Mexicans And Mexican American Youth

It is logical that two-thirds of Mexican-American population in the United States live in Texas, California, and Arizona because these three states are the closest state to the Mexican border. They allow Mexicans to go back to their homeland and are attractive locations for the Mexican-American populations to make their

Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity. By David G Gutiérrez. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995).

The formation of segregated barrios and the development of a wealth of community-provided services showed that Mexican-Americans were not content to be marginalized by the United States. Instead, they were embracing an empowering new sense of self-determination and referring to themselves as “Mexicanos or as members of a larger, pan-Hispanic community of La Raza.” At this time La Raza referenced individuals of the Mexican “race”, whether they were in Mexico or in the United States, and was particularly important in the United States, where race was more important than citizenship. In the late 19th and early 20th century United States, race was determined by purity of blood, and there were only two races—white and black. White meant the individual had “pure blood” (European blood); black meant that the individual’s blood included indigenous or African influences. Being white meant being able to exercise one’s constitutional rights and being treated as a normal member of society’s dominant group. Being black meant that, regardless of whether he or she was a citizen, the individual would face discrimination similar to that which I described earlier. When the Spanish conquerors mixed with the people of Latin America, forming the mestizo, or mixed race, population that now composes most of the region, they removed themselves from a “white” classification in the United States. Thus, by engaging with the concept of La Raza, which connotes a mestizo race and population, Mexican-Americans rejected the binary nature of race in the United States and embraced what made them different—their indigenous-mixed blood and the cultural heritage that accompanied it. While the abuse directed towards Mexican-Americans may have

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

This campaign is confronting the challenging of higher rates of unmet mental health needs among Latino youth than other racial groups. There are several obstacles that get in the way of Latino children and teenagers seeking treatment for mental health issues. These barriers include stigma, a lack of knowledge about symptoms of mental health conditions, a lack of understanding about what health insurance covers in relation to mental health needs, lack of health insurance and lack of access to resources or mental health providers. A social marketing campaign targeting Latino young people, their parents and the other adults in these young peoples’ lives will confront the many barriers to treatment and encourage young people to seek help. A secondary audience will be political and community leaders you are able to allocate greater resources to schools and communities that serve large Latino populations.

During my visit to the department of foreign languages I found that. The Mexican American population is a standout amongst the most critical minority . bunches in the country, yet chroniclers and students of history have been careless in recording. its improvement. The Mexican American people group in Houston, Texas, has been creating for one hundred years and today may well number upwards of five hundred thousand individuals. These materials incorporate the papers of conspicuous Mexican American Houstonians, Mexican American families, and also nearby Chicano associations and foundations.

Chapter five it made me think about how Americans used the Hispanic/Latino Americans for their own benefit. I could not believe the treatment they received after having their land taken away. And after the Hispanics accepted that and joined the American military, they were still mistreated. Hispanics were also very beneficial to a white farmer because they were paid at very low wages to farm the land. Yet, even after being hard laborers, Hispanics were denied equal rights to education, they were often put into segregated schools and were only taught in English. Superintendents required their schools to only instruct in English. The chapter made me feel very sorry for Hispanic/Latino Americans. I felt that they were obviously mistreated after having their land stripped away from them. I also felt very ashamed to call myself an American after knowing the ancestors of this land took away cultures from all kinds of people. This chapter made me wonder how someone can do this to someone. I am always fascinated and intrigued when I hear about someone’s culture, who is often different from my own.

In the U.S. Chicanos have been victims to rationalization and discrimination for years. Chicanos have categorized as an inferior race based on factors such as color, roots and language barriers. The racialization of Chicanos however has not been in isolation rather it has occurred in relation to other races as described by Natalia Molina. Chicanos and the Chinese for example have for years been racialized in relation to each other. As Natalia Molina coins the term racial scrips, she show how ideas used to marginalize one group at one time, is once again used to marginalize another group in a similar way. This way two groups are oppressed in the same manner and one group’s racialization can contribute to another’s group racialization. In a similar

Walls and Mirrors is a look at the debate from within the Mexican-American community. What are the historic links between immigration, civil rights, and ethnicity? How have Mexican-American organizations and activists strategized politically vis-á-vis immigration and citizenship during this century? How have Mexican Americans perceived themselves, their role in U.S. society, and their relationship to both long-term Mexican residents and los recien llegados, the recent immigrants? In Walls and Mirrors, Gutierrez explores the often shifting contours of this intriguing yet largely neglected subject through his chronologically organized study of Mexican-American activists and organizations in Texas and California.

