We are all thought from birth to know what category we belong into incase the time comes we are asked “where are you from?” or on a collage application “what ethnicity are you?” We are thought to know these things for a greater purpose; the purpose is to know where you come from, what your background is and where your ancestry comes from. Knowing what your ethnic identity is helps others and yourself know why you are able to speak a different language, why you celebrate certain days, and why you like to eat spicy food.
Hispanic is my ethnic identity, I categorize myself this because of where my parents are from, the culture I was raised with, and the language I speak and understand. An exact categorization is Mexican American, both of my parents are from Mexico and I was born in the United States. Living in a border city you learn early on that there are other terms that are used for example, Chicano.
Chicano is another way to describe being Mexican American or having two Mexican parents. To me being Chicano means that I am able to experience two different cultures because of where my parents come from and where I was born. As one gets older you come to understand that labels are what separate you from others, some believe it’s a positive thing and it makes one stand out from other groups. At times it does make me believe that being labeled as a Mexican American can be positive, you see other Mexican Americans dreams and goals come true and you become proud of them and to a point encouraged because someone from your category made it far.
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Being born in the border, our cultural knowledge (beliefs, attitudes, rules and assumptions of the world according to Humanity page 30) is limited to what we are around, it is not too common to see such a culture shock once you start to get out of here. As a child, I moved to Orange County in California. This was when I was exposed to a wide range of different cultures such as Filipino, Indonesian, English and Hispanics from other cultures. I was then seen as a little different, which was fair I had an accent and it was clear to distinguish I was Hispanic but never seen as lesser.
I also had a different home life than a lot of my friends. I distinctly remember having a friend, TJ, he was Filipino and when I would visit his house things worked differently. Of course, in my home respect to your elders were important and easy to see a difference in the way you would talk and behave. Same with TJ’s family but on a more elevated level to say. Along with food and their manors. Looking back now I found this to be very interesting and glad that I was exposed to different lifestyles. Going back to my cultures I am Mexican American to be exact.
Both of my parents are from a small pueblo down in Chihuahua called Santa Barbara with a population of about 8,700 people. People of this pueblo are strong and have deep roots to their heritage. All embedded with very strong customs and beliefs. As the book Being Different states, “practice theory recognizes that individuals within a society or culture have diverse motives and intentions and different degrees of power and influence” (page 17) that being said my parents were raised on the prospect of going to school, praise god, be a good person, go to college get a degree and get married, have kids and raise them the same; It has been like that for generations.
Things really changed when my parents and their family members moved around, my parents coming to the united states in search of a brighter future for their future daughter and son. My father moved to the U.S. at a young age of 19 and brought my mother later at 24. My father learned English but my mother still doesn’t speak the language, she understands it but cannot speak it. Therefore, my sister and I were raised with Spanish being our first language. In a border town, the idea of speaking Spanish is not seen as different, just normal.
But in modern society it has changed slightly where some people see it as offensive or disrespectful being in America, to me this is seen as ignorance; and I refer to Joey Diaz in a podcast he said “ignorance breeds racism”. When people try to suppress and stop people from practicing their culture it is ignorant. Bringing me back to the way my parents have been raised and their influence on me; Many of their uprising was translated down in terms of being respectful, striving for a better life, their language and being blessed with their delicious Mexican food every day.
But also, being in an American society and the things I along with the rest of my generation do is sometimes strange and difficult for them to accept, some things could be music festivals, being out with a lot of freedom, and moving out without marriage. The reason we gain these aspects of culture not from our parents but “learn from society or nation” is called enculturation (Being different page 11 chapter 2). In time, it is inevitable that culture is going to evolve and change from its original roots. Yes, some people with remain with the original culture but if people evolve with the times and accept the ever-adapting ideals and values things are going to be different.
That is seen so far with first generation American children from immigrants, my sister and I are examples. In comparing my generations culture to that of my parents it is very different. Much of my generation, millennials or gen x, have adopted new ideals and have different motives in a pursuit of success and happiness. In a recent conversation with my sister’s father in law we had a discussion as to how the morals of kids are changing and just don’t see the traditional aspects as good. One example was people just aren’t buying homes anymore and settling down like in his time.
In his time settling down and starting a family was part of the process, it is what was expected. My counter argument was that our generation just doesn’t want to settle down so fast and have to be tied down to commitments prior generation have pressured us to believe is the only and correct way to live. Some people have argued that why does marriage have to be a government thing. Such as why do I have to tell the government that I am in love and have to commit to a paper rather than just live with that person, why involve the government to acknowledge a marriage; pretty soon with social evolution having kids out of wedlock will be more widely accepted and not looked as taboo.
On the topic of ethnic labels, I am comfortable with it. It is rare occasion when that question arises, “what is your ethnicity”, “are you Mexican”, I don’t believe it is an important question but if someone is curious I have no reason to not answer. I am proud of my heritage and my ethnicity. But in the same context of labels, some ignorant people can categorize people with slurs. In our most recent discussion we read about banning terms to better the social environment.
For my ethnicity, I personally don’t care if someone calls me Mexican, Chicano, Latino, but as soon as someone uses a derogatory term it is offensive, ignorant and unacceptable as goes for any other ethnicity. Should there be this type of ignorance in the world, no, but there is and all we can do to distance ourselves from that is try to respect others and accept all ethnicities and nationalities with respect as we want for ourselves.
In conclusion, we are surrounded by a multitude of different ethnicities and backgrounds. My background is I am a Hispanic Mexican American and proud of it. I am a first generation born American from my Mexican parents with both Mexican culture and American culture. I appreciate knowing what my ethnicity is and where I come from. It gives me a sense of pride especially in this country where immigration is what made this country what it is, great. Learning from what is around me is a unique thing that is not common all around the world and should not be taken for granted because it gives everyone a unique sense of identity.
References
- Kottak, Conrad Phillip., and Kathryn A. Kozaitis. On Being Different: Diversity and Multiculturalism in the North American Mainstream.
- McGraw-Hill, 2008 Peoples, James, and Garrick Alan Bailey.
- Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Cengage Learning, 2017.
