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Compare and contrast mexican and american cultures
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“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”~ Martin Luther King, Jr. As Martin Luther King, Jr, described, oppression is a worldwide problem, however though the most crucial group is the Mexican immigrants in America, due to the economical, educational, and societal discrimination they face in a country where is everyone is said to be free; consequently though due to anti- immigration groups and non- acceptance in America, this problem has remained unsolved, and will remain so until people can learn to accept people for who they are, and not where they come from. As long as civilizations have been around, there has always been a group of oppressed people; today the …show more content…
However though in many situations societal oppression and discrimination towards Mexican immigrants is one of the most harmful and discriminatory part of Mexican immigrant oppression, due to the display of Mexican traits/features, the castoff attitudes of other Mexicans, and the racial stereotypes displayed by non-Mexican immigrants. Gilbarg describes how Discrimination is a reoccurring theme in the labor market for minorities in America, due to their characteristics, in the book The Handbook Of Hispanic Cultures. As a result of the common traits typically exploited in Mexican immigrants by the American press and news, the “Mexican features”, that include the imperfect English, exotic look, dark skin, and even darker skin types have cause Mexican immigrants in American to become discriminated against just because of the way they look. The way people are viewed is a crucial part of acceptance in any part of society. Due to this image the American press and news has given Mexican immigrants, which is that they are all illegal drug lords who are trying to take over America, the whole identity of the Mexican immigrants in America has been damaged and stained with just the opinion of a few individuals. “Sometimes Mexicans forget where they come from,” …show more content…
GALE describes in an article describing the first organizations, how in many parts of the United States, Mexicans designed organizations, usually called La Liga Protectora Mexicana (The Mexican Protective League) that made it their goal to protect the legal rights of Mexicans. The Mexican Protective League (La Liga Protectora Mexicana) was founded in 1917 by Manuel C. Gonzales, who persuaded his employers, attorneys A. M. Love and B. F. Patterson, to establish the organization in order to advise Mexican Texans on their legal rights. He saw legal aid and community organizing as means of redressing their grievances. Between 1915 and 1930 Mexican Americans established protective leagues in the Southwest and the Midwest. Tejanos obtained legal aid by pooling their resources. League members each paid one dollar for the first year and five dollars annually thereafter. By 1920 the league claimed more than 500 members. Most were San Antonio laborers, but farmworkers throughout South Texas also joined. The league provided legal advice and representation in litigation. Every year from 1917 to 1921 the organization advised hundreds of individuals on issues ranging from alien residents' rights to
Ngai, Mae M. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. Princeton, N.J. [u.a.: Princeton Univ. Press, 2004. Print.
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.
Immigration is a large aspect of American history. In the book Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez, we are able to see the struggles of one Hispanic boy immigrating to the United States from Mexico. Many of the people in the community that Francisco lived in didn’t really accept Hispanic people. It was really depressing that he would make friends, go over to their house and their parents wouldn’t let him come over again, simply because he was Hispanic. In Diversity Matters the text states, “Unique stresses created by the process of immigration to another country and discrimination faced in the new country can create psychological distress for many immigrants” (Spradlin 126). During this time in America, there was still a lot of discrimination going on not only with Hispanics, but other minority races like African Americans. This really goes to show how far our country has come over the years. There is still a long way to go, but I think that if people are more educated and aware of the discrimination people face on a daily basis they will be more open-minded. The United States is becoming more open to diversity, but first we will look at the struggles of one Hispanic boy growing up here illegally in Breaking Through.
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 with 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 was 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.
The La Raza Unida Party began in the 1960’s as a social movement in the small South Texas town of Crystal City. Although Mexican Americans made up the majority of the population at 85% they had very little clout within the political landscape, which was dominated by Anglos. The Mexican Americans experienced no political representation and many were denied the right to vote because they didn’t speak or read English and many could not afford the poll taxes. The discrimination experienced by the Mexican Americans in this small town was comparable to the discrimination of African Americans in the Deep South, yet the brave Mexican’s in Crystal City, Texas chose to band together to generate change, awareness, and hope in creating new perspectives with respect to politics.