Throughout America’s history, the issue of immigration has been on the forefront major debates. Immigration is among one of the most stimulating topics of discussion. Often when discussing immigration the question of assimilation also arises and whether or not immigrants are truly doing so. Since the beginning of this country, immigrants and even natives of the land have been pressured to assimilate to “American” Culture and to commit to its standards. When a group of people fail to assimilate to these standards, they encounter critics. The Native Americans, who wanted to preserve their traditions and values, had their children taken from them and sent to boarding schools with the goal to assimilate Native tribes into “mainstream America’s way of life.” In the nineteenth century, the largest mass lynching, which involved Italians , occurred in New Orleans. Italians were discriminated against because they did not share the same traits as their Anglo-Saxon camarades. (Falco) Today, in the twenty-first century, Hispanic immigrants ,and others, are also criticized because they are believed to not be assimilating. In fact many like the Samuel P. Huntigton, chairman of the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, have voiced that the most serious threat to America’s traditional identity is the immigration of Hispanic immigrants. However, the issue may not stem from these people themselves. The issue and controversies surrounding assimilation primarily stems from

As Gutierrez describes it, “There’s a certain amount of racism among Mexicans against blacks and blacks against Puerto Ricans. But I see more racism with the blacks than with the white or Latin” (1). Though ironic, it’s no surprise given the history of the Black community in this country. In Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow”, she analyzes through history the transition of the ill treatment of the Black community. She argues that the idea of race is merely a social construct mostly created by European imperialism that sought to demonstrate superiority and therefore used the classification of races as a tool to justify their own agendas.

Historically, America has been a nation that participates in discriminatory practices based on perceived race. European Americans have always considered themselves as a privilege group, therefore excluded from the discriminatory practice against other minorities. Mexicans, Filipinos, Blacks (African Americans) and Native Americans, were excluded from first class citizenship, and were and still are in some cases America’s victims of separatism. Americans of European descent fought to keep their status quo though eugenics, racial discrimination and unfair laws and practices. Therefore, many obstacles were put in place to disenfranchised minorities through strategically bigoted activities and politically orchestrated legislation. Some of these things included inequality in economics, living conditions, immigration repression, and demeaning treatment supported by white European Americans. All of these practices simply because of external features, or known background regardless of personal appearance.

Young adulthood is the transitional period from the adolescent stage into adulthood. Chronological ages associated with the young adults are anywhere from age 18 to age 34 (Hutchison, 2015, pp. 273). Education plays a critical role during this period for most young adults, unfortunately for the Hispanic community this is an issue for a majority. With policies such as, the illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), this makes it difficult for the Hispanic to achieve higher education, thus resulting in more challenges during this transitional period in young adulthood. Utilizing theories such as Intersectionality and resilience theory, social workers can better serve this community to assess such challenges

The solid power of discrimination in modern Mexico stems from the construction of Mexican society during the Spanish colonization in the 1500’s. One of the most powerful weapons concealed by the European during the Conquest was hegemony. Hegemony is “a basic principle of social control, in which a ruling class dominates others ideologically, with a minimum of physical force, by making its dominance seem natural and inevitable” (Chasteen, 2001). Thus, by using hegemony, the Spaniard convinced the native peoples of America to accept their place below the Spaniards and forced them to see the conquerors as superior beings worthy of obedience. By establishing their superiority, the Spaniards were able to control and dominate the indigenous people, forcing the Spanish culture, religion, and language onto the population. As a result, indigenous people started to distance themselves from their roots and their own people, creating a damaging prejudice and bigotry that has been passed down through generations in Mexican families. Indigenous people turned against each other. They mixed with the Spaniards – creating new castes, dividing the people and providing them with power and social status based on the lightness of their skin. This feeling exists even today, white skinned people are seen as more honest and trustworthy, thus deserving privileges and power; while the darker skinned people are seen as a resemblance of the indigenous people indicating inferiority and implying a need to

One of the reasons as to why minorities fall into poverty is because of the social inequalities that their cultures face. Prejudice against minorities contributes to the falsehood of stereotypes against a group as well as prevents societal advancement. Historic events have provided for much of the prejudice that circulates throughout the United States today. A large increase in Mexican immigration during the early 1910s created resentment toward Hispanics (Blakemore). With the occurrence of the Great Depression, many believed Mexican immigrants were taking away jobs that were to be held by native-born Americans. Ironically, this same issue is still prevalent in politics over one hundred years later. Anti-Mexican sentiment has allowed