Every once in a while, I end up getting asked the question, “Where are you from?” or “Where were you born?” My response is always the same, “Utah.” I can almost always anticipate the next question. It usually comes in the form of, “No, where is your family from?” At this point, things get interesting since I can answer the same for my family as well. I usually get a frustrated look and then the question, “Where were your grandparents born?” Now, I actually answer the real question the individual was trying to ask: “What is your ethnicity?” Ethnically, I am Mexican American. This has always been a little confusing since being Mexican American automatically makes me American, so even when answering the question of ethnicity, I am still an American. Sometimes, this fact is something that has been brought back to my attention through discrimination. At various points in my life, I have been told, “Why don’t you go back to where your family came from?” While I understand that this statement is discriminatory, it is always something that has struck me as being somewhat ironic since the person making the statement has made the assumption that I am not an American citizen. However, if I were to go to Mexico I would still be an American citizen. I have been speaking both English and Spanish probably as soon as I started talking. When I speak in English, I usually think in English. When I speak in Spanish, I usually think in Spanish. I have noticed that when I am thinking to myself
America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.
Imagine you are a person of mixed Latino race living in the United States and you are preparing to fill out a census form. None the choices accurately display who you are racially. This is a problem for many people of Afro-Latino descent. An Afro-Latino is defined as any person who is of both Latin and African descent. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines Hispanic or Latino as “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.” But what about those who are both Black and Latino/Hispanic? In the 2010 Census Bureau report it shows that only 2.5 percent of the 54 million Hispanics living in the United States also identified as Black, but this is likely an undercount. This small percentage are the voices of the Afro-Latino community pushing to be visible and represented in the population. Because of this, census forms should be changed to include Afro-Latino as a race.
Being first generation Mexican American to me is a title that comes with responsibility as well as an opportunity. Growing up, parents always preach to their eldest children that their actions have the consequences of impacting their younger siblings. I believe that as first generation Hispanics, it is our duty to build a strong foundation that later generations may build on. Whenever I think of being Hispanic, the word heritage comes to mind. In the frame of being an ethic minority in America, it is important for new generations to learn about their individual history and culture. As human beings we find comfort in what we are accustom too; For example I often get advice from friends living on their own saying “leaving home is the hardest
My parents always wanted to give their children the life they never had. I am Mexican-American, both of my parents immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. before I was born. I have numerous relatives, including my older sister, who do not have the same opportunities I have to achieve success because they are undocumented. For them, college was only a dream that could never be attained. Being the first U.S. citizen out of my entire family affected the way I thought about life. It was expected that I would attend college because I was the only one who had access to all the resources granted to American citizens. Although, I agreed with my family, the pressure to succeed and be a role model to my younger siblings was overwhelming.
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
When I'm traveling and people ask about my German-sounding name, I usually say, simply, "I'm American -- we're from everywhere!" If they persist, I explain that my people spoke Yiddish, a language based on German. Still, some ask, unsatisfied, "But where are you from?"
After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, a nationalistic sentiment spread throughout Mexico as they sought to form a unified identity under its new constitution. Under the new organization of the country, Mexico underwent many political and social changes, many of them violent. At the turn of the 20th century, Mexican nationalism was of the utmost importance. Finally, the masses of Mexican poor began to have a voice in their own destiny and began to seek out a national identity. In order to be fully immersed in an identity that seemed ambiguous due to centuries of colonization, Mexico looked to the arts to help mold Mexico’s new character as a country. Muralists like Rivera, Siqueiros, Orozco and Khalo portrayed the struggle for freedom and democracy against the oligarchs that had exploited the poor for decades. Music also played a pivotal role in expressing nationalistic views and ideas through movements such as the traditional and the “indigenismo”. One of the composers who was at the forefront of the “indigenismo” movement was Carlos Chávez. Chávez strived to distance himself from romantic influences and practices, and searched for new methods to create pieces that were for everyone, not just the elite. Chavez’s investigation of indigenous Indian cultures, native folk elements, and dance forms brought an unprecedented vigor and visibility to 20th century Mexican Music. Chávez traveled to Europe and the United States to gain recognition beyond Mexico’s border, thus catapulting his influence on Mexico’s musical style and cultures.
