Raising Chicanos In The Great White North Analysis

Growing up in an area with a large Mexican community I never really understood how much my culture means to me. I grew up with the stories my dad and grandfather would tell me about my ancestors. My people were the raiders from the hills of Mexico City and that we were a family of warriors. I never held much weight to the warrior part of my grandfather’s stories but I did know that my great grandfather was a fighter. He left Mexico and rode the train up to Denton Texas and sold tamales on the square his entire life. He fought to give my grandfather a better life here. I don’t talk about my dad’s side of the family much, in this day in age being seen as white has more advantages than being seen as Mexican. This thought changed as I came to

Chapter five in the book, From Indians to Chicanos, by James Diego focusses on the how the breakup and transformation of the social order happen. There are three subtopics that the chapter covers. The subtopics are the contact enlightenment, the conflict that occurred because they wanted independence and the change that happen when they experimentation on the nationalism. These three things were important because they had to do a lot with how the breakup and transformation of the social order happened.

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

“I'm not Mexican. I am not American. I am not American in USA and Mexican in Mexico. I am Chicano everywhere. I do not have to assimilate anything. I have my own history”, stated the writer and novelist Carlos Fuentes. The Chicano subculture is the mixture of the Mexican and the American cultures. This subculture has its own history and unique characterizations that make it stand out. According to the Merriam Webster dictonary the word subculture is defined as “a group that has beliefs and behaviors that are different from the main groups within a culture or society”. The Chicano subculture has a history, language, leaders, art, literature, and even their music, and it’s the perfect example for this definition of the word subculture.

Chapter three in the book From Indians To Chicano by James Diego Vigil focuses on explaining the breakup and the transformation that occur with the social order. This chapter talks about who were the conquerors, how the destruction of Tenochtitlan occurred and how the colonial practices began after that. These three subtopics are important because it is what made Mexico. The first subtopic the book talks about is the conquerors.

Multiracial children are becoming more common in today’s society, many years ago multiracial children were judged for having more than one culture and feeling excluded out from others. Times have changed and according to a recent study from Pew Research Center, about 60% of mixed adults are proud of their different cultures. This statistic perfectly fits the author Roberto Santiago who wrote “Black and Latino”. On the other hand around 55% feel subjected by racial slurs from non mixed people. Author Jade Snow Wong who wrote “Fifth Chinese Daughter” never dealt with racism towards herself but her father was racist about Americans and she expresses one culture more than the other. While Santiago accepts both of his cultures and Wong mainly accepts one, they each still faced racism in different ways.

During the late sixties and early seventies, a Mexican - American movement was taking place in the United States, The Chicano movement. This movement takes place because of the Mexican American society 's suppression in the country. Indeed, during the years, 1966 to 1981 was a period where the Mexican American society was looking for equality and justice from the Government of the United States. In fact, they will start to organize their own communities, where the Government will accept their new ideas. David Montejano, “a historian and sociologist, and Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley,” wrote about that movement that helps the Mexican - American society being part of the United States. One of his books is Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986, where he describes the relation that the Anglo and the Mexican American people have in those years. In the same way, he wrote Quixote’s Soldiers: A local history of the Chicano Movement, 1966 - 1981, where he describes the Chicano movement as a way of helping the Mexican American community. By describing the Chicano Movement and the political changes made in San Antonio, Montejano relates the problems of equality and justice, the organization created at that time, and the consequences of this movement.

I am a U.S. born citizen. My parents moved to the United States in 1984 without knowing anything about this country. Looking for a fresh start and new opportunities, my parents settled in Houston. With hardly knowing any English, my parents knew this was the place to make dreams become a reality. Luckily, I had older siblings to look up to whenever I needed help. Like Lahiri, I was trapped in between two different cultures while I was growing up. At home, I only spoke Spanish, but in school it was English. My habits and customs were different than others. Life as an immigrant’s offspring can be very difficult. As I grew older, I allowed myself to open my eyes and see the beauty of being an American from Hispanic descent.

People fighting against injustices are something that happens every day it is inevitable unless the injustices cease to exist. As stated before social movements happen because of a certain injustice. This can be from people feeling oppressed from their race, sex, or sexuality. They have had many contributions to society mainly helping those and they get rid of oppression. While inspiring others who are oppressed as well to set up and speak up again their oppressors. Mainly helping other groups use the same successful tactic that other social group has done in the past or present. Some of these groups that are looked back upon on how successful their tactics were are the early Women's movement, Africa American movement, Chicano Movement, and

To understand Chicanos, it is necessary to comprehend their Mexican roots. The Spanish interrupted the evolution of indigenous lifestyles and fashioned a colonial empire that remade the land, people, and culture. Spanish architecture, religion, language, and other institutions and practices were glorified as Indian culture was degraded, but many changes led to a new Mexican culture. New foods, religious beliefs and practices, social customs and cultural traditions arose and evolved. It also left a socio-psychological heritage in which skin color became associated with feelings of inferiority and superiority, with those who have whiter skin being privileged. Whether a person appears to be white or dark, still is significant among Mexicans as well as Chicanos. Could this possibly

NOTE: Be sure to answer each question in complete sentence. Be sure to proofread your answer for correctness in grammar, spelling, punctuation mark, etc. Your answer must be word-processed, double-spaced (repeat, double-spaced), with 10-12 font size. Be sure to write your NAME and ID number in your paper.

The Chicano power movement of the 1960's is characterized by Carlos Munoz, jr. as a movement led by the decedents of Mexican Americans who pressed for assimilation. These young people, mostly students, became tired of listening to school rhetoric that stressed patriotism when they were being discriminated against outside the classroom. Unlike their parents, the young people of the Chicano movement did not want to assimilate into mainstream America and lose their identity, they wanted to establish an identity of their own and fight for the civil rights of their people.

If the income level indicated above does not represent the approximate income level of your parents ' household during your high school years, please explain.

Discrimination has been the brawn of injustices done to people of color. Most don't know of the Chicano struggle in the United Stated for the past four to six generations. Chicanos in America were forced to face chaos, poverty, and pain. Chicano, by Richard Vasquez is a perfect example of how Mexican Americans and Chicanos were treated in America during the 90's. Although Chicanos faced a burdensome life in America, lots of customs and culture immigrated to America with them, which has fabricated the Chicano Culture. The book Chicano profoundly demonstrates how hard it was for a Mexican family to immigrate to America. Once Chicanos started a life in America, it was very hard to get out of it. Mexicans were not socially accepted because

Because America is such a diverse country, there are many differences between cultures of various immigrant groups. Members of each culture, have their own beliefs and values regarding what they think is right. The cultural diversity allows for each person to have a different view of things. Amy Chua’s essay “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” she describes her way of parenting her two daughters following Chinese values about education. She explains how Western parents are much more lenient than Chinese parents with their children and education. Chua gives examples of how she raised her daughter Lulu and Sophia which lead them to achieve success. She makes comparisons between Western and Chinese parenting styles throughout the essay and concludes that both types of parents want the best for their children, but just approach parenting it in different ways. In the article, “Chinese vs Western Mothers: Q&A with Amy Chua,” Amy Chua is interviewed by Belinda Luscombe where she clarifies how her Chinese method of parenting did not hurt her children the way many readers thought it did. Chua explains that her relationship with her two daughters is very strong and believes there are many effective ways of parenting in addition to the Chinese approach. Chua’s essay shows the Chinese immigrant approach to parenting and gives insight into why so many children of Chinese parents are so successful. Discussing the cultural differences shows the risk of stereotyping groups where feelings