Latinx Studies

For myself, this class started out as just a requirement for my major as a general elective, but the funny thing about life is that things do not always stay the same and that includes how I view things.  I have really come to enjoy Introduction to Latino/a Cultural Studies.  I see this class as a chance to learn about another race or ethnicity that I would not be able to in my other classes.  The only types of history I know is that of the United States because of elementary school, middle school, and high school.  I barely know anything about my own ethnicity's history... Except for the fact that Spain ruled over the Philippines for like 300 years.  US history is taught as a requirement but it was surprising to learn that Latino/a Studies formed through opposition and strife unlike US history.  I feel that it is wrong to just form a study such as a race's history just because of opposition.  I feel that it is a necessity for those that are descendants of that race, ethnicity, and culture.  According to the reader that was assigned for this class, the second generation will only see culture as optional.  It became apparent as to what good a class such as Latino/a Studies can have on students born in the US thanks to "Precious Knowledge."  The students finally felt like they belonged in the school and community and their grades showed significant improvement thanks to those Ethnic Studies classes.  Classes like these also help outsiders become aware of what happened to those people coming into the states and may even help stimulate people to try and help future generations not suffer the same mistakes.  For me this class opened my eyes to the fact that I need to be grateful to my parents that left their homes and came to the US to give their children a better chance at a life.  I finally understand the pains that my dad went through the 10 years he was here without my mom and the pains my mom felt when she left the Philippines to come to the US.  She had to adapt to an environment where she had to do everything herself unlike in the Philippines where there are nannies for the children and the household chores.  My mom used to tell me about how hard it was especially with a 5 year old daughter, which was my sister.  I wish that there were more classes like Latino/a Studies for those of different backgrounds like myself.  This class opened my eyes to the importance of knowing one's history.  I count as one of those second generation children that tend to see culture as "optional", which I hate to admit.  For all the future generations it is important to teach, preserve, and document one's history so that it is never forgotten.

Borderlands La Frontera The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldua

What separates all the states from each other?  What separates North America from Mexico below it or Canada above it?  To answer those questions, borders.  But what is a border?  According to Gloria Anzaldua, a border is what defines the places that are safe and unsafe and distinguish us from them.  Borders are not usually a problem but there is only one that is... the border that separates North America from Mexico.  At the time this was written, the "Tortilla Curtain" was 1,950 miles long and divided a pueblo and culture.  Not only was it long and unfair but it kept people from reaching a "place of prosperity", which is the United States.  Sometimes these borders create was is called a borderland, which is made by emotional residue of an unnatural border that is always changing.  What made me angry about people talking about a borderland was who they considered to be living there.  Anzaldua pointed out that the inhabitants of a borderland are the prohibited and forbidden, such as those who are squinted-eyed, perverse, queer, troublesome, mongrel, mulato, half-breed, and half-dead.  Also the "legitimate inhabitants" are those in power and whites, and those who align themselves with whites.  Why is there even a division between those who live in the borderlands?  There should not be at all because people are who they are because that is who they choose to be and everyone else should accept others choices. 
Later on in the text, Anzaldua mentioned what happened to the land that originally belong to those Chicanos and Indian landowners.  The fact that people had their land was taken away without a chance of trying to raise the money to keep it made me extremely angry.  Even Mama Locha was not able to be buried next to her husband because her land was taken and the cemetery was locked and trespassers would be shot.  To me that is just sad that they could not even return to their homeland to be buried with their loved ones.  Lands that have been in their families for long periods of time were just gone.  What happened to those landowners after they were taken was even worse in my eyes.  Her father after became a sharecropper that had to give over 40% of his earnings along with the compensation for his loans.  He even had to watch the land that was taken be turned up by fellow Mexicans just to be made into fields for growing a profit.  To me and most definitely for them just watching that must have been heart wrenching.  At this rate, Mexicans had returned home because of no employment but they quickly learned that they had to chose between staying in Mexico and starving or going up North and living.  The result was that they all traveled North but it was not easy.  Sometimes Border Patrol would take those that they found into the woods and shoot them right there.  Those people give up everything to come to the US and lose their lives looking for a chance of a better life.  Those who even do make it do not a better life but they are still living.  All they wanted to do was try to have a better life or provide a better life for their family why would you kill them?!?
What made me feel worse was the treatment of women who wanted to enter the US and did it through a smuggler.  These women were trying to provide for their families but met difficult times where sometimes she would be starved for days and was not even allowed to go to the bathroom and even worse she was raped or sold into prostitution.  She did all this to get to to the US and suffered just horrifying experiences. What this means is a perfect chance for PTSD.  They achieved what they wanted but at such a horrifying price. I feel that the US should do everything in their power to try and prevent such experiences for those trying to come in. 

