Personal Narrative: My Hispanic Heritage

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.

Anzaldúa wrote about the conflicting views that Chicanos face involving their own self-identity growing up in societies that tell them they do not belong. Chicanos are people that were born in the United States but have parents that were born in Mexico. They face constant criticism for the way they speak, by both American and Mexican people. Often times Chicanos are told that they’re cultural traitors and that they’re speaking the oppressors’ language and ruining the Spanish language when they are heard speaking English by Latinos (Anzaldúa, 17). They are made to feel as if they need to choose a sole identity to represent and anything other than that is going to be looked down on. Chicanos have felt as if they didn’t belong anywhere, so they created an identity to fit in and belong to “Chicano Spanish sprang out of the Chicanos’ need to identify ourselves as a distinct people” (Anzaldúa, 17). A feeling of

As I stared into my reflection, I began questioning my identity. I felt as though the world was was condemning me for not fitting society’s image of the “typical Latino”. I began to hang my head down in shame. I was apprehensive to show my culture because I would be ridiculed for not being Latino enough.

My Hispanic culture is exceedingly unique contrast to other cultures because we have countless of beliefs, holidays, lifestyles, etc. My world of Hispanic culture raised me to become an independent and determined person because being the first generation of a Hispanic family to attend college has my family beyond thrilled for me to put value to our heritage. Putting value in our heritage is a magnificent emotion because people anticipate Hispanics to fail; but, we prove them wrong when we accomplish our goals. The Hispanic culture’s strength is unbelievably astonishing because we are ambitious of our dreams and we don’t cease until we fulfill our wish. Including the Hispanic culture at University of Washington may open people’s mind that we

Overall, the chapter, which focuses on “Hispanicity”, impacted me because I began to formulate ideas which opposed those that had been hammered into my mind all my life. For so long I had heard that minorities were victims to oppression by whites and for that reason minorities should strive to do more than what is expected from them. In reading Rodriguez’s claim, questions that had never been explored in my development arose in my mind such as “Are Hispanics really the victims?”, “Do Hispanics truly strive to their fullest to accomplish things that have never been done?”, and lastly, “Are Hispanics committing acts of hypocrisy?”. If a Hispanic

Even though I may be identified as a typical Mexican American, I'm not average. I have always been the kid who stands out from the rest. Besides having a thick Spanish accent, I don't look like the common Mexican, my skin color is significantly darker than the rest. I have been and still, am perceived as Asian and Middle Eastern. Even though I explain to many that I'm Mexican many don't believe me, specifically, strangers. This misconception of my ethnicity causes me to be different from others, not just because of my appearance but the experiences I possess of it as a result. Having been treated as other ethnicities that face severe discrimination has allowed me to learn and understand the problems they face on a daily basis. Thankfully I have not faced a dangerous encounter but I have experienced some

My mind has always been mixed. I grew up mixed up in a lot of ways, literally and figuratively. I’ve always playfully called myself “Afro-Colom-Gringa” which is just a fun way to say that I am black and white and mixed and latina. I guess I could chalk it up to fate, or a higher power, but it really all comes down to my parents. My father is a black Colombian immigrant and my mother is a white American who had traveled a lot. Culturally, ethnically, and racially different, my parents met and decided to get married. They had two children, then they fell apart.

The Latinos in my class differed in the way that they were proud to say they were Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Dominican. Thus, I pursued a relationship with these classmates and I began to feel differently about Latinos. I realized that I was taking part in the prejudice thoughts my previous classmates had toward Latinos by concealing my identity. I also recognized that Latinos were struggling to pursue a better life and that we are looked down upon. As a result of discrimination, it is difficult for us to accomplish our goals in life. Presently, every opportunity I get, I talk about my culture. I discuss the hardships Latinos face and I describe my experience growing up Puerto Rican. Although I am Puerto Rican, I don't know as much about my culture as I should. Reading Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez has brought new insights to my knowledge of Puerto Ricans and Latinos in general. Gonzalez focuses on language and writes that speaking Spanish is treated as a handicap instead of as an asset.

