|
Sample Student final exam answers 2016 (2016 final exam assignment) Part 3: Model Research Reports |
LITR 4340
|
 |
Kim Loza
Dancing along the Border
After going through my research, I have learned so much about Mexican-American
culture in connection with the “Border Culture”. This connection is what
determines if Mexican-Americans are to be considered a minority, an immigrant,
or a mixture of both. I have come to learn that it is a combination of both and
that is due to Border Culture. Like I have said before I always remember my Dad
saying that “we did not cross the border. the border crossed us”. This is
something that I still truly believe in today because it is my very own sense of
border culture. I wanted to learn about this idea because it is a part of my
heritage, it gives me that sense of where I come from. It made me question, is
my family considered immigrants or a minority so, that is why I wanted to learn
so much about border culture and how it connects to whether if Mexican-Americans
are to be considered a minority, an immigrant, or a mixture of both.
In my continued research I have found so many great works that explain this idea
of border culture also know as the “Third Nation”. Michael Dear’s “Third
Nation”: along the US-Mexico border talks about this very same idea in which
he focuses on the way we should view border culture and how it affects the
people that are a part of this culture. One thing that stood out to me in my
research which, is something that I have discussed in the past is that he talks
about a sign in New Mexico that reads “Es una frontera, no una barrera” which
means this is a border, not a barrier. This is something that I have taken away
from this research which it supports that Mexican-Americans should be classified
as both immigrant and minority. They do not let the border define them. To them
it is just an imaginary line not a barrier to keep them out. Dear also talks
about this within his research in which he states, “I call the spaces between
Mexico and the US a ‘third nation.’ It’s not a sovereign state, I realize, but
it contains many of the elements that would otherwise warrant that title, such
as a shared identity, common history, and joint traditions. Border dwellers on
both sides readily assert that they have more in common with each other than
with their host nations” (Dear, 2013). In this one moment of his research he is
basically saying that we should bridge the gap because Mexican and Americans
share commonalities that make us not so different. Our customs are what should
make us easily assimilate to eat other and not try to categorizes Latinos. They
are to be viewed as a mixture just like that of the people of the Third Nation.
Some other research that learned a lot from when it came to how the use of
border culture bridges the gap between these two different cultures. In the
article, Transformations of La Familia on the U.S.-Mexico Border by
Raquel R. Márquez. This article was so helpful to my research because because I
really liked seeing how she focuses on getting over this struggle between these
states when implementing their borders harshly. Marquez explains that “the
U.S.-Mexico border is in many ways a unique space where family ties, Mexican and
U.S. policies, and the Spanish and English languages are central components of
everyday life. The borderlands is a place where families negotiate identities
while interacting within changing social, political, and economic dynamics”
(Marquez, 2008). It implements a form of culture that is the best way to bridge
the gap between nations is through the use of language and communication.
We are not separate but, we are a mixture as well as “one”. I look back on my
research and there is quote that I wrote myself in which I discuss that “this is
something that I really want to focus on myself being a Mexican American because
I don’t identify as one. I am proud of both of my cultures. So, I feel that in
relation to whether Mexican Americans are viewed as either immigrants or a
minority I feel that they should be classified as both” (Loza, 2016). Some
Mexicans have been in this country their whole lives but, some have come over to
achieve that sense of n American Dream because it is not something that they
just strive for themselves but, for their families too.
I have done further research since I have last thought on my idea of how border
culture is connected into whether Mexican-Americans should be classified as a
immigrant, minority or both. One article that I looked at was from a previous
student who also touched on the the matter of the Mexican Experience. In her
essay, The Mexican Immigrant Experience in America, Brandi Polvado
discusses that the better opportunities that Mexican Immigrants have come here
for. She states, “living in the part of Texas in which I live has given me many
opportunities to work alongside several immigrants who have migrated to America
from Mexico. These Mexican immigrants are considered to be ‘New World
Immigrants’ because they are able to go frequently to their home country of
Mexico quite often and easily” (Polvado). This is something that I have seen
very often for myself. Mexican Immigrants come to this country like so many
other immigrants not only to seek opportunity but, to also find work. This work
that they do has to be looked at deeper because they are always labeled as
“they’re trying to steal our jobs”. Well, let’s look at the jobs that they do.
They work the field picking produce, they watch other people’s children, and
they clean house. Those do not sound like the jobs that the dominant culture
wants to do. They help our economy by working these jobs and if they contribute
to society then that makes them a part of it as well. So, in this case I can see
how Mexican Immigrants can be viewed as both minority and immigrant.
After all of my research I want to close out with something that I said early on
because I feel that it really adds to my research. In which I said, “this
research has taught me so much about my own culture and how the border culture
is in connection with how to classify Mexican Americans but, we are both
immigrants and a minority” (Loza, 2016). Within my culture we all want that
sense of the typical American Dream but, we also chose to keep our own culture
intact. It is tough to be a part of both but, that is what is so great about it
because it is bridging the gap between two cultures that are really not so,
different. My research has motivated me to keep pursuing this idea further so,
that way I can unlock even more insight into a part of my life that makes me who
I am and that is my culture.
My research has further instilled how proud I am to be a Mexican American
because being the Great Granddaughter of immigrants; I can in a way say that I
am living the American Dream because of their struggles and sacrifices they did
to make it in this country. I know now that I want to keep going on and pursuing
my education; not only for myself but, for the ones before me who did not have
the same opportunities that I have had. I feel that after all of this research
that I have bridged a gap between a conflict within myself and I know now who I
am. I am a Mexican American and I’m proud.
Work Cited
Dear, M. J. “Third Nation” along the US-Mexico border. New York: Oxford UP,
2013. Print.
Alcalde, M. Cristina. "Transformations of La Familia on the US-Mexico Border."
Latino Studies 9.4 (2011): 505-07. Web.
http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/4333/models/2016/mt2/RR1/rr1Loza.htm
http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/4333/models/2013/f/RR/RRPolvado.htm
