Introduction Thesis: Through Valdez’s conscientious usage of racial stereotypes and satirical social criticism, he targets the American government as a result of its enmity and prejudice towards Mexican-Americans. Valdez utilizes the stereotypes to highlight on the social conflict between the brutal American powers and the poverty stricken Mexican-Americans; thus, he satirizes how in truth, the American government is a ludicrous robot that does not fathom the gravity for equal rights. Valdez utilizes a satirical tone, understatement, and hyperbole to depict the corruption of power of the American regime against Latinos. Thus, he exemplifies how Mexican-Americans are equal human beings; they are not slaves nor animals, and the Mexican-American …show more content…
The stereotypes consist of a farm-worker, thug, hopeless romantic, and an educated Mexican-American; hence, they portray the perception of Americans that led to their oppression. Cohesively revealing how Mexican-Americans are thought to have no apparent emotional or intellectual life and that they live for intensive labor, crime, romanticized ideals, and highly submissive and ignorant. Quotation: “Do you see these little holes on his arms that appear to be pores?...these holes emit a certain grease that allows our model to slip and slide right through the crop with no trouble at all” (1199). Quotation: “This is our fast-back model. Streamlined. Built for speed, low-riding, city life...And here’s a feature no city model can be without. He gets arrested, but not without resisting, of course” (1200). Quotation: “He rides horses, stays in the mountains, crosses deserts, plains, rivers, leads revolutions, follows revolutions, kills, can be killed, serves as a martyr, hero, movie star” (1202). Second …show more content…
Don’t you speak English?...I’m a secretary from Governor Reagan’s office, and we’re looking for a Mexican type for the administration” (1198). Quotation: “This is Honest Sancho’s Used Mexican Lot, and we got all types here. Any particular type you want?”(1198). Third body Topic Sentence: By maintaining a satirical tone and using understatement and hyperbole in the dialog, Valdez illuminates the significant role that Mexican-Americans must fulfill to address racism and the plight of the less fortunate. Furthermore, he elucidates the revolutionary movement that must be carried out in order to gain victory against their prejudice in America. Quotation: “The problems of a Mexican stem from one thing and one thing only: he’s stupid. He’s uneducated. He needs to stay in school. He needs to be ambitious, forward-looking, harder-working. He needs to think American...God bless America!” (1204). Quotation: “¡Viva la raza! ¡Viva la causa! ¡Viva la huelga! ¡Vivan los brown berets! ¡Vivan los estudiantes!” (1206). Quotation: “The REVOLUCIONARO goes over to SANCHO, removes his derby hat and cigar, lifts him up and throws him over his shoulder...He’s the best model we got! ¡Ajúa!”
...e live seem to be too dangerous for them to fell happy. However, they are against the evil and violence, ignorance and lie. Corchado is quite unsure about the future of Mexico, but he also sees that these people are strong willed and they have chance to make some change in the way they live. He doesn’t pay attention to politics, instead of that he relies solely on people, their courage and strong will. We should all be so strong enough to change, what we want to change, and preserve what we need to preserve. Alfredo Corchado showed us the example of how brave hearted a person should be and how much we should all love our motherland. After reading this book, you won’t remain ignorant about Mexico and the journalism in general.
This is critical for the readers to know the show the bias, injustice, and premeditated ignorance of the United States educational system. It also demonstrates that Chicano Studies is not important regardless of the Hispanic population in this supposed “free” country. It seems as if the Chicano Studies was made only to fail by keeping it under funded and understaffed. By doing so, it has an affect on keeping away good scholars to maintain the historical development of Hispanics in the United States as well as its own history.
The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly captures a Mexico in its true light.
She explains how Mexican and Chicano literature, music, and film is alienated; their culture is considered shameful by Americans. They are forced to internalize their pride in their culture. This conflict creates an issue in a dual culture society. They can neither identify with North American culture or with the Mexican culture.