...Multiculturalism: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 353-355. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Apr. 2014
Mexican American struggles in the United States date back to the Spanish discovery of the New World in 1492. For over five hundred years, Mexicans have endured social injustices and inequalities at the hands of their superiors. The mistreatment of the native people of this land is constantly overlooked for "…the main goals shaping Spanish colonial policy were to maintain and expand political control and to convert Indians to Christianity." (Vargas p.30) With this mindset, the basic nature of relations between the dominant Anglos and the inferior Mexicans was that of suppression, rejection, ignorance and separation as opposed to establishment of ideals that would foster cultural relations and produce the true definition of a "melting pot" society.
To say that immigrants in America have experienced discrimination would be an understatement. Ever since the country formed, they have been seen as inferior, such as African-Americans that were unwillingly brought to the 13 colonies in the 17th century with the intention to be used as slaves. However, post-1965, immigrants, mainly from Central and South America, came here by choice. Many came with their families, fleeing from their native land’s poverty; these immigrants were in search of new opportunities, and more importantly, a new life. They faced abuse and Cesar Chavez fought to help bring equality to minorities.
What would it be like to wake up everyday knowing you would get bullied, mistreated, and/or abused just because of where you were born? Discrimination still exists! “Discrimination remains and there is an increase in hate crimes against Hispanics, Latinos and Mexican-Americans, as one of the perceived symbols of that discrimination, the U.S.-Mexico Border Fence, nears completion. Instead of pulling together in these difficult times, we may see a greater polarization of attitudes” (Gibson). But why are hate crimes increasing towards Latin and Hispanic aliens and what types of discrimination are occurring against them? Understanding violence towards the Hispanic and Latin alien is divided into three main classes; the difference between legal and illegal aliens, the attacks and effects, and the point of view of different people towards aliens.
Ngai, Mae M. 2004 “Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America” Publisher: Princeton University Press.
The Hispanic community represents many nationalities and ethnicities, including Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, 15 Central and South American countries, Spain, and the Dominican Republic (Cattan, 1993). Hispanic group are well known in the workforce, politics, education, social economic and religion. The Spanish culture influences a variety of areas such as music, food, language. Most languages are rooted in Latin. It is always good to learn about other cultures if we expect the same consideration when we visit other countries. Differences are what make life interesting. Majority of the United States is built on immigration, which has made this country the most diverse. And the Hispanic group contributes to that diversity.
Takaki, R. T. (1993). A different mirror: A history of multicultural America. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Millions of immigrants over the previous centuries have shaped the United States of America into what it is today. America is known as a “melting pot”, a multicultural country that welcomes and is home to an array of every ethnic and cultural background imaginable. We are a place of opportunity, offering homes and jobs and new economic gains to anyone who should want it. However, America was not always such a “come one, come all” kind of country. The large numbers of immigrants that came during the nineteenth century angered many of the American natives and lead to them to blame the lack of jobs and low wages on the immigrants, especially the Asian communities. This resentment lead to the discrimination and legal exclusion of immigrants, with the first and most important law passed being the Chinese Exclusion Act. However, the discrimination the Chinese immigrants so harshly received was not rightly justified or deserved. With all of their contributions and accomplishments in opening up the West, they were not so much harming our country but rather helping it.
What is the vision of the “American Dream” Hispanic immigrants believe is waiting across the border? What kind of discrimination does the Hispanic public face in their daily lives in the U.S? What kinds of social mobility do Hispanics have in store after crossing the borders of the U.S? These questions define the lives of Hispanic immigrants. The importance of finding out how exactly these topics influence their lives however, is pertinent to finding the hardships and daily boundaries Hispanics face in their day-to-day routines in the United States.
Similarly, discrimination has been a form of hate against Latinos because of their color and because most people don’t really know the reason why immigrants come to America. The U.S. has benefited from immigration but it has also affected the U.S in some form. The U.S. has tried to stop people from coming into the country but some people like immigrants because we only come to work and get an education. Some people think that the United States is becoming a Hispanic nation (Ramos, 187). While racism remains a problem in America, it can be reduced or eliminated through effective laws and by stopping the Latino wave (Ramos, XVII) that has come to the United States. However, they can also stop it by actually accepting immigrants into the country. The U.S. discriminates Latinos without knowing the real reason why immigrants came into this country illegally.