Spit and Passion by Cristy C. Road

This graphic novel was about a Cuban American, the author, who did not fit in with the mold of her culture and had identified as a different sexual orientation.  She kept her sexuality a secret for many years and found freedom through music, cartoons, etc. 

Questions for the Author:

1. While you still lived at home and the jokes about gay people occurred, how did you feel? 
2. Did you have any internal conflicts with yourself because of how you identified yourself and the way you were raised?
3. When you revealed your sexual orientation to your parents and family, what was their reaction?  Did they support you?
4. Was there ever a time where revealing your sexuality to a group of friends changed the way they interacted with you?  
5. Was there ever a time where you thought you should not have revealed your sexuality?  Do you still think that way today? 
6. What was it about Green Day that appealed to you so much? 

Conceptualizing the Latina Experience in Care Work

I feel that it is important to understand what exactly care work is because I didn't know what it was when I first read those words.  Care work are live-in positions, such as private household workers, nannies, caregivers, maids, etc.  It is basically positions where someone comes and lives in your house to help with household chores or even child care.
Looking back in United States history, these were unpaid positions during the time of slavery.  It is because of slavery that White women were given certain privileges, such as freedom from house work and cooking, to give them time for other things.  Even after slavery, Black women would still travel North in search of higher paying live-in positions in the domestic service.  Japanese American and Mexican Americans shared the same racialized trajectory as the Black women.  It is a fact that the history of domestic service in the United States followed a racial hierarchical hiring pattern in the labor force.  Those positions in domestic service had no job security of benefits making it easier for people to leave the job when jobs outside domestic service become available.  Due to people leaving the positions, Black women and Mexican immigrants were the majority in the occupation.  With them becoming the majority in the occupation, the employers started to hire people based on racialized preferences.  What does it mean to have racialized preferences?  Employers had preferences for women their imagined were good for cleaning, childcare, and live-in positions.  These preferences were constituted based on the immigrants race and ethnicity. 
What is the problem with these preferences though?  Those that are apart of those races and ethnicities were not able to experience upward mobility.  European immigrant women were the only ones that were able to go through upward mobility to other occupations and leave domestic service.  Because of the preferences some jobs have towards race and ethnicity is in my mind ridiculous.  If a person has the work ethic, knowledge of the job, and the qualifications for the job, then they should be hired regardless of their race or ethnicity.  A person's race should not have any leverage or create a disadvantage to getting a job.  Look at what a person can do, their personality, resume, etc. and not their appearance, race, or ethnicity when hiring for a job. 

“Blogueras: Latina Body Image,” Maria Hinojosa, Patricia Valoy and Kassandra Peña

Women of any race or ethnicity have certain goals of what they want to look like in terms of their appearance.  But sometimes practices or beliefs of culture can be the main influence or can complicate things.  For example, Patricia is engaged to an Egyptian man and in their culture having hair on any part of their whether visible or not must be removed.  For someone who was raised in one culture that did not care about those things, it was extremely awkward to bring that topic up.  Other than culture, society and the media has shaped what women should look like and makes women who do not fit the mold self-conscious.   It is not easy to change the way society looks at things but is it possible?  How can someone who comes into contact with a practice of another culture comply with it or avoid it without coming off as rude? 

1. How was Patricia able to handle the situation of removing the hair from all over her body?
2. How do you feel about society’s view on women’s bodies?
3. How do you feel about the current trends for women, such as the thigh gap? 
4. Middle school is when girls start to become obsessed with their appearance, weight, etc.  In your personal opinion, what is the best way to help them see that they are beautiful the way they are?  

