Azaldúa Social Identity

In this article Mexicans: Pioneers of a Different Type Gonzalez gives us an outlook different from what we generally read when taught about American History. His effort is to explain how each of the different Latino groups came. What was happening in their home towns that caused them to leave. If people want to accept it, eventually they will have to. That this country is bound to go through an enormous Latino population explosion. Gonzalez writes “Mexican Americans meanwhile, face a frustrating identity problem like that of Puerto Ricans” (pg97). Being a Mexican American myself I could agree that it is at times frustrating identifying. We are either too American to be Mexican. Or too Mexican, to be American. In 1749 because of what was called the promise

Tanya Barrientos explained her struggle with her identity growing up in her writing “Se Habla Español”. Barrientos describes herself as being “Guatemalan by birth but pure gringa by circumstance” (83). These circumstances began when her family relocated to the United States when she was three years old. Once the family moved to the states, her parents only spoke Spanish between themselves. The children learned to how read, write and speak the English language to fit into society at that time in 1963. (83) Barrientos explained how society shifted and “the nation changed its views on ethnic identity” (85) after she graduated college and it came as a backlash to her because she had isolated herself from the stereotype she constructed in her head. She was insulted to be called Mexican and to her speaking the Spanish language translated into being poor. She had felt superior to Latino waitresses and their maid when she told them that she didn’t speak Spanish. After the shift in society Barrientos wondered where she fit it since the Spanish language was the glue that held the new Latino American community together. Barrientos then set out on a difficult awkward journey to learn the language that others would assume she would already know. She wanted to nurture the seed of pride to be called Mexican that her father planted when her father sent her on a summer trip to Mexico City. Once Barrientos had learned more Spanish and could handle the present, past and future tenses she still

During the Mexican-American War the border moved, but the people didn’t. History has shown us that no matter how thick the border might be Latino Americans have a strong connection to their culture and roots; instead of assimilating, Mexicans live between two worlds. The film, Ballad of Gregorio Cortez gave us a perspective of two cultures; “Two cultures- the Anglo and the Mexican- lived side by side in state of tension and fear” . Cortez is running for his life as he heads north, while the Anglo believe that because of his Mexican ethnicity, he would travel south to Mexico. Throughout the film there were cultural tensions and misunderstandings; language plays an important part of someone’s identity, and for many Latino Americans Spanish is their first language. The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez also shows us that language plays an important role, and can cause confusion between two different groups. For example, Anglos refer to a male

David G Gutiérrez’s Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity discuss the deep and complex understudied relationship between Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants. This relationship was a natural consequence of the mass illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States that had constantly been increasing the population of “ethnic Mexicans” and along with it brought tensions between those who were Americans of Mexican descent and had been living here for generations and those who had freshly arrived to the United States and as such did whatever they had to do to make a living.

In George J. Sanchez’s, Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles 1900-1945, Sanchez brings forth a new understanding of Mexican-American culture through the presentation of how the culture made substantial adaptations under limited economic and social mobility (Sanchez 13). Unlike other historians who studies the variations of Mexican American cultural identity from a national prospective , Sanchez creatively selects Los Angeles as his site of research because, not only is the city home to the largest Mexican population in the United States, but also because Latinos play a profound role in shaping the city’s culture. Growing up in an immigrant family himself, Sanchez undoubtedly has many personal

Gloria Anzaldua is among the many feminist theorists that has moved into the realm of addressing post-modern identities. In Gloria Anzaldua’s articulation of the new mestiza consciousness, she makes the argument of identities as multiple, hybrid, and more specifically created as a result of the Borderlands. However, according to Anzaldua, and despite the difficulties engendered by her very existence, the mestiza is also a figure of enormous potential, as her multiplicity allows a new kind of consciousness to emerge. This mestiza consciousness moves beyond the binary relationships and dichotomies that characterize traditional modes of thought, and seeks to build bridges between all minority communities to achieve social and political change.

