Always Running By Luis Rodriguez

Prior to being assigned the reading of the memoir “Always Running”, by Luis Rodriguez, I had never given much thought on juveniles involved in gang life. Rodriguez achieved success as an award-winning poet; sure the streets would no longer haunt him - until his own son joined a gang. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in the vivid memoir, “Always Running.” “Always Running” is the compilation of events Luis experienced during his youth in San Gabriel. The theme of the book is to always strive for the best things in life and to always take a stand for what you believe. Lured by the seemingly invincible gang culture of East L.A., he witnessed countless shootings and beatings, as well as senseless acts of street crime against his friends and family members. As a Latino in a poor neighborhood, Luis struggled through criticism, stereotypes, and mistreatment. With the help of his mentor, Chente, Luis saw a way out through education and the power of word to successfully break free from years of violence and desperation.

In Always Running, Luis J. Rodriguez recalls his time growing up in Los Angeles during the 60s and 70s. Rodriguez writes of the hardships that his family had first encountered while trying to assimilate into American society and how he would often, while growing up, be criminalized by his teachers, law enforcement, other people, his peers, his community, and eventually people who cared most for him. Rodriguez recalls the times where he and some friends came together and created a family, a brotherhood of sort, in order to fulfill his need of belonging, but as other people in the community had also formed groups to consolidate power, thus marked the beginning of rivalry and the introduction of gangs. Rodriguez’s gang life had been filled with tragedies and filled with great times, but ultimately he tried to leave the life of crime and commit to an education. Rodriguez tried stepping away from the gang lifestyle by going to school and writing poetry, but ended up back in the life of crime after a serious altercation with the police. When Rodriguez went back to his gang lifestyle, he found the same gang that treated him as a brother, had shunned him away after Rodriguez had offered a solution to wither away the gang violence.

Arturo Madrid in his essay entitled, “Missing People and Others” in the book, Race, Class and Gender, speaks about his form of otherness that he experienced in schools. Madrid has a Latino ethnicity and is a citizen of the United States as are his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. However, he learned about othering before he knew of the concept. Though his school tried to erase otherness through denial, it only amplified the issue. He viewed his educational experience as a socialization process where you learned to become “American” (Race, Class and Gender, 2010, p. 18). Instead of viewing his educational experience as an academic journey, due to othering it become more of a social journey. Madrid realized early on that otherness was built into the American system by the society around in every facet. Therefore, he saw this systemic rationale of othering permeate into the school system. The denial almost seemed like a dismissal of the person’s culture and ethnicity. The implicit denial existed in many facets such as economic, political, cultural and social through the absences of the “others” (Race, Class and Gender, 2010, p. 18). However, schools is where it was felt the most severely.

For those of us who are a different ethnical group such as Hispanics and Latinos we are believed be individuals who come from Mexico and bring drugs along with criminals. Being the daughter of two immigrant parents I am expected to fail as compared to those who are of a higher and white family. However, the thing is that we are labeled as failure due to the ethnicity that we have running through our veins. Being born in the United States there will always be someone who believes that they are the center of attention and that the world revolves around them. For individuals of this ethnicity such as myselves we aren’t given many opportunities or materials that will benefit our futures. For example, some schools may focus more on students that came from higher and better schools rather than the poor schools. They will quickly label us and make assumptions that we’re never going to learn, get well paying job and that many girls will end up pregnant rather than staying in school.

The school board is not quite certain that schools should continue to include fiction in the curriculum. However, if fiction is taught to students it may actually teach life lessons. Fictional literature can change someone's perspective on, what problems we may come across. For instance, a fictional book can help us relate to all the controversial problems that do occur in today's society. I disagree with the school board's thoughts about completely banning it. This type of literature can deepen our knowledge and teach us about things that we don’t experience on a day to day basis.

Haskins, Ron, and Marta Tienda. "Children of Illegal Immigrants Deserve Better Educational Options." The Children of Undocumented Immigrants. Ed. David Haugen and Susan Musser. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "The Future of Immigrant Children." The Future of Children (Spring 2011). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Apr. 2014

Thesis: Although Mexican-Americans are legally considered white, the inequalities and discrimination they face show how they fail to receive the social benefits that come along with this label.

The following discussion and statements are done so such that they incorporate the ideas and struggles of the Latino races regarding certain subjects down upon chapter 3 “Latinos in the united states” and chapter 4 “borders, immigration and citizenship”. This discussion is about the oppression that people Latinos and Native Americans and other ethnic groups have gone through. Some points in the discussion are oppression towards Mexican American and Native Americans, how they were treated and the impact they had.