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

What are some characteristics that make a person's culture or ethnicity special?  The language, food, literature right?  The two main characteristics that most people remember about a culture is the language and the food though.  If someone was to ask, "What do you know about people who are French?" the answer would most likely be, "They speak French and eat snails."  The same is true of every culture, but is it true that all cultures and their languages are treated with respect in the United States by everyone?
Immigrants that come to the United States come because they want a piece of the American Dream not just for themselves but for their children and future generations.  However, they were not warned of the challenges they would face by coming to the United States.  It is not just financial struggle but emotional and psychological as well.  By coming to the US, they are leaving everything that they know and everyone they love behind.  So they must learn to adapt into the new country somehow, which is called assimilation.  But is complete assimilation always possible?  No right?  Most immigrants that come to the United States want to keep some parts of their culture alive either through the food or even teaching their children the language of their homeland.  Having their children know their "home" tongue is usually something to be proud of but that's usually only for children that are born in the United States.  Here is where the issue comes to light.  What about the children that are born in the home country and brought to the United States with their parents?
Upon arrival to the United States, immigrants start to experience their first issues with being in a new place.  They start to get the feeling that they do not belong, which is usually because they cannot speak English well, they do not have a job, etc.  As a result of those feelings, they try their best to adapt and  become one with the dominant culture sometimes disregarding their own.  They even do the same with their children so they do not experience being judged by their peers if they are in school.  There was a mother in "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" that told her child "I want you to speak English" and was mortified that her child did it like a Mexican.   I understand a parent's want to do this because my mother experienced the same issue with my sister.  In the Philippines, English is taught as a major subject.  My sister left the Philippines at the age of 5 and only received some schooling for English but received a little bit from my parents.  When she arrived to the United States and started going to school, she came home one day with a note for my mom telling her that my sister's teacher wants to meet with her.  At the meeting the teacher told my mom that she needs to stop talking to my sister in Tagalog, which is one of the main languages of the Philippines, because she needs to learn English more than her own language.  For my sister's sake at school my mom did just that, but it got to the point that my sister forgot how to speak Tagalog for years and she had to relearn it from the Filipino movies.  The fact that the teacher told my mom this and it was done to the point that my sister forgot her home language completely makes me feel angry as well as sad.  Tagalog is the language of her home country and is a component of her identity as a Filipino.  How can it be taken away so easily like that?
So to answer the question asked before, is it true that all cultures are treated with respect in the United States by everyone, it is NO.  English is seen as the language of greatest importance in the US.  It is almost as if the other languages are seen as inferior.  According to Gloria Anzaldua, "Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity.  If one cannot take pride in their language, they cannot take pride in themselves."  This as a result leads to low self-esteem.  There are those in the United States that see other people as inferior based on their culture and race.  An example would be Anglo people looking down on those of Latino/a descent because of the stereotypes.  The language Chicano Spanish is even looked down on by those of Latino/a descent as well since it is seen as a poor Spanish.  It is seen as that despite the fact that it is a living language that is always evolving.  The fact that the language is always changing and even creating new types of languages fascinates me and makes me want to learn more.  It makes me upset that people are seeing it as a poor form of Spanish and that it is used by those that are not the "real Chicano/a." I feel that in order for them to feel comfortable in speaking their language they need to know that they are not being judged because of it but instead be told that their language is interesting.  I think that judgement is what creates fear and anxiety when trying to speak their home language.  At the same time I also feel that Chicanas/os must take pride in where they came from and the language.  I feel like the ability to resolved this issue comes from both sides through the understanding of others and a raise in self-esteem by the people themselves.