This chapter talks about the deculturalization of Hispanic Americans in education and etc. Anglo-Americans didn’t consider Hispanic/Latino Americans white, more as an inferior race. The Mexican War mark a change in Mexicans. The Mexicans lost half of its territory to the United States/Already losted half of their territory in the war; the ratification of a new treaty came about, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty stated, that Mexicans remaining in their lost territories have the right to become U.S citizens (page 90). The Mexican congress ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1848; ceded the United States Mexican territory from Texas to California. Mexican leaders wanted all Mexicans living in ceded territory to be given citizenship
Prior to the 1930s, there were no Mexican-American promotion associations hesitantly strategizing about the issue of Mexican American whiteness in court. In any case that does not imply that state authorities and even courts did not address the inquiry of whether Mexican Americans were white in the years going before. Rather, we can consider the time 1848-1930 in three stages: amid the nineteenth century, whether Mexican Americans were white or not was a matter of nearby practice; a Federal area court choice in 1898 proclaimed Mexican Americans to be white for the reasons of naturalization to citizenship; and in an arrangement of miscegenation cases chose in the first many years of the twentieth century, Mexican American personality was created
Dixie: I really enjoyed this seminar and talking about the wall that President Trump is going to build. I learned a lot from the discussion board. In chapter 10 on page 227. I learned about the Mexican American experience and what it was like coming to the United States. I thought this was great, as I am doing my final assignment for this class on Mexican American’s. In the book on page 226, it talks about the long history that Mexican American have in the United States. I have known that they have been here a long time. In the textbook on page 246, I got to learn about the Muslim Americans. Islam, with approximately 1.6 billion followers worldwide, is second to Christianity among the world’s religions (Schaefer, 2015.) I didn’t know this about
This is a narrative of one Mexican American woman’s experiences and her views on the importance of passing down the cultural beliefs of her ancestors. In the section of the country in which I live there is a large population within the community of Mexican American culture. Although I have frequent contact with people of Mexican American heritage either through employment or interaction out in the community, I have a limited understanding of their culture. For this reason, I chose to learn more about the population of people I have frequent contact with and as a professional work with as clients in the field of mental health counseling. The quest of finding someone knowledgeable to discuss the population, their cultural background and some of their necessities, as well as some past experiences, led me towards contacting a church. This took calling two different churches before the person at the second church informed me that I needed to speak with, Mrs. Socorro Garcia head of their Hispanic Ministries. Unfortunately, Mrs. Garcia was on vacation when I called, but I was able to speak with her over the phone the following week, setting up an interview in person at her office a couple days later. This was a relief because I was becoming concerned about locating someone for a personal interview.
Is the American Identity still alive? Has it died? The issue concerning the American identity is has it died. Many claim that new cultures, new races, and new traditions have degraded the American identity. Although some people that the American identity has been lost because of new cultures and traditions, the American identity is still alive because those factors have not changed any original American traditions or the way they are celebrated.
The concept of identity is complex, however, when an identity is allocated to a group of people it helps to serve as a starting point for solidarity. When studying Latinos, we term them as such with hopes that it will serve for a greater basis for resource access; resources in the political and social world. However, it is important to keep in mind that Latinos are heterogeneous, no one ethnicity is the same leading to difficulties in resource allocation considering just how diverse the Latino community is. The study of Latino identity is fundamental because it is the basis of forms of exclusion, but it also has, nonetheless, been a basis for Latino political solidarity.
The traditional Chicano social identity can be defined as: cultural pride, consciousness, and commitment to activism (Romero, “Who Are You?”). As a Chicano, one stays true to their mestizaje and embraces it. However, the most essential component of the Chicano social identity is not the embracement of the mestizaje itself. Consciousness of the discrimination imposed upon the culture and a deep desire to advocate on behalf the community through institutional means is imperative. The traditional Chicano social identity, even today, is still very valuable, though the definition itself could use some revision to serve as more of an umbrella term to include a wider variety of Spanish-speaking races.
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.