Throughout our history as a nation, we have earned a reputation of undermining the relationships we have had with minorities and of largely neglecting their needs. Our almost hostile nature towards minorities in the United States can largely be seen in the treatment of Mexicans and Mexican American citizens in the times surrounding World War Two. Such hostilities are reflected in our treatment of Mexican Americans in the late 19th after the Civil War and early 20th centuries, the Sleepy Lagoon murder responses, and the Zoot Suit riots. My primary source reveals a feeling of inferiority in the United States by the Mexican American youth due discrimination that they faced, which can be better understood by analyzing the cultural contexts.

Discrimination has been the brawn of injustices done to people of color. Most don't know of the Chicano struggle in the United Stated for the past four to six generations. Chicanos in America were forced to face chaos, poverty, and pain. Chicano, by Richard Vasquez is a perfect example of how Mexican Americans and Chicanos were treated in America during the 90's. Although Chicanos faced a burdensome life in America, lots of customs and culture immigrated to America with them, which has fabricated the Chicano Culture. The book Chicano profoundly demonstrates how hard it was for a Mexican family to immigrate to America. Once Chicanos started a life in America, it was very hard to get out of it. Mexicans were not socially accepted because

Mexican Americans in the education system have been treated unfair. From the Mendez v. Westminster to the low number of students graduating from high school and moving to a higher institution shows that the system has done nothing to help these students. By the help of the community wealth theory many of the few numbers of scholars who have been able to reach these higher institutions have been able to put families, schools, peers, and other influences for their benefit and for helping them enter these systems which are not welcoming to them. Various aspects of these systems need to be change from the diversity of teachers and desegregation in and within schools around the US which would influence the communication and thoughts that Mexican

Since the start of American history, immigrants came here and brought their traditions and cultures with them. The United States is a country of immigrants. It is a place where people from all over the world come to build a better life. Some immigrants bring their families. Others come alone with nothing but determination. Racial discrimination against minorities and immigrants is an underlying problem here in America today. Racism is seen in our daily lives when people are discriminated against because of their race and ethnicity. Racism attacks the right to a person’s well-being on the basis of something they have no control over. They cannot change nor should want to change who they are. Racial discrimination is not as bad as it was fifty years ago, but it still a problem here in our country today. Our country has advanced tremendously as far as modernization and technology, but has not improved on the way we treat minorities and immigrants. From African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and Arabs there is a form of discrimination against these group of minorities.

Racial discrimination is a big social issue today, especially with the president elect, Donald Trump in office. According to Timothy Mcgettigan in the article, “Donald Trump and White Racism” declares, “ the 2016 presidential election has become a national referendum on racism ”​. Throughout his campaign, he has made it clear, his disgust towards immigrants, Hispanic communities and minorities. Trump has stereotyped hispanics by using food stamps, crime, unpaid taxes and living songerly. It has brought people together in protest and discrimination. Racism takes on and blinds the history and roots that occurred in the past. People of color deserve respect and should not face discriminatory treatment. Influenced by the nation 's leader,

In 2016, about 52% of the Hispanic population say they were treated unfairly due to their race or ethnicity (Krogstad, par 1). Of those 52%, 65% of them fall between the ages of 18-29, while Hispanics 50 and older 35% felt they had been treated unfairly (Krogstad, par 2). So why is the younger generation the ones being treated unfairly? Hispanics are the fastest growing and youngest ethnicity group in the United States, but they are treated unfairly because throughout history they have been associated with immigrants. Whereas immigration only accounts for 22% of the Hispanic population growth, the rest is caused by natively born births (Casselman, par 3).Racism happens while growing up. Parents make comments that they should not say around their

Discrimination is a big problem faced by Mexican immigrants because the issue of racism in America is still very prevalent. Statistics show that “Hispanics born in the U.S. (62%) are more likely than immigrants (41%) to say they have experienced discrimination or unfair treatment.” (Krogstad 2016). Discrimination can come from anyone from law enforcement, as previously discussed, to neighbours. It can affect everything that they do here in America. It is the reason for their labor exploitation. Racism is perpetuated by negative media portrayal, popular political views, and overall ignorance about the race in question. The only true solution to this problem is education. More specifically, education about Mexicans and everything that they go through. The majority of people who are against Mexican immigration have yet to actually get to know the very people that they condemn. Media and politics have a heavy influence the country’s opinion of everything, therefore it is up to the media and politicians to promote acceptance of undocumented Mexicans and provide knowledge of what they really go through. It is also the duty of parents and teachers to ensure that the the next generation is tolerant of all cultures and ethnicities. Prejudice is a learned behavior, which means that the next generation does not need to carry on the mistreatment of undocumented Mexicans so long as our generation ends it now. Perhaps there can be another movement like the Chicano Civil Rights Movement of