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2016 Midterm2 (assignment) Index to Sample Student Midterm2 Answers Part 3. Research Report Starts |
LITR 4340
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Kimberly Loza
The Border Culture
After going over my original research I now know that I need to condense of what
I need to focus my research on. I have decided to focus more closely on Mexican
American culture as in connection to the “border culture”. The border culture
shows that not only Mexican Americans should be considered as an immigrant but,
as a minority as well. I have always heard the saying that “we did not cross the
border. the border crossed us.” This is very true for my family because we can
trace our lineage all the way back to the Alamo in which my seven times great
great grandfather Gregorio Esparza defended the Alamo. We were here before there
was even Texas and this land was a part of Mexico. So I thought it would be
interesting to connect the matter of Mexican Americans being classified as being
immigrants or a minority or both.
The first part of
my research that I found was from Michael Dear’s “Third Nation” along the
US-Mexico border in which he discusses the way we should view border culture and
how it affects the people that are a part of this culture. He first brings the
emphasis on the idea of borders in which he refers to a sign in New Mexico that
says “Es una frontera, no una barrera” this quote means this is a border, not a
barrier. This is very true and I believe that the point that Dear was trying to
make was that borders should not keep people or the culture out. It should be
embraced and taken notice of. I learned that what the Third Nation is in which
Dear explains “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).
This is interesting to see that even though there is this border but, they do
not use it as a means of separation which is something incredible to think when
we have had to considered whether Mexican Americans are either immigrants or a
minority but, more like both. They don't even put focus on that people of the
border culture cross the border every day in order to get to work the back home.
Dear himself even focuses on this subject in which he says “One man who crossed
daily, living and working on both sides, told me: “I forget which side of the
border I’m on.” The boundary line is a connective membrane, not a separation”
(Dear, 2013). This is very interesting to think of the Mexican American culture
in connection to how it should be classified. I really admired how he emphasized
that it is not a means of separation but, rather as a means to cross over back
and forth without hesitation to embrace the culture all life style that
surrounds it.
Some other research that I found to be interesting in which to consider whether
the Mexican Americans should be viewed as immigrants or an minority is an
article entitled Transformations of La Familia on the U.S.-Mexico Border by
Raquel R. Márquez. I picked this article because I thought that it was
interesting to see how she focuses on getting over it when she states “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). She shows that even though these the families are a part of
different cultures that they unify through the languages and culture that they
have. She really focuses on unity and commonality. 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. They chose to come to the US in order
achieve the American Dream that they want so bad but, they have to also go
through the exploitation however, want to hold onto their own heritage in order
to remain true to their selves.
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. We want the American Dream but, we also want to remain true to
our own culture. It is like from the movie Selena, when Edward James Olmos’
character states “we have to prove to the Mexicans how Mexican we are and we
have to prove to the Americans how American we are. Both at the same time.” Like
he said it is exhausting but, it is something that we do because we want to show
love to the two cultures that we love and embrace so dearly. We want the success
of the American Dream but, we also want to remain true to ourselves and embrace
our own heritage because it is also a very rich one.
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.
