Francisco X. Alarcon, wrote the poem”Mexican is Not a Noun”’ in 2002. He dedicated it to the forty-six UC Santa Cruz students and seven faculty members that arrested for showing solidarity with two thousand cannery workers, who were mainly Mexican women (Alarcon,2002). I believe Alarcon structured his poem to make it seem as if it’s standing tall, by the way he made the stanzas short, but stacked. There are thirty lines, as the way that it’s written, but yet it’s such a short poem. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica,(2017), Mexican is an adjective or a noun, and it describes someone who is of Mexican descent. “An adjective is a word that typically serves as a modifier of a noun to denote a quality of the thing named “(Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2017). “A noun is a word that is the name of something that is typically used in a sentence as subject or object of a verb” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2017). This makes the title of the poem seem ironic, as it states “Mexican is Not a Noun”, but Mexican is the subject of the title. …show more content…
In Alarcon’s second stanza, he states,” Mexican is a lifelong low-paying job”(6-10). Mexican’s are generally taken advantage of due to their immigration status and paid at very low-wages. They are mistreated the majority of their lives, “as language poses a barrier to many immigrants seeking to obtain benefits”(Njenga, 2016). “A check mark on the welfare police form”(11-15). According to Walsh, (1999), “n the 1920s, the real problem for growers lay not in the fact that Mexicans relied on the relief system, but in the fact that they did so where they were visible”. This is in reference to the seasonal farm laborers that come to the United States every
‘A Fabricated Mexican’ is a novel by Ricky Rivera in which he chronicles his life as he grows from a child farm worker to a Ph.D. candidate. He takes us through his journey in his search for his personal identity. In the book we find that his journey has not been an easy one. This difficult journey is due to many factors, most importantly the people who have surrounded him during this journey.
In his book, “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” author Tomás Rivera documents through a fictional non-traditional novel, the life experiences of a child that endured many difficulties, he describes the hope, struggles, and tragedies of the Mexican-American migrant workers in the 40s and 50s, and how they travel from home to work to survive. The book’s focus is in Texas, although other areas are mentioned throughout the United States. Divided into 14 different short stories and 13 vignettes the author records the predicament of the Mexican-American migrant workers in Texas and explains how the migrants had to overcome constant discriminatory actions by the White Americans and endure difficult living situations because of poverty as well as unsatisfactory job
In a story of identity and empowerment, Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem “Borderbus” revolves around two Honduran women grappling with their fate regarding a detention center in the United States after crawling up the spine of Mexico from Honduras. While one grapples with their survival, fixated on the notion that their identities are the ultimate determinant for their future, the other remains fixated on maintaining their humanity by insisting instead of coming from nothingness they are everything. Herrera’s poem consists entirely of the dialogue between the two women, utilizing diction and imagery to emphasize one’s sense of isolation and empowerment in the face of adversity and what it takes to survive in America.
“We all use stereotypes all the time, without knowing it. We have met the enemy of equality, and the enemy is us,” quoted by Annie Murphy Paul, a journalist. Human beings typically have varied mindsets as they grow up with different cultural values as well as social environment. Author Gary Soto’s “Like Mexican” compares his Mexican life with his wife’s Japanese background, while author Deborah Tannen’s “Gender in the Classroom” contrasts the “gender-related styles” of male and female students. From the two perspectives Soto’s and Tannen’s experiences’ give a universal, stereotypical point how different gender tendencies, conversational styles, and cultural background can result in a miscommunication of one’s behavior.
Literary magazines were not remotely interested in publishing Gilb’s stories, which focus primarily on the professional and personal struggles of working-class Mexican Americans. But his unapologetic stories about working-class Mexican Americans have made him a voice of his people (Reid130). Gilb’s short stories are set vividly in cites of the desert Southwest and usually feature a Hispanic protagonist who is good-hearted but often irresponsible and is forever one pink slip or automotive breakdown away from disaster (Reid130).
The Mexican Migrant Farm Workers’ community formed in Southern California in the 20th century because of two factors that came together: farming emphasized by migrations like the Okie farmers from the East and Mexicans “imported” to the U.S. because of the need for cheap labor as a replacement of Americans during World War II. The migrant labor group formed after an already similar group in the U.S had been established in California, the American farm workers from the East, known as the Okies. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s caused the movement of the Okies to the West and was followed by the transition from American dominant farm labor to Mexican migrant labor. The Okies reinforced farming in California through the skills they took with them, significant to the time period that Mexicans arrived to California in greater numbers. However, the community was heightened by World War II from 1939 to 1945, which brought in immigrants to replace Americans that left to fight in the battlefields. Robin A. Fanslow, archivist at the Library of Congress, argues that because of World War II, “those who were left behind took advantage of the job opportunities that had become available in [the] West Coast” (Fanslow). Although some Mexican migrants already lived in the U.S prior to this event, a vast majority arrived at the fields of California specifically to work as farmers through the Bracero Program, created because of the Second World War. Why the Second World War and not the First World War? WWII urgently demanded labor and Mexico was the United States’ closest resource. Although WWI also caused the U.S. to have a shortage of labor; at the time, other minorities dominated, like the Chinese and Japanese.
aloud because she is not the only one who is facing this problem aslo there is many people who
It did not matter if a laborer lost a finger, the only thing that mattered to the businessmen was making more money. This was how life was working in the factory and it shows that the industries are taking advantage of the immigrants and forcing the less fortunate to work in deplorable circumstances.
