In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans,” Rodriguez main claim is that race can be defined by one’s community. In “A View From the Melting Pot: An Interview With Richard Rodriguez,” by Scott London, Rodriguez mentions that he grew up categorized as Hispanic, but, throughout time, when he left the place he called “home” he developed to a different race, eventually categorizing himself as Chinese. Rodriguez’s claim is supported by “Some Hispanics have too easily accustomed themselves to impersonating a third race, a great new third race in America.” Rodriguez is implying that based on someone 's community or surroundings, it reflects into a race. For instance, Rodriguez now considers himself Hispanic because he
With Ruiz, the melting pot did not welcome him for his outer appearance comparing to his friend Valdes. Their “friendship was cemented through school and sport. They stood up for each other against troublemakers” (Ojito, 2000), but they now hold two different lives due to the color of their skin. Although sharing the same ethnicity, the colors of their appearance separate the two best friends. In other words, by biological mean, they are “differentiated by physical characteristics”
In Richard Rodriguez’s article, “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans”, he states using race as a basis for identifying Americans is not valid, culture should be what defines a person. For example in the essay Rodriguez states, “I am Chinese and that is because I live in a Chinese city” (91). This indicates that just because he is categorized as Hispanic it does not define who he really is, since he is saying that since he grew up in a Chinese culture and he knows more about Chinese cultures than he knows about his own family culture. Rodriguez defines himself Chinese also because he grew up the Chinese way and not the Hispanic way, but deep down Rodriguez knows his race is actually Hispanic but he rather define himself as Chinese because
Richard Rodriguez essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” reveals Rodriguez’s attitudes towards race and ethnicity as they relate to personal identity. An evidence to support Richard Rodriguez’s claim in this section is when he says “ I am chinese, and that is because I live in a chinese city and because i want to be chinese”. (163-165) This evidence reveals, rodriguez point that ethnicity has nothing to do with race . He says that a person can choose their ethnicity based on the way they want to act and on things they want to be value. Rodriguez got used to the differences and actually started to like them.
Richard Rodriguez’s claim about a person's identity is the using race as a basis for identifying Americans is not valid; culture should be what defines a identity. Richard Rodriguez says that newcomers were being “welcomed within a new community for reasons of culture. “ (136-137). Richard Rodriguez says that newcomers were welcomed when they were identified by their culture. Richard Rodriguez also says “I am Chinese, and that is because I live in a Chinese city and I want to be Chinese.“
Nguyen, Vincent Mrs.Allan Journey for Justice 5 October, 2016 “Race Politics” by luis j. Rodriguez is piece of writing that is based off of an event that happened in his childhood. I believe that it is about how segregation and how kids learn about it at a young age. Luis Rodriguez used connotation,denotation,and syntax. In Luis Rodriguez poem “Race Politics” line 26-26 it states “we entered forbidden narrow line of hate.
The video introduces the idea of “in between people. These in between people were of European Decent and could be transformed into Americans by Americanizing them into the White American. They would be apart of a term known as the “melting pot”. A melting of all European Descent to mold them into Americans. Italians, Germans and other European could be apart of the American way of life by being taught the language and customs.
Written by Carlos Fuente, “The Old Gringo” is a novel portraying the story of an old man who travels across borders and builds relationships. The man is an American who has traveled all over the United States. He has made explorations from the eastern border of the country to the western border, crossing many state lines to do so. Not only did the Old Gringo cross physical boarders, but he also crossed several relational borders. His crossing of borders was beneficial in some cases but harmful in some ways as well.
Immigration is deeply rooted in the American culture, yet it is still an issue that has the country divided. Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco, in their essay, “How Immigrants Became ‘Other’” explore the topic of immigration. They argue that Americans view many immigrants as criminals entering America with the hopes of stealing jobs and taking over, but that this viewpoint is not true. They claim that immigrants give up a lot to even have a chance to come into America and will take whatever they can get when they come. The Suarez-Orozco’s support their argument using authority figures to gain credibility as well as exemplification through immigrant stories.
Upon reading the selections The Myth of the Melting Pot, Gentrification, and How Immigrants Became Other, one notices a shocking trend: The “land of the free,” isn't really what it claims to be. From ideas of white supremacy, to heterogenous cultural mixtures that result in only one uniform product, to the rejection of outsiders, America is not the melting pot that it has pretended to be for centuries. Ever since the founding of the colonies, so-called Americans have never been truly and intimately intertwined. As one peels away the facade, it becomes evident that citizens in this great land favor sweeping differences under the rug rather than facing them, keeping shame in the dark, and inferiority and superiority mounted on the wall. Who sings
Reading “Se Habla Español” showed that it hard to fit in when the environment that she was around was different from herself. For instance Tanya Barrientos wrote, “But in my case it was what kept me apart, I felt awkward among groups whose conversation flowed in and out of Spanish. . . I wanted to call myself Latina, to finally take pride, but it felt like a lie.” (Barrientos page 716.) In this, she explained that she didn’t feel like she belonged in her culture fully.
“The virtual personas of Latino immigrants (represented as a threat to the nation) make the authority that has accumulated for real immigrants in their role as workers and consumers vanish” (Chavez 47). In the public eye Latinos are depicted as noncompliant and dangerous citizens and noncitizens of the United States. “The virtual lives of ‘Mexicans,’ ‘Chicanos,’ ‘illegal aliens,’ and ‘immigrants’ become abstractions and representations that stand in the place of real lives” (Chavez 47). It is depressing to understand that the majority of the United States strictly sees Latinos as these distorted images. At the end of the day each individual’s life matters, we all need to become more compassionate for one another.
Deborah Pacini Hernandez wrote a book titled Oye Como Va!, which she explains about hybridity and identity. According to the book, she is associate professor of Anthropology and American studies at Tufts University. She has written other books on Spanish-language music, such as Bachata: A Social History of Dominican Popular Music and Reggaeton and Rockin’ Las Americas: The Global Politics of Rock in Latin/o America. This to an extent allows me to consider Hernandez an authoritative source for my topic. Hernandez goes over hybridity, which is “the mixture of two or more dissimilar elements” (1).
societies in the world. These sub-cultures include Whites, African Americans, Asians, Irish, Latino, and European among others. Chicano refers to the identity of Mexican-American descendant in the United State. The term is also used to refer to the Mexicans or Latinos in general. Chicanos are descendants of different races such as Central American Indians, Spanish, Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans.
THE FATHER, THE SON, AND LA CHINGADA: THE TRINITY OF THE CONQUEST ‘Lo Mexicano’ is a phrase-turned-concept in 20th century Mexican philosophy. The term literally translates to “the Mexican,” however, it is also used to superficially describe the identity of the Mexican individual. The notion came about after the revolution; the phrase was meant to emphasize and unite Mexico as an independent people. Today, the phrase is understood as an all encompassing term for “mexicanness,” or that which makes someone a true mexican.
New York is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse cities in the world and therefore many people consider it to be a great melting pot. However, considering the origins of the term “melting pot” this claim can be disputed. In his play The Melting Pot (1908) famous British author Israel Zangwill used the term “melting pot” as a metaphor to describe a fusion of nationalities, cultures and ethnicities. Even tough New York City is indeed very ethnically diverse, with respect to the actual mixing of ethnicities it is not as fused as often thought because in reality the city is still very segregated with many neighborhoods dominated by a single ethnic group. As Mireya Navarro, housing reporter for the New York Times, points out: “New