Hecho In Los Estados Unidos

I have such a hard time relating to the staunch anti-immigration section of politics, I can understand the need to secure borders against mounting terrorist threats but what I cannot fathom from a capitalist country and people who claim they are for a "free market", is the demonization of people who wash our cars, pick our produce, clean houses and do any and every other menial job they can so their children can have a better education, a better life, the American dream not for them but for the next generation. This kind of hatred is nothing new to our country, the Irish, Chinese, Italian and Russian communities have all experienced their time in the spot light as the "other", that which is "bad", you know those other people who are taking the jobs we are supposedly entitled to because we happened to be born into a country of infinite opportunity and possibility?

Really when was the last time you applied to be a lettuce picker? Do people really believe that we buy grapes for $1 a pound because the "illegals" get a free ride? Have you ever been out in a field? It's dirty, hot, exhausting and absolutely back breaking work. I know not because I have ever done it, but because I grew up with the stories of my family, my grandparents although legal citizens of this country were not educated and did not speak very much English. But my grandfather enlisted in the Army and eventually moved the family from Texas to California. All of their 11 children have a one time or another toiled in a field. They didn't do this in order to deprive someone else of a job, they didn't take a lower wage than their white counterparts because they wanted to undermine people, they did it out of mere survival.

The problem is not those who cross the border and seek a better life, the people who endure horrible conditions, eat from garbage cans, spend days or weeks captives of coyotes who rape, torture and sell them into prostitution until their family can pay enough of a ransom for them. The problem is with such a restrictive system which exists only to pander to the few ignorant people who fear anyone different from themselves and exploits a people who are literally powerless in their own country and powerless in this one. No legal protection from abuse in this country because their mere presence renders them second class citizens who have no legal recourse against those who would take advantage of them.

Is it truly American to allow such a system to exist? Of course not but of course  big business and its friends in the political universe don't want to do away with illegal immigration, because how else would we keep prices down, and labor cheap? Big business biggest fear is that the Brownie (me and people who look like me) will join forces and we will fight to finally give rights to people who have been contributing to the economy for decades to finally get the representation they deserve. My biggest surprise is the animosity from American born latinos towards undocumented workers,it's a phenomena I don't really understand; and I cannot say that I haven't been guilty of it myself at times.

We are willing to overlook the atrocities committed in the name of "free market" values as long as we can still buy an hecho in mexico shirt for $5. Let's get real about immigration, it's all about the money, so Big Business, stop talking out of both sides of your mouth, and admit it's all about the bottom line, your bottom line and not the country's.

Walking your path

I believe that we are all meant to do something in our lives, create something, cure something, be something whatever it is we all have a purpose. Living your purpose walking your path, is so critical to becoming who you need to be. What does it mean to be a Mexican American in 2010? This is a question I'm trying to answer for myself and I struggle. The very word "Mexican" means mixed, mestezo. We are a people who were blended from two world, vastly different from one another. And yes, some of our ancestors were products of rape, brutalization and enslavement. But there were almost certainly as many of them who were the products of romance, of forbidden love. Imagine that, there was a time in our world when loving the wrong kind of person could get you killed. It makes love seem all that more meaningful.

Being a single Mexicana, I wonder about what it would be like to date a Mexican-American guy, I never have, not because I dislike them or have any type rule against it, but because not a single one has ever asked me out.I though this might be due to some personality flaw of mine, but a very nice young girl I met the other day said the same thing, and she was incredibly beautiful. Which makes you wonder "what's up with that?". I'm sure there are thousands of single, wonderful, eligible MA guys out there, but where are they hiding and why are they avoiding their latina counterparts?

Dealing with racism in the work place and ethical issues

What do you do when your boss inadvertently offends you by asking "so which Mexican radio station do you listen to and where do you buy your rice and beans?" he may as well have asked "where do you store your donkey." right? But this isn't the whole enchilada mijitas, this gem of a boss believes that just because someone does not speak English, they are fair game in the business world to be taken. Now this is a quote "with the Spanish speakers, we don't care because they don't know all the rules and regulations." This was said to me on my very first day, shocking, so much so I wanted to reach across the table slap him up and down the cubicles and leave forever, but I didn't. In this economy things are so tight, and jobs so ludicrously hard to come by that I have a plan, play the player.

This company enters into what they believe our legally binding contracts, with people who can't read or understand said contracts are written in, disgusting, illegal, unethical and amoral. When I asked why they didn't have documents in Spanish the response was "we're still trying to work that out." This is not a mom and pop either, they have several locations throughout California and easily have the ability to obtain these general forms in Spanish, Mandarin, or even Arabic, it just takes a little foresight and some time and money to do so. My plan is in action and hopefully I won't have to work for el diablo for too long, wish me luck chicas, I'm going to need it!

How the economy is effecting our neighbors in the South

A very interesting and unexpected phenomena has begun occurring here in the U.S., something the media has deemed "reverse remittance" and what is basically boils down to is families in Mexico sending money to their children or relatives here in the states. Because many people own their homes, grow their own food and do not have the pressures of rent they are sending the minuscule amounts of money they earn to family struggling here. A story appeared in the AP news feed that two immigrant waiters working in Florida had to depend on monies from their impoverished family in Mexico just to make rent, they cite smaller tips and fewer hours as the root cause of the shortfall. How has the economy effected you? Your family? With societal pressures so high and the issue of undocumented workers sparking controversy all over the country, it is not surprising to find many displaced people (latino and white alike) blaming those people who are least protected and most exploited by the arcane views on immigration. How do we reconcile a sense of pride of who we are (Mexican Americans) with the our sense of patriotism, I don't have an easy answer I'm afraid.

Tortillas and peanut butter

My grandmother was a proud Mexicana from San Antonio Texas, born in 1921 she survived the depression, a world war and countless racial obstacles. She and my grandfather had 12 children total and their legacy continues to live on today. I'm a third generation mexican born and raised in Northern California, I wouldn't know a scythe from a c.d. player, have never seen a field in my life and I own not one Tigre de la Norte record, my parents moved us away from the "bad" side of town before I even started school, no one on the "good side" of town spoke Spanish then, no one else had homemade burritos for lunch, so I slipped into their world. A world I was taught held hope, promise, education and sophistication, so I learned to hide away a part of myself, unless someone should find out that I didn't belong there. But in doing so I became rootless, I lost my way more than once, and forgot who I was. So how do I reconnect to my family? How do I find my way back to the rich and vibrant culture that is by definition a mixture of several great ones? I think part of the way back to being who I was meant to be is to hear you, hear how your family has taught you, influenced you, what your story is, because maybe then I can better understand my own and write a happier ending.