The migrants came from the midwest, in search of a job. The foreign workers came from different countries, such as China, Japan, Mexico, and the Philippines. The demand for peon workers was increasing dramatically, foreign workers were just what the farmers needed. The foreign workers were also treated much worse than the migrants. They worked for little pay, but there was not really another way they could get money. The migrants were paid more, possibly because they are foreign born. When foreign workers came to the United States, they had to adapt to the languages, traditions, wages, etc. As for the migrant workers, they were raised in the United States, so they have a better understanding of how to live. Foreign workers had a very poor standard of living and often faced discrimination. In The Harvest Gypsies, the first sentence of the sixth article is, “ The history of California’s importation and treatment of foreign labor is a disgraceful picture of greed and cruelty.” Steinbeck had a strong belief that foreign workers were treated different from migrants, which is true. Another example is when the article talks about how the whites could not compete with the foreign workers anymore. “ Mexicans were imported in large number, and the standard of living they were capable of maintaining depressed the wages for farm labor to a point where the white could not compete.” This quote is saying that the wages and standard of living got so low, that whites gave up on trying to get a job in the fields. Some may say that the migrants and foreign workers were treated very similar, but this is untrue. They both had to live in very poor conditions, but the foreign workers had it much harder than the
I was born in Mexico and raised in beautiful San Diego since the age of four. Coming to the United States at a very young age I had to face many challenges that have shaped me to the person that I am today. I consider myself a Chicana woman who has overcome the obstacles to get were I am know. Being raised in a Mexcian household has thought me to embrace my culture and its roots. The Spanish and native blood that is with in me remind me of many Americans today. The reason I consider my self Chicana is because of the similar background that I shared with many Americans today. Living in the U.S. I have learned to adapt and embraced the American culture so much so that it came a point of life were I struggled to find my own identity. Taking
As mentioned previously war time creates hardships and sometimes those hardships are difficult to recover from. The outcome of the Mexican Revolution included millions of peasants being killed. Marentes describes peasants as hard-working, highly skilled agricultural labors. With the loss of so many peasants the harvest became scarce and many were lacking work. The Mexican government was unable to replenish resources and improve the way of life in Mexico causing ...
In the late 1700’s, Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur in his “Letters from an American Farmer” wrote letters to Europeans enticing them to come to America which he described as a land of opportunity with a generous government. In particular, he painted a rosy picture in America for laborers whom, he said, would be well taken care of by their employers and paid well. However, a study of farm laborers in America from the 1930’s to the present reveals farm workers’ difficulties in achieving Crevecoeur’s promise.
Migrant workers have the stereotype of hard workers that are desperate for money. They are usually not very well educated. Most of them were strong but some weren't. Take Lennie and George for example. George wasn't very strong but was smart and Lennie was strong but dumb as a fence post. Like Lennie and George, all migrant workers wanted their own land to farm. They had few possessions and were independent. The workers liked to cuss a lot, get drunk on Friday nights, and were usually very poor.
What is culture? Many people ask themselves this question every day. The more you think about it the more confusing it is. Sometimes you start leaning to a culture and then people tell you you’re wrong or they make you feel like a different person because of your culture. I go through this almost every day. Because of the way I was raised I love Mexican rodeo but I was born and raised in Joliet. This can be very difficult trying to understand culture. I live in this huge mix of culture. Culture is personal. People can have many cultures especially in America and because of globalization. Cultural identity is not one or the other, it is not Mexican or American. Cultural identity is an individual relevant thing.
This was known as Yo Soy Joaquin/I am Joaquin. This poem is about Joaquin who is Mexican, American, and a native that is rejected by the dominant society. He defines the principle of being a Chicano. It talks about how dominant cultures have try wash away the native culture from people who don’t know what to identify themselves. In the poem, Joaquin represents the Chicanos who have no clue about their ancestors and history from their native culture. The poem was meant to influences and inform the Chicanos from that period of time and the future ones about the cultural history that was never taught to them while growing up. It seems like the education systems were trying to censor us from learning about our culture and making it seem not worth for us. The poem "Yo Soy Joaquin" could relate to "whats a Mexican" because Olga tries to keep her distance from her Chicana culture. Anywhere she went her culture followed her around. She was embarrassed by the fact that she was teased because she had an accent and she didn't look Mexican. Olga eventually accepted her Mexican roots because she went to Mexico and realize that Mexicans all look different and that they aren't all the same. So, Olga wasn't embarrassed anymore and end up have pride in her Mexican