Novas, Himilce. "Dolores Huerta." The Hispanic 100: A Ranking of the Latino Men and Women
The essay compares the Mexican American struggle to the African American struggle and even points out how some Mexican Americans did not want to join in the fight the get legal protection for the fear of being on the same level as an African American 12[12]. The student’s essay recognizes that although Hernandez was clearly guilty his lawyer Gus Garcia was fighting for the over all civil rights of Mexican American people when it came to trial by jury. The article further
In “Like Mexican” when Gary announced he fell in love with a Japanese girl his family did not immediately accept the good news Gary thought it to be. Gary’s grandmother wanted him to marry an “Okie” (People different from his own culture.) The false assumption from Gary’s family led to disbelief and hesitation, but Gary realizes that one defined by their race and ethnicity does not determine who you are and your financial situation (Soto 280). In the end Gary Soto managed to be “different” and didn’t follow his Mexican stereotypes. No matter what race, country, ethnicity people are that people can also have similar financial status and living environment was the lesson he learned from his experience. In contrast, Deborah Tannen’s “Gender in the Classroom” conducts surveys and observations by splitting the students into “degree programs they were in, one by gender, and one by conversational style.” The four foreign, male students “spoke in class at least occasionally.”(Tannen 286). Although, it was particularly hard for the Japanese woman to speak in an all female-based group, because the woman was so “overwhelmed” by the change of atmosphere; She was surprised by the other, quiet and shy women to be so talkative and loud. “The differing ethics” from the varied backgrounds led to Tannen’s experiment as a success. Tannen also learned a lesson from her surveys. She thought that “everyone’s style changes in response to the context and other’s styles” no
"Mexican Labor Dearth Feared,” Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles), May 6, 1931, http:www.proquest.com, (Accessed December 7, 2013).
reminded that he should marry his own kind. His own kind being one of Mexican
“I know I’m a Mexican, but I know that I was born and raised here and I consider myself strictly American. And anybody asks me what’s my nationality---I’m a Mexican, but I’m still and American. And I’ll Fight for America and regardless of who its is.” (Pete Arias)
Martínez, Elizabeth Sutherland. 1998. De Colores Means all of us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century. U.S.: South End Press.
Crouch, Ned. Mexicans & Americans : Cracking The Cultural Code. NB Publishing, Inc., 2004. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
Montoya, Margret E. "Masks and Identify," and "Masks and Resistance," in The Latino/a Condition: A Critical Reader New York: New York University Press, 1998.
In the book Drink Cultura by Jose Antonio Burciaga talks about how it is not easy to get into one place and get anything you want in this world or something you wish for, but it’s something you have to work for, like any other person. It also explains how it is being an immigrant, and how it is to grow up in the United States as in immigrant and how had it is, and the obstacles that as in immigrant we have to overcome. Antonio Burciaga specifically talks in his book the Chicano history, the language that we speak as a person, the family values and how we as a Chicano stick together. One quote of Burciaga is “Naces pendejo, mueres pendejo --- You were born a pendejo and you will die a pendejo (Burciaga10)”. This particular quote caught my attention because the author gives you a taste of what he experienced, and what kind of language they used. “When the wells of emotion are filled only by resentment, a crying sense of injustice, racist, affronts, deliberately designed frustrations to personal development and social worthiness (Burciaga131)”. This quote talks about how we as Chicanos have the motivation by bringing in our passion from the past, but as soon as someone brings that wall down of us having that one positive outcome, we can go into a lot of resentment towards other people, and think to ourselves at some point that we are worthiness. In chapter “The Motherland” the author talks about the pride people take about being Latinos, he talks about being back in Mexico and how it’s all so different once you’ve lived on the other side, a quote that gives you a mental picture would be “Many white Euro-Mexican will shrug their shoulders, declare they are 100 percent Mexican do not partition or categorize their ancestry. On the contr...
..., "Major Problems In Mexican American History" The Mexican Immigrant Experience, 1917-1928, Zaragosa Vargas (233)