"On Being a Mexican American"
Joe Mendoza was a Mexican born in the U.S.A. As a young boy he was very proud of what and who he was. As he grew older, he experienced feelings of angry and confusion. He experienced his first time of segregation. Before long, his thoughts about who he was and how people react towards different cultures soon expanded. More things in his life were changing and he later became "anglocized" or "acculturated". The realization and feelings he felt was what a typical ______ (<< fill in some sort nationality) American would go through life. Right? Well, that’s what I think at least. While reading his life story there was many things he said that I happened to agree on. For example, his first sentence “It is important for Mexican Americans to accept the fact that they are a unique group at a crossroads.” True but it’s also for other cultures as well. For me Filipino American’s have a huge fact to accept their culture and especially their language, Tagalog. “But there was always a source to turn to for emotional first aid -- one's family and friends.” This is true for everyone. No one else but your family and friends can understand you the most and how you feel.
There were so many other things Mendoza said that I can absolutely agree on but I believe his voice speaks for everyone not just Mexicans.
Eventually, I became aware that I did not really fit in with this group. And yet, I could not dismiss a new feeling -- that of still needing to be a Mexican. When I returned to my school, I had a different outlook. Although I thought I had been safely "acculturated," I found I could not so easily forget my past.
Today there is a menu of terms from which we may select a label. Should we select Mexican American, Chicano, Latino, or Hispanic? It is interesting to note that recently arrived Mexicans are not confused, for they know who they are. I submit that it is the members of the second or third generation in the U.S. who have problems with having to choose -- or with having someone else choose for them.
“How Being an Immigrant Shaped my Life"
I am not an Immigrant but there is one thing I can agree on with this article. While reading Sonia Pressman Fuentes’s story, I noticed I kept nodding my head. Her attitude and voice came to me and I realized I could relate this to Filipinos (I tend to connect my culture with these type of stories). When she had to move from Germany to America she wondered how her life would be different if she never left Germany. When you become an immigrant especially at a young age, you come to think being an immigrant saved your life but it has stolen or striped you away from your childhood. I talk or hear a lot of the feelings my aunts, uncles, or cousins have to say when it comes to their home land and America. American is the land of opportunity and a better way of living. Right? In the end of this story it was the happy satisfaction Sonia realized that coming to America was a good change and that being an outsider is a valuable.
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