Precious Knowledge

How is ethnic studies defined?  According to the University of California, Berkley, it is the critical and interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on experiences and perspectives of people of color within and beyond the United States.  From grades 1-12, all students learn about in Social Studies or History is the history of the United States.  It's not a bad thing at all because it is important to learn about how the country was formed, but after some time learning about the same thing over and over again is not always people's favorite thing.  Sometimes students want something new or exciting to learn about; something that they are interested in.  For some they want to learn about where they came from or even their culture because they know nothing about their ethnicity and culture.  From what I have learned, when families decide to come to the United States they do so hoping for better opportunities for their children in terms of education.  However, in the process of doing so they need to assimilate to the dominant culture of the country, in this sense American culture.  Due to their want for the promises of the US, they give up their culture in order to fit in and they in turn teach it to their children, while keeping minor traces of their real culture.  As we have learned in previous chapters from the Latino/a Studies Reader, the second generation tend to see their ethnicity as "optional" and only shown when it is convenient.  It is not only the second generation of Latinos/as that experience this but all minorities groups as well. I was born in the US but I am a member of a minority group.  My parents came to the US for the same reasons but made sure to hold on to some aspects of the Filipino culture but I can say for myself that I feel I do not know anything at all about where I came from.  If I had the opportunity to take classes like those provided at Tucson High School, except for Filipinos, I would do it in a heartbeat.  I do believe that it is important to know about how the country we live in was formed but I believe that it is more important to learn about who you are and what makes you... you. 
Watching the documentary Precious Knowledge, made me feel so many emotions that I did not think I would by just watching it.  I understand those students and their love for the classes that they were taking because I know I would feel the same.  Those classes gave those students what they felt they were lacking, which is an understanding of who they really are.  It made them see that they are more than what those stereotypes say they are.  I wish that I could take classes about my ethnicity too.  Those teachers gave them just what they needed like a place where they felt comfortable and like they belonged.  There are not many teachers like that in the world.  While watching Precious Knowledge, I found myself understanding, agreeing, and enjoying what was being taught and how the teacher was teaching his students.  I found myself laughing at the teacher because he made the lessons funny.  From what I saw in the video, the main concern is the dropout rate of the students attending the school but thanks to the ethnic studies classes that began to change.  The students wanted to go to school and were engaged in their studies resulting in graduation and college attendance rates to be averaged at 93%. 
Here's the thing that is just pissing me off beyond belief.  Forgive me for putting it that way I just could not find a better way to express my feelings towards this.  Why would you want to take away a program that has done nothing but help students excel in the classroom and in life?  Why would you want to take away something that engages students in school rather than having them sleep in class or even worse just drop out of class altogether?  Watching the parts with the superintendent and the legislature, made me feel nothing but anger and disgust.  During some of those parts, I had to just pause the video and take my headphones out because I could not believe what I was hearing.  There were some times when I actually yelled.  My mom was in the room with me while I watched it and she kept asking me what's wrong with me cause I yelled.  Just some of the things these government officials said did nothing besides making me mad.  I could not even agree with what they were saying at all.  Some of them said, "Teachers are teaching the kids to hate America", "The classes are anti-American", "Can't plant evil ideas in kids minds and expect healthy outcomes."  Those people have never been inside the class before and listened to what is being taught, so how can they say those things without actually seeing it with their eyes.  Even the one person who accepted the invitation sat there and listened to the view points of the students, who are the ones who will be affected the most from the shut down of the class, but all he could do was point out one thing the teacher or director said.  That teacher was mentioning a fact about Benjamin Franklin, which is most probably not known by others, and called the class anti-American.  He was upset at the fact that the teacher or director "trash talked" a founding father.  Here's the thing though... Do we know everything about the people that helped found America? No absolutely not.  Do we know everything about those founders' lives? No.  Do we know about all the decisions they made? No we do not.  Then what do we know? We know what they did to help found America, in other words all the good things that they did in their lives.  History tells mostly of what was done to positively impact the US but there are things that talked about what negatively impacted the formation of the country as well.  Other than those points nothing else about them was talked about.  So how can that one point of the visit be the main reason for agreeing that the ethnic studies department should be shut down.  Shouldn't he have considered what the students had to say?  Or couldn't he even notice how engaged the students were during that class or how interested they were?  During the discussion the students brought up compelling points, such as the Civil Rights.  The student made asked, "Didn't people disagree with the Civil Rights movement?" and he was not able to give a definite answer because he knew that the student had a point and he could not deny it.  The student compared the Civil Rights Movement to the situation they were in.  Hearing the students do that even though he is a member of government, I felt proud and happy that they were able to do that on live TV. 
Unfortunately the bill was passed that banned schools from having ethnic studies classes.  Even though that happened it did not stop the students, alumni, and community from fighting for what they believed to be true.  It has been 10 years since that video was made and now ethnic studies classes are back in colleges and that are more of them.  This Introduction to Latino/a Cultural Studies class was started due to another class.  Who knows more classes like this may form. 

Refugees or Economic Immigrants? Immigration from Latin America and the Politics of US Refugee Policy

What is one of the main topics seen in today's media?  The multiple policies that President Trump has been putting into place regarding refugees or immigrants entering the country right? But the main question is... What is the difference between the two?  According to the reader, a refugee is a person fleeing a "communist or communist-dominated country."  While an immigrant a person who leaves their homeland to live in a new country because there are better opportunities present. 

Who can be considered a refugee and an immigrant?  Those who can be considered refugees are the Cubans, Chileans, or Central Americans, who had to leave due to the issues developing in their homeland.  Those that are immigrants are like those interviewed in the "Los Que Se Fueron: Interview Exploring the New Migration" because they left their homeland willingly in search of better opportunities for themselves and their family as well.

