The author divides this book into three different parts. In the first part, he communicates to the reader how students with high leveled education and others get together to challenge the high-powered Anglos and Mexican American. In the second part, he examines how the Chicano movement flourished and how women and ex-gang members attempted to join the political world. In the final part, Montejano decided to include his point of view on how the political leaders that failed could’ve made a difference in the political world. This book was full of surprises, the way Montejano quotes actual people is just beautiful.
This collection of short stories focus a lot on things like, sexuality, family, the American Dream and belonging woven together by the story of a young immigrant man and his family. The author of this book, Junot Diaz, is an important figure in the writing
The reality of life can often differ from childhood to adulthood. Twelve-year-old Pablo Medina experienced this first hand. In the reflective essay, “Arrival: 1960,” Medina tells about his experiences of moving from Cuba to America. Upon arriving, his expectations for America are set high. Coming from the communism he saw in Cuba, Medina was expecting a land of freedom, apart from violence, and segregation; he was expecting an overall better life for himself.
The first of two essay questions focuses on Leo Chavez’s book , “The Latino Threat”. The questions and statements that will be answered include “ What is the Latino threat?, ‘How does he define citizenship?” ,“Identify and discuss two examples of the Latino threat” and “ Identify one policy recommendation and discuss whether you think it is achievable”. Leo Chavez’s book focuses on the guise of Latinos threatening the American way of life. He defines this as “The Latino Threat” , He states that the Latino threat narrative positions Latinos as not sharing similarities with any previous migrant groups into the U.S. and that they are unwilling and incapable of integrating and becoming part of the national community (Chavez,3).
The immigrants entering the United States throughout its history have always had a profound effect on American culture. However, the identity of immigrant groups has been fundamentally challenged and shaped as they attempt to integrate into U.S. society. The influx of Mexicans into the United States has become a controversial political issue that necessitates a comprehensive understanding of their cultural themes and sense of identity. The film Mi Familia (or My Family) covers the journey and experiences of one Mexican-American (or “Chicano”) family from Mexico as they start a new life in the United States. Throughout the course of the film, the same essential conflicts and themes that epitomize Chicano identity in other works of literature
In the essay “The Bachelor/Bachelorette’s White Elephant” Thea Kim makes the argument for the inclusion or exclusion of minorities or in this case, people of color such as black Americans and Asians in two major television shows, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. According to Thea Kim, in this essay, it is evident that each of the two television shows do not include people of color. This is evident, as both the Bachelor and the Bachelorette have never had a person of color as their main characters or even as the hosts of either show. The exclusion of people of color depicts the shows as being racist and as well as being opposed to interracial relationships and marriages (Lim 1). According to the reading, the inclusion of people of color
Chavez examines the assumptions made by the media and the public by drawing in sources like magazine articles and illustrations to provide the audience with exactly how these accusations are made and shared with the public. Chavez questions what it means and what it takes to be considered an American citizen and how Latinos, particularly Mexicans, have many things stacked up against. There are no doubts that the number of undocumented immigrants has steadily increased each year. Leo R. Chavez argues that because of the rise in the numbers, it makes it easier for the media to assume that undocumented immigrants, particularly Mexicans, are a threat to our nation through an invasion. Chavez’s idea of a Mexican reconquest is developed through something he calls the Quebec model.
The Back of a Nonexistent Line In the film Documented and The New York Times article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant,” Jose Antonio Vargas describes his experience as an undocumented immigrant in the United States and provides a passionate argument for creating a pathway to citizenship for others like Vargas, who are undocumented as well. Although both the film and article give the viewers and readers an insight into Vargas’ difficult journey, a particular scene in the film sends an unspoken message about the United States as a whole. In Documented, the scene in which Jose Antonio Vargas attends a Mitt Romney campaign rally is detrimental to the immigration debate because it demonstrates the need for Americans to be educated about undocumented
Cofer addresses the cultural barriers and challenges that Latinos experience through emotional appeal, anecdotal imagery, parallelism and the use of effective periodic sentences. In her article, Cofer assesses the difficult cultural hurdles of Latin Americans with emotional appeal. She provides insight on her cultural barriers by first conveying the way she had to dress and her struggle, as it shows in this piece of text, “That morning I had organized… which to base my decision” (Cofer 5). This poignancy works to stress an agonizing feeling of uncertainty and restraint towards the author.
“The virtual personas of Latino immigrants (represented as a threat to the nation) make the authority that has accumulated for real immigrants in their role as workers and consumers vanish” (Chavez 47). In the public eye Latinos are depicted as noncompliant and dangerous citizens and noncitizens of the United States. “The virtual lives of ‘Mexicans,’ ‘Chicanos,’ ‘illegal aliens,’ and ‘immigrants’ become abstractions and representations that stand in the place of real lives” (Chavez 47). It is depressing to understand that the majority of the United States strictly sees Latinos as these distorted images. At the end of the day each individual’s life matters, we all need to become more compassionate for one another.
The majority of illegal immigrant’s chances for success is limited. It is more likely for people who have already been successful in life to achieve their dream than those have not had the chance to. The Tortilla Curtain illustrates the hardships and the discriminations illegal immigrants face with higher class Americans. The coyotes symbolize the immigrant’s lifestyle and how they are viewed with disdain and mistrust. The Arroyo Blanco community presents those who view the immigrants as such, and how difficult it is to break down ignorance barriers to be accepted into it.
In the past, things like distance, and awareness, limited people’s participation in social issues. While there are some barriers between people and some social issues, today most of the things that would have prevented a person to participate are no longer in place. In today’s society, there are many ways to bring about change. With one of the most popular way is using social networking, film and art to bridge the gap of both the affected group and the ones that are not aware to the living conditions of the people in that area. In class, we have been watching and analyzing an artist name Vic Muniz.
In this section, I will discuss the portrayal of immigration in United States magazines, television media, and the three tendencies of United States media in covering immigration in general. Magazines and Newspapers In his book, Covering Immigration: Popular Images and the Politics of the Nation, Leo R. Chavez (2001) discusses the way United States magazines reported on immigration from Mexico. The magazines studied in this book overwhelmingly depicted the United States-Mexico border as a war zone, and use buzz words such as invaders, at war, invasion, and so on to reinforce the us v. them mentality of the U.S. public (Chavez, 2001). These buzz words create a sense of moral panic in the public, as the immigrants are seen as a threat