Analysis Of Jessie De La Cruz

In Tucson, Arizona ethnic studies classes caused controversy over what kinds of classes should be allowed in Tucson’s public schools. The Latino population of students was greatly being effected by only a 50% graduation rate. The ethnic studies curriculum was created to engage students with a history from a different cultural viewpoint than what was usually taught in public high school. From the outside of the classroom the opposing forces against ethnic studies believed that the hidden curriculum within the classes was detrimental to students. This was because it was teaching anti-American beliefs along with creating students who would act with rebellious beliefs and racism. From inside the classroom the teachers and students look to their curriculum and insist that their curriculum was more about having courage to examine history, create understanding and respect for one another and one’s self. They believed in looking at problems that the world was facing and not just accepting them but also trying to make a change for the better. The problematic readings were grounded in the courses use of the "Pedagogy of the Oppressed” with ideals that are based in teachings like Marxism.

In Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez situates his individual experiences with education in such a way as to expose what he sees as the fallacious logic behind bilingual education and affirmative action. He uses arguments to propagate the systematic problems with such programs. His autobiography explains in great detail the entangling problems all American children face by instituting bilingual programs and affirmative action endorsements.

Growing up, Mexican-Americans in Fresno California, Soto’s Family, were farmers and factory workers. Several quotes from the article, “About Gary Soto,” give information on Soto’s family.  For example, the article quotes, “everyone in his family was a field or factory worker.” (“About”) According to this article, being a Mexican-American family in Fresno California it was almost like Soto’s family were destined to be laborers. They lived

In a scene from the film, Selena, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a Mexican-American singer, is ignored by a white sales woman. The sales woman judges Selena on the color of her skin, determining her social status as one unimportant to her business, not realizing that Selena was actually a celebrity. Just as the sales woman predetermined a role for Selena rooted by race and ethnicity, Waretown High maintained class, gender, and race stereotypes in determining girl’s futures and outcomes. Julie Bettie’s Women Without Class discusses these stereotypes through expectations set for las chicas and the preps by the school, families, and themselves, the exclusion of hard-living students, those whose families were low income, and the ability for some girls to become upwardly mobile as an exception to the rules.

The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, is a novel about a young girl growing up in the Latino area of Chicago. It is highly admired and is taught in a plethora of grade schools and universities. The House on Mango Street expresses the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is full of harsh realities and jarring beauty. Esperanza doesn’t want to belong- not to her run-down neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza’s story is of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing what she will become for herself. While Esperanza and the other women have many differences, as in the way she is fortunate to avoid the pitfalls of her environment and others are not, there are just as many

Gary Soto overcame his obstacle by finally listening to his mother. “Dreading to return to work” Gary Soto went to pick grapes “... giving up and saying that I’d rather wear old clothes than stoop like a Mexican.” Gary Soto quit working in the fields because he

I'm honored to be selected as the person to choose a speech to honor social justice advocates. I believe that the article entitled “The Myth of the Latin Women: I Just met a girl named Maria” by Judith Cofer, is the best candidate for this speech. In this article, Ortiz claims that she was one of the fortunate ones because of her education and proficiency in the English language, compared to her “ Compañeras” that never even had the opportunity to get an education. Regardless of her opportunities she was still labeled.The purpose of this article is to inform about her upbringing being a Latina. Ortiz’s tone thought the article is irritated. She portrays herself as irritated throughout the article to ensure that the public, her audience, understands that words do hurt and stereotypes aren’t okay. Ortiz uses understatements and logos throughout this article.

In 1986 75% of Mexican American students would drop out at 8th grade. Some students were not allowed to speak Spanish, some even got hit for it. The schools were trying to Americanize the students and it was taking away their culture. This reminded me of Michie when one students name was Pedor (I think) and the teacher changed it to “Peter”.

Professor. Guadalupe San Miguel Jr., the author of Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston, is a scholar of history. Born of Mexican parents, Prof. Miguel finds himself passionate about issues of segregation and minority’s rights violation. Prof. Miguel is widely schooled and specialized in Mexican education. He attained his

Gary Soto, the second of three children was born to Mexican-American parents who worked hard to provide for their family. Boyle and Jason explain, “...his father and grandfather worked in blue-collar jobs at Sun-Maid Raisin and his mother peeled potatoes at Reddi-Spud.” Jobs such as peeling potatoes did not pay well, and factory jobs were extremely dangerous, but these jobs were the best ways, and often the only way, of earning the money they needed. Despite having steady work it was still a struggle to earn enough to care for the whole family. The family’s struggles increased after Soto’s father was “killed in an industrial accident” when Soto was five years old (Lee).

According to Marta Tienda and Faith Mitchell in the book “Hispanics and the future of America” another problem may be teacher’s perceptions of their student’s abilities.

Soto grew up in a small family, being the second child. “His parents were Mexican-American”(Sullivan). They worked hard to provide for the family, “...his father and grandfather worked in blue-collar jobs at Sun-Maid Raisin and his mother peeled potatoes at Reddi-Spud” (Boyle). Jobs such as peeling potatoes did not pay well, and factory jobs were extremely dangerous. These jobs were their best ways of earning the money they needed. “When Soto was five, his father was killed in an industrial accident”(Lee). The struggle became much more after this as it“… created economic hardship for a family that was already having difficulties”(Sullivan).

The Mendez v Westminster case of 1946 ultimately attempted to create an education system that strived to promote success for children of Mexican descent by desegregating the public schools in California. Racist individuals dominated society by supporting these segregated schools which lacked a full staff and satisfactory teaching materials, thus inhibiting Latino youth from attaining a noteworthy educational experience. A photograph of Hoover Elementary, a “Mexican” school, found in the Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections shows the horrible

Helena Maria Viramontes explores the cultural barriers and poor working conditions that Mexican migrant farm workers experience. The novel gives the reader a vivid look into the rural San Joaquin Valley through the eyes of Estrella in a further depiction of the lives and conditions of her family and migrant workers around her. Viramontes examines the daily struggle of migrant workers who have no other choice but to live in the labor camps under oppressive and sometimes life threatening conditions just to be afforded basic sustenance. It is seen where on more than one occasion the main character, Estrella, must confront the reality that many living things are suffering around her due to indigence, paired with other sources of distress that are ubiquitous in the impoverished environment.

Anachronologically deemed a feminist for her writings, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz stood in the New World as a defiant, female Catholic. Through her work, she displays her head-strong character, illuminating the hypocrisy that was flourishing in patriarchal Mexico while simultaneously creating metaphors that clearly showed how she viewed her situation. Moreover, through extenstive allusions, she displays her aptitude, proving that she had one true love in life: the love for learning. Perhaps doomed from the start because of her sex, any time Sor Juana delved into her passion she was bound to hear insolence from a traditional member of society, namely the Bishop of Puebla,