Stereotypes In Edwardo Portillos

Due to increasing urbanization, the gang phenomenon developed, which results from poverty and the lack of a role model in the Mexican American’s life. Anglo-Americans identified zoot suitors (pachucos dressed in zoot suits) as criminals, hoodlums, and teenagers that has no respect for the authority, which was displayed in the media (Acuña, 249). In the play Zoot Suit, by Luis Valdez, narrates of a group of pachucos/as, who are accused of the murder of a Mexican American in the Sleepy Lagoon. The media displayed 22 teenage members as criminals and the police treated them as animals as they violated the pachucos rights, and denied them clean clothes and a shower for their trial. Thus encouraging the public that Mexican Americans should be guilty and belonged in jail. Due to the violating basic. rights, the case were dropped and the teenagers were sent free. Even the pachucas were identified as young women with loose morals and carried razors on their barrettes. In one incident a Julia Luna Mount was chased around her work’s parking lot by a man, and she was terrified because she could have been assaulted due to the public image of a young Mexican American women (Ruiz, 83). Certain activities pachucos/as did was later transformed into a crime, such as lowriders was a hobby that was popular among the Mexican Americans but now it became criminalized

Immigration of Latinos has long caused cultural conflict, especially when it comes to the illegal immigration of Latinos. Unfortunately, the issue has long been debated and there seems to be no clear cut answer on how to resolve the problem. Many Americans often overlook the struggles that Latinos endure and place stereotypes upon this group of people that are untrue. Furthermore, most Americans are misinformed or uninformed about the other side of this hot issue. The purpose of this essay is to give the reader a better understanding of Latino immigration from a cultural perspective and what these immigrants, both legal and illegal experience when relocating to a new country as well as a brief discussion on the issue of immigration reform.

Hispanics experience a great deal of prejudice and discrimination, the result of a perceived economic and cultural threat that Hispanics pose to non-Hispanics (Trujillo, 2011). Hispanics have a deep belief that all

Prior to being assigned the reading of the memoir “Always Running”, by Luis Rodriguez, I had never given much thought on juveniles involved in gang life. Rodriguez achieved success as an award-winning poet; sure the streets would no longer haunt him - until his own son joined a gang. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in the vivid memoir, “Always Running.” “Always Running” is the compilation of events Luis experienced during his youth in San Gabriel. The theme of the book is to always strive for the best things in life and to always take a stand for what you believe. Lured by the seemingly invincible gang culture of East L.A., he witnessed countless shootings and beatings, as well as senseless acts of street crime against his friends and family members. As a Latino in a poor neighborhood, Luis struggled through criticism, stereotypes, and mistreatment. With the help of his mentor, Chente, Luis saw a way out through education and the power of word to successfully break free from years of violence and desperation.

I will be applying the three major sociological perspectives, which include functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism to the experiences of Hispanic Americans. No ethnic group attracts more public attention than the Hispanic people do due to their large numbers, their residential clustering, and bilingual programs and signs associated with them making them a recognizable ethnic group. Hispanic people who live in poverty or the small number involved in gangs, drugs, or other criminal activity get more attention and generate negative stereotypes, but most of them live as members of the middle class.

Gregory Nava’s 1983 film, El Norte, is by far one of the most honest and eye opening depictions of the experience many undocumented immigrants and refugees have when trying to come to the United States. By challenging the ethnocentric tendencies of the North American film industry and the general negative stereotypes of Latinos in film, Nava is one of the first writers/directors to break away from the typical representations of Latinos and give such true representation and discussion of many issues surrounding Latinos, immigration, and American society and values. The film focuses on two young Mayan brother and sister, Enrique and Rosa, from their flight from their village in rural Guatemala to their life of hardship and isolation in Los Angeles,

In the book Punished by Victor Rios, he presents the argument that the consistent labeling by every state run institution that cast young Latinos as criminals or cast “at risk youth” expected to commit crimes is symptomatic of the social structures that creature the criminalization process of young Latinos. Non-state institutions as well as parents, who often seek help from them, are often advised to

Rios’ observations exposed the boys being hyper-criminalized followed by over policing and stigmatization. To illustrate this, when a research subject and Rios were eating tacos from a truck one day, police officers

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

During the beginning of Mexican immigration to the United States employers welcomed the new source of cheap labor with open arms. However these same employers, of Caucasian descent, began to worry that these foreign-born people of darker complexion would weaken American society. These local worries accompanied by national concern over crime and the nature of criminality prompted the LAPD to bring special attention to the issue of Mexican crime for the first time in its department’s history. The LAPD’s preoccupation with the connection between race and criminality became the main idea defining the relationship between the force and the Chicano population. Newspapers ran stories about Crimes committed by Mexicans much more frequently to contribute to the idea that they commit many crimes. Followed by the study of criminology and how it gave a scientific standpoint as

When we see a guy wearing eye-liner, a black skinny jeans, dark-colored shirt, and converse shoes, we usually label him as an ‘emo’ or a ‘goth’ or even a ‘devil worshipper’. We think of an ‘emo’ as a gloomy, depressed, self-harming, and a bad influence type of person, but it is not always the truth. A shy friend of mine, named Eduardo Medina, can be considered as a deviant or the one that does not fit the stereotypical attitude of an ‘emo’. During our time in high school, he spends his time hanging out with my other friends and I and even though he is not the talkative type, he seems to be comfortable with us as he cracks a smile and ecstatically laughs at our jokes and his own jokes (Inciong). He does not fit the description of the typical ‘emo’, but yet he presents himself physically as one and it makes one wonder, why is he like that?

Throughout the essay, Lugo-Lugo uses personal experiences and builds bridges with her audience to further establish emotional appeals. Carmen Lugo-Lugo is a woman of color, specifically a Latina. Latinos have become so stereotyped, that people’s portrayals and descriptions of them have become so ingrained in their minds that

In Luis Valdez’s short play Los Vendidos, it is clear that there was a stereotyping issue as well as symbolism throughout his play. I have analyzed his symbolic demonstrations on how Mexicans are labeled and how stereotyping affects the way Americans view Mexicans. In an article by an anonymous writer titled “Los Vendidos”, Luis Valdez: Using stereotypes to end racism, there was a quote stating, “Theater as a weapon”, Valdez used theater as a weapon to attempt to highlight latino stereotypes and their effects on society on those stereotypes. Valdez was the second born out of 10 brothers and sisters. At the age of six he began working in the fields with his parents. Valdez began writing plays to express his lifestyle and his family’s life style when he was growing up. When he attending school he noticed that in all the school book, only whites and Europeans were mentioned in the United States. Although Hispanics are well

Race relations are an ever prominent issue in American society. Controversies focusing around race are a commonly seen smeared across the front page of the newspaper or headlining on the evening news. The opposition is usually between a minority group and "The Man," a colloquialism used by many Blacks to refer to the overwhelming power stemming from white racist tendencies. This racial tension can sometimes can cause the oppressed to band together against the oppressor. Many times, the most prevalent link is between the African American community and the Latino community. Here we find two groups of people with very similar lifestyles who find camaraderie between themselves when dealing

Hispanic Americans suffered similar fate as African- Americans in racial profiling. The media portrayed them as part of gangs and selling drugs. This group is more likely to have a strong group identity and view the police officers as “gringos” or foreigners (Aguiree , 2004). They already look at the police officers with negativity due to increased activities of deporting illegal occupiers (Davis & Hendricks, 2007). The police officers may be influenced to believe that this group is at higher risk of breaking laws and do not understand Hispanic Americans’ culture.