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Model Midterm2 answers 2018 Web Highlights Index to Midterm2 Web Highlights |
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Justin Murphy
Mexican-Americans’ Assimilation as
Cultural Hybridity
When approaching the web highlights assignment this time
around, I decided to focus on the idea of Mexican-Americans as being this group
of “ambivalent minorities.” I wanted to focus in on this part of the
Mexican-American identity to really try and see how they assimilated into
America after being conquered. What I found through my reading of Kimberly
Loza’s “The Border People,” Emily Newsome’s “Ambivalence in Mexican American
Culture,” and Blanca Castellanos’ “The Virgen of Guadalupe as an Example of
Cultural Hybridity” is that Mexican-Americans are minorities, and they
assimilate but still maintain that aspect of culture to their identity, thus
making them ambivalent.
In Kimberly Loza’s research report from
2016, she focuses in on the border people whom she refers to as
Mexican-Americans. In her report, she refers to the saying “we didn’t cross the
border, the border crossed us.” This saying has a lot of merit to it because
when the United States went to war with Mexico over the land currently known as
Texas, all the people who identified as Mexican were immediately now labeled as
American. The border was shifted after the loss of the Mexican-American War.
This is what makes Mexican-Americans a minority group of the United States. Much
like Native Americans, the land that they occupied was previously unconquered by
American peoples. Loza shows that Mexican-Americans “should be considered as an
immigrant but, as a minority as well” due to the border culture. This border
culture is then what makes them considered as an ambivalent minority, because
they were forced to become a minority in America.
In terms of how Mexican-Americans begin
to assimilate into American culture, Blanca Castellanos does a great job in her
research post talking about the Virgen of Guadalupe in terms of cultural
hybridity. Cultural hybridity is the blending of two or more cultures, as
described by Castellanos. The Virgen is a representation of cultural hybridity
because it is a mix of European and Native American religions, referred to as
syncretism. What I find the most interesting of Castellanos’ post is her use of
personal narrative to explain the assimilation of Mexican-Americans. Castellanos
describes learning about the Virgen as “the dark-skinned Virgen” from her
family. She also mentions how her family is a mix of “Latin music, Alan Jackson,
enchiladas, and crawfish” which shows how her family has assimilated to the
southern culture of Texas, but still maintains their traditional Latino
background. This assimilation is done to fit in with culture without taking away
from their heritage. The Virgen of Guadalupe is a wonderful example of how
cultures can blend together, and as Castellanos describes, can be taught to
other types of people. By giving this personal narrative, Castellanos showed me
and example of the ambivalent minority and that assimilation is still a thing
that Mexican-Americans are doing, and that assimilation can look different for
different families.
What Emily Newsome’s essay on the
ambivalent minority does for me is that it confirms my theory of why
Mexican-Americans are considered to be an ambivalent minority. In her essay, she
states that being forced to become a part of America and assimilate to their
culture while still maintaining their own culture is what makes them ambivalent.
What is interesting is how she relates this to Bless Me Ultima by saying the
“ambivalence is not a bad thing.” The quote she uses describes how every person
is part of their past, and that they cannot escape it. This is interesting as it
shows a possible reason for why Mexican-Americans are ambivalent. If they
assimilate to the dominant culture, but still maintain their own culture, they
find no need to throw a big ruckus. They have become (more or less) comfortable
with the identity that they have created as Mexican-Americans.
From the three model assignments that I
examined, I have learned about the ambivalence of the Mexican-Americans. I have
been enlightened as to why Mexican-Americans should be considerd as a minority
group (their loss of land in war), how they assimilate (through Castellanos’
personal narrative), and why they could be ambivalent (because of the blending
of the cultures). I find it fitting that Newsome speaks about cultural hybridity
without specifically naming it. The blending of Mexican culture with American
culture is in and of itself an example of cultural hybridity.
