Mexican Culture Essay

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Mexican Culture
For my immersion project I will be studying the socio-cultural lives of the Latino population here in America, but more specifically those who are of Mexican descent. My focus will be on the Mexican population in north-east Ohio.
The Mexican population that I will be studying differs from myself in several ways. The most obvious would be skin color. I am from European decent and have a very pale completion, while those from Mexican descent tend to have a much darker, bronzed, pigment to their skin, but skin tone can vary. The way we practice our faith is also different, the majority of Mexicans identify themselves as Catholic, while I identify myself as Non-denominational.
I do not feel that I had a good perception …show more content…

This loyalty includes immediate family members, but also includes extended family and friends (Buriel, 2012). This strong dependency on family members and others of their culture is apparent when observing the way many immigrate to America. When immigrating from Mexico to America many must leave family members behind while they pursue jobs. Parents often leave children with family members in Mexican while they themselves rely on family members or others from their ethnic group here in America to reside with as they find employment and a place to live (Buriel, 2012). Mexican children are taught to have a high level of respect for their parents and others in their ethnic group (Buriel, 2012). This can be see when Mexican American children are expected to act as language and cultural brokers for their parents (Buriel, 2012). Mexican American children oftentimes feel proud to act as language and cultural brokers for their parents. This fulfills the need Mexican American children have to act as good and respectful children and has been found to promote a strong bond between parents and their children (Buriel, …show more content…

Mexican Americans are more likely to seek help through the church than that of other mental health professionals.
When trying to overcome barriers and prejudices between European Americans and Mexican Americans we must look at the ways this culture has survived and continues to thrive in America. We must understand the strong interdependence and respect for family members and those of the same culture and see it as a strength for survival instead of a way of keeping others out.
In America the “Melting Pot” we have in the past encouraged the assimilation into the “American way of life”, expecting people of different cultures to melt into our way of thinking, our language. The Mexican population has in part refused to give up their language, their culture to assimilate fully into the American Culture (Buriel, 2012). Seeing need to hold onto ones cultural background as a strength instead of an insult to the American way of life could begin to breakdown some intentional and unintentional oppression felt by Mexican

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