Reader: Brooke Connealy

Respondent: Mary Cardenas

5 October 2000

"So Mexicans are Taking Jobs from Americans"

by

Jimmy Santiago Baca

Unsettling America, pp. 115-116

Jimmy Santiago Baca was born in 1952 and currently lives in Albuquerque. Of Chicano and Apache Indian descent, Baca lived with a grandparent after his parents abandoned him at the age of two. He soon was sent to an orphanage and was reduced to a life on the street of abusing drugs and alcohol. He later was sent to prison on drug possession. Baca, an ex-convict who taught himself to read while in prison, received his G.E.D. there. Most of the poems that he writes deal with spiritual rebirth and triumph over tragedy. One critic said about Baca, "Baca's poetry is to a large degree infused with elements drawn from his experiences, and struck by the recurrent themes of transformation, metamorphosis, and self-actualization." Baca received many awards including the American Book Award for poetry in 1988 and the National Hispanic Heritage Award in 1989.

1. Objective 3c Mexican American alternative narrative "The Ambivalent

Minority"

2. Objective 1b "Voiceless and Choiceless"

1. The dominant culture fears the minority culture and results in

prejudice.

2. The minority culture experiences anger from the minority culture.

3. Minority culture is just trying to survive and get ahead.

1. Imagery

2. Conversational

1. What does Baca mean when he says at the end of the poem that "What they really say is let them die, and the children too"?

Sylvia spoke first and said that we have low paying jobs and you are telling us we can't even dream of anything better because it's like stealing from you. Then Dr. White added that age is significant and that the white culture is referred to as an aging culture vs. the children who come with the Mexicans. Stephen added that a picture of a white guy being replaced, taking the jobs they don't want. They feel like they are being phased out and are taking it out on minority. Next, August said he feels really unwanted, the dominant culture deosn't even care about them feeding their family. Dr. White then mentioned that wages and inflation have been held down as a result of immigrants. Phyllis added that it is ironic because the people can't move up even after taking low-paying jobs. Who is taking advantage of whom?