans become the illegal immigrants crossing the border into Texas and mestizo Mexicans can earn an upgrade in class distinction through heroic military acts. In short what emerges is a sometimes upside down always creative reinvention of history and the creation of the Mexican "race (?)".
Preceding her youth, in 1977, Anzaldua became a High School English teacher to Chicano students. She had requested to buy Chicano texts, but was rejected to do so. The principal of the school she worked for told her, in Anzaldua’s words: “He claimed that I was supposed to teach “American” and English literature.” She then taught the text at the risk of being fired. Anzaldua described, “Being Mexican is a state of soul – not on of mind.” All in all, the reprimanding she had to endure only made her stronger: “Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself.” It led to Anzaldua embracing her Mexican culture even more, contrary to shoving it aside. Anzaldua transformed her beliefs into something both cultures can applaud, and be honored
This book was published in 1981 with an immense elaboration of media hype. This is a story of a young Mexican American who felt disgusted of being pointed out as a minority and was unhappy with affirmative action programs although he had gained advantages from them. He acknowledged the gap that was created between him and his parents as the penalty immigrants ought to pay to develop and grow into American culture. And he confessed that he got bewildered to see other Hispanic teachers and students determined to preserve their ethnicity and traditions by asking for such issues to be dealt with as departments of Chicano studies and minority literature classes. A lot of critics criticized him as a defector of his heritage, but there are a few who believed him to be a sober vote in opposition to the political intemperance of the 1960s and 1970s.
Growing up in a Mexican-American family can be very fun and crazy. Having two different perspectives on two different cultures almost daily really shapes you to become a certain way as you grow up, which is what happened to me. Ever since I was about three months old I have been taking trips to my parents home town for a month time each time we have gone. Practically growing up in both Mexico and the United States for six years has really helped me understand my cultural background and the different parts of my whole culture, such as the food, heritage, language and culture.
Armando Rendon in his landmark 1970 wrote the book I am a Chicano. This book is about how activist in the Chicano movement pointed to an empty monolog of the word Chicano. Chicano means an activist. Chicanos describes themselves it was a form of self-affirmation; it reflected the consciousness that their experiences. Chicanos means, nations, histories, and cultures. This book talks about how Mexican American also used the term of Chicano to describe them, and usually in a lighthearted way, or as a term of endearment. In a text it talks how Chicanos haven’t forgotten their Mexican origins, and how they become a unique community. The book talks about how Mexican American community’s long-suffering history of racism and discrimination, disenfranchisement, and economic exploitation in the United States. The
Although our society is slowly developing a more accepting attitude toward differences, several minority groups continue to suffer from cultural oppression. In her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldúa explores the challenges encountered by these groups. She especially focuses on her people, the Chicanos, and describes the difficulties she faced because of her cultural background. She argues that for many years, the dominant American culture has silenced their language. By forcing them to speak English and attempting to get rid of their accents, the Americans have robbed the Chicanos of their identity. She also addresses the issue of low self-esteem that arises from this process of acculturation. Growing up in the United States,
Since before I was born, my Hispanic heritage played a huge role in who I am and what I have achieved. My great-grandfather immigrated to this country with the desire to provide his family with a better future than his own. My grandpa grew up in Texas on the boarder of Mexico and traveled to Blue Island, Illinois as migrant crop worker. This desire passed down by my grandparents and my great-grandparents has played a tremendous role in propelling me to where I am today. Each generation sought to make the the lives of their children better than their own. My grandma received the opportunity to live in the country of opportunity from her father, and my grandpa paid for my mom to get an education. My mother pushed me to do my best in school and
Folklore is a collection of stories passed down from generation to generation that includes Legends, Myths and Fairy tales. Legends are a semi-true story, which has been passed on from a person to another person that has an important meaning. Myths are a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon. A Fairytale is a children's story about magical which they have imaginary beings and lands. Hispanic Folklore is the traditional is mostly about beliefs, legends, customs and stories of the community of the hispanic culture. Hispanic or latino culture encompasses the traditions, language, religious beliefs and practices, legends, music and history.
The customs they learned as kids have been passed on to me. We were always having barbeques in the backyard, Christmas parties, Easter egg hunting, having pan de los muertos on the Day of the Death, and celebrating Mexico’s Independence. Even though we celebrate Mexican holidays we would also celebrate American Holidays like 4th of July, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Having to celebrate both cultures holidays was a pleasure, because it would give us time to see our family more. Also, we would be able to celebrate some holidays twice like mother's day because in Mexico it was always on the tenth of May and in America it was another
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
What is culture? Many people ask themselves this question every day. The more you think about it the more confusing it is. Sometimes you start leaning to a culture and then people tell you you’re wrong or they make you feel like a different person because of your culture. I go through this almost every day. Because of the way I was raised I love Mexican rodeo but I was born and raised in Joliet. This can be very difficult trying to understand culture. I live in this huge mix of culture. Culture is personal. People can have many cultures especially in America and because of globalization. Cultural identity is not one or the other, it is not Mexican or American. Cultural identity is an individual relevant thing.
...an-American culture has differences from American. Mexican-Americans are very family-orientated so much that they identify themselves as familial instead of individualized or spiritual as other cultures do. The culture has changed over time and is receiving less opposition from Americans as they have in the past. Immigration demographics can be used to see how America is becoming more homogenous accepting Mexican-Americans and eliminating discrimination because of ethnicity. Selena gave great insight into her culture and created some understanding on the differences between Mexican-American and my culture. Knowing these differences will create a more successful interaction any potential person from a Mexican-American culture and myself.
Bibliography:.. Becoming Mexican-American by George Sanchez, Oxford University Press, Inc. 1993.