Immigration is a rapid growing issue for the United States. For a long time people from other countries have been coming here to look for bigger and better things for themselves, as well as for their families. This article digs to the core of the issue, illegal immigration. Chideya wanted to know three things: 1) What is the reality behind the perceptions of Mexican Americans, 2) How do the residents of El Paso look upon the Mexicans, and 3) How do Mexican-Americans see themselves and their cousins across the border.

In the boiling pot of America most people have been asked “what are you?” when referring to one’s race or nationality. In the short story “Borders” by Thomas King he explores one of the many difficulties of living in a world that was stripped from his race. In a country that is as diverse as North America, culture and self-identity are hard to maintain. King’s short story “Borders” deals with a conflict that I have come to know well of. The mother in “Borders” is just in preserving her race and the background of her people. The mother manages to maintain her identity that many people lose from environmental pressure.

This new way of thinking that Gutiérrez conveys the readers to this idea about Nepantla and conocimiento which she drew upon from writing by Gloria Anzalda. Conocimiento has multiple meanings in Spanish, but can be translated into knowledge, having a connection with others, and “in solidarity” (Gutiérrez 2012). She also presents the idea of existing in a state of Nepantla, which she described as a space with no solid ground, an uncomfortable state, and a new way of asking questions or approaching something (Gutiérrez 2012). I found this new idea compelling and an interesting new lens adapted to the idea of equity. The article discusses Nepantla as a state or something that can occur in phases. Starting with the phase of understanding one’s

Many Mexican Americans have been able to accomplish their own versions of the American dream by attending a 4-year college, owning businesses, and taking on political and public service careers. However, Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants continue to face the hardships that their ancestors went through in the 20th century. The ethnic Mexican experience in the United States has been a difficult one for Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans of the first generation. Two key factors that continue to shape the lives of Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants are labor laws and the citizenship process. Focusing on the research, statistics, and information provided by Mai Ngai “The Architecture of Race in American Immigration”, Natalia Molina’s, “In a Race All Their Own": The Quest to Make Mexicans Ineligible for U.S. Citizenship”, and George J. Sanchez, “Becoming Mexican American” will provide the cause and effect of labor laws and citizenship laws that made an impact on the lives of Mexicans during the 20th century.

The Great War involved most of the adult population either 'head on' or discretely. On average, 6 million men served in Britain's armed forces during the course of the war. Many millions of innocent civilians had their lives affects to the overall changes, both economic and social that the war caused or added to. The impact of the war varied greatly between the different regions of the sommunity. There were many differences and considerations ; these being gender and social class, so it is had to dinstinguish and measure the war's exact impact on people's attitudes, beliefs and values.

     Through our readings of the Mexicans in the U.S. and the African-American experience modules, we begin to understand the formation of identity through the hardships minorities faced from discrimination. In this paper, I am going to compare and contrast the ideas of identity shown through the readings. These two modules exemplify the theme of identity. We see how Blacks and Latinos tried to find their identity both personally and as a culture through the forced lifestyles they had to live.

The idea of mestiza consciousness is an acknowledgement of both the genetic and cultural mixing that come from falling between the cracks of two cultures. Gloria Anzaldua uses the idea of mestiza consciousness to describe the constant shifting between two or more cultures that Chicana women experience. She describes the issues that arise within various communities due to an “us vs. them” mentality, and argues that mestiza consciousness can also act as a tool to heal these wounds, and to reshape one’s identity by merging various identities.

Identity is a peculiar thing. Identity as a person, place or even thing can be somewhat misconstrued depending on the perspective at which the observation is taking place. The following piece has an objective of helping formulate the identity of a nation in transition. A nation that has multiple creeds and cultural diversity but still looking to find its purpose in the world in which it exists in. Establishing the foundations for its existence through strong leadership, economic know how and cultural influence Mexico reaches forward to gain confidence through this time of turmoil.

In his work about nested identities, David Knight proposed understanding the concept of identity from a territorial perspective, in terms of the relationship with the geography and space in which people acquire specific attributes in distinction to others. Territory, he said, is what solidifies identity as opposed to memory or feelings (Knight, 1999, p. 317). In this fashion, people produced in Tijuana, with the practice of cross-border consumption, a binational territory where the border did not exist, which nested a local identity with both strong nationalistic and hybrid components, very distinctive