Growing up in a multiethnic and multicultural environment, I had never understood what being in a minority felt like. My mixed heritage fit well while in Hawaii and everyone was easy to relate to; our backgrounds were all similar. It was hypocritical to single out people for their race when it was a common ground between us. Going into Junior year, my family moved to South Carolina, where I began to attend a predominantly White school. The new lifestyle 4,600 miles from the middle of the pacific to the east coast definitely took no time for adaptation and definitely was not an abrupt change. Although my fellow students and I share several interests, I suddenly lost the luxury of being able to relate to situations because of a mixed heritage.

What is culture? According to Dr. Dennis O’Neil from the Behavioral Sciences Department at Palomar College in San Marcos, CA, “ culture is the full range of learned human behavior” and includes morals, traditions, and beliefs (1). First morals could be opinions rather than facts. Opinions on what is right and wrong, L.G.B.T ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender), and abortion. Many people have different perspectives on morals. Not everyone agrees with others peoples opinion on these certain perspectives. Next, every culture has some sort of tradition. In America, a huge celebration would be the Super Bowl. Families and friends gather together to watch the largest football game of the year, and to barbecue. Lastly many people

I don’t really know much about my identity through my heritage. However, my ‘identity’ has been found through my family’s and I’s moral beliefs and teachings. I couldn’t tell you much about before I was born, but I can say right now, I belong to people who accept me for me. Everything I am. Where I come from and who I’m going to be is because of the people I’ve chosen to immerse myself around. A quote by a man named Francis Conroy says it best, “As you age naturally, your family shows more and more on your face.” I hope this is true for me when I’m older. The values and traditions that I’ve always been around is something I am extremely proud of. The quote later goes on to say, “If you deny that, you deny your heritage.” No matter how many times I leave the family nest or allow myself to figure

Latina is what people classify me as, when they look at my appearance and I identify myself as a Mexican American female. I love my culture and I am very proud of it and my favorite dish is camarones empanizados, which are fried shrimp. I am an individual who does not enjoy the cold weather at all; I would rather live in a place where it would be over ninety degrees everyday. Also, many people describe me as a responsible and honest person and I too identify myself with those descriptions. In my self portrait I include all the words that describe me and all the things in life that mean the most to me and the things that I would rather stay away from.

Everyone differs with their beliefs, personalities, and ethnic and cultural roots. Instead of acting as identical copies of each other, every individual is designed to have their own unique qualities. Thus, peaceful interactions with others are not a luxury that one can easily afford. In fact, as seen throughout my childhood, especially as a Chinese American living in the bustling city of Houston, our town is renowned for its diverse community and its rampant social atmosphere. However, since the city consists of an array of people, cooperation and interactions at school was a challenge as my unique heritage and cultural beliefs clashed with those around me. It was what foods I ate, what clothes I wore, what holidays I celebrated that put a

I spent my first year at Dordt as a Spanish minor and had always wanted to check out Amistad Cristiana, but I let go of this dream after I switched my minor. I really miss taking Spanish classes, which contributes to why I found my experience at Amistad Cristiana to be so interesting. I only know enough Spanish to hold a basic conversation, which is completely different from the full theological discourse in which I could only make out enough bits and pieces to get a generalized idea of what was going on. I almost wish that I would have attended a service in a language that I was completely ignorant of, because finding myself in the middle range of understanding yet not understanding the language made the service stimulate my brain more than my heart when it came to thinking in terms of Spanish rather than theology. I spent the first half of the service without using one of the personal radios that transmitted an English translation of the speaking through an earpiece. When I decided to wear the translator, however, I still found myself not paying attention to it and preferring to attempt to take in the Spanish.

Case study four focuses on a cultural identity crisis from the perspective of a young man named Jose Garcia. Unlike the previous identity cases, this case deals with Jose’s adaptation of another cultural identity leading him to perceive his true Latino heritage as inferior to white identity. Throughout his school career, Jose perceived himself as a white person; he only identified as Latino when he thought it would be beneficial. He thought that just because he and his family did not fall into cultural stereotypes then that meant that they were somewhat superior to those Latinos who did. Most of all, Jose thought of himself as superior to all Latinos, including his family, because he possessed the characteristics of a white person which, to him, was the best person that one could be America. As a result, Jose developed a deep racism towards his own people that he did not overcome until later in his life.