While reading about the migration of Cubans to the US from the reader, I was in shock.  From what I knew about the United States's relationship with Cuba, I thought that there were no Cubans in the US but I found out that millions were already living here.  I knew that Americans could not go to Cuba or at least avoided going there for reason I did not know.  Based on the reading I felt that only reason why they came was due to the multitude of opportunities that the US could offer only to learn that it was due to Cuban government and leader, which was Castro.  The fact I did not know about how many Cubans were in the US and how they came to live here I feel is a bit concerning because it is a part of US history, so if I do not know it then how many other people do not know about it either... I believe that all parts of US history are important, whether they are good or bad.  The arrival of the Cubans to the US was not a bad thing, in fact, it showed me just how much the US was willing to help those in need at the time.  The US gave large amounts of money towards the resettlement of the Cubans in the US and even tried to help send them home if that is what they wanted. Not knowing things like this just shows how much classes or courses like Introduction to Latino/a Cultural Studies is needed.  If it were not for this class, I do not know when I could have learned about this part of history.  

However, reading about how the Chileans and those from Central America were treated by their homelands made me extremely upset and almost brought tears to my eyes. According to the reading, many of those that left were seen as "exiles" and not immigrants but in reality I see them as refugees.  Due to their governments, they were afraid to return home on the grounds that they could be imprisoned or even worse murdered because they do not agree with the government.  I cannot agree with this.  Not everyone will agree to whatever the government thinks so does that mean that those people are threats?  Does that mean that they should be thrown out of the only home they've known and be placed in a completely new place?  In my opinion, NO.  Despite these fears, the US tried to welcome these frightened people in with open arms. But when the government would not do anything else, the media kept all the issues regarding the Chilean refugees front and center sparking anger in the people thus causing the government to act.  I can't say that I am not pleased about the turn out in that case, but I wish that the government would just keep going with its efforts instead of stopping and letting the pressure cause them to start again. 

Although I cannot agree with some of the actions of the government, I can understand why it can be strict or unfair.  Unfortunately with the surge of immigrants coming into the US it is hard to keep track and sometimes there can be hidden agendas or those that are entering for bad reasons.  Sometimes those reasons can be considered a threat to national security, which is why measures were heightened after 9/11.  It was after this event that it was necessary to see if those entering the country had a "credible fear" of being sent back.  

Chapter 7 - Latino/a Cultural Expression

The term "Latino/a" may have some social, political, psychological, and cultural functions like it says in the book but I am on the fence about using "Latino/a" for everyone.  There is more than one type of Spanish speaking nationality in the world, such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican etc.  so I do not feel that it is right to call all of them "Latino/a." I understand the Latinx communities concerns. There are different islands that make up the country of the Philippines and those people from those different islands do not like to be called Filipino but would rather be called by the island they come from. For example, if someone is from the island of Ilocos, they do not like to be called Filipino but rather be called Ilocano.
Reading this section of the textbook, I could not help but feel a little bit upset. Having to leave your homeland because you were forced, just like with the Spaniards during the Spanish Civil War, is hard enough but coming to a new place and trying to assimilate into the new culture is another obstacle that can bring on anxiety and even depression. But even though it was upsetting, I could not help but feel proud of the Latinx communities as well because they did not just accept the racism and prejudice from the dominant group but did everything they could to make their voice heard.  The way the Latino/a writers put out there how those in the Latinx communities felt, in my mind was a perfect way to show the world that there is more than one Spanish nationality out there. Not only is the world informed of the different nationalities, but it gives insight into the problems that these multiple nationalities are facing.  It also shows about how the Latinx communities are aware that there were other communities having the same problem so they set the differences in their cultures aside and decided to work together in order make their issues, like with civil rights, known.  It was not just through writings that these issues were addressed, it was even seen through the arts as well as music.  Sometimes it is not for some to read about things like this, but being able to interact with it through music and arts helps others understand more.  I do not know about others but I tend to understand things better through music.
Even though there are still problems apparent with the Latinx community, I believe that as the cultural studies regarding the community develop everyone is understand the issues and try to help in anyway possible.  I feel really happy and proud of the Latinx community for the steps they have been taking so far to make their concerns heard.  I know for a fact that by reading this text I understand the concerns and feel anger as well as sadness towards what they are facing, especially those that are hybrid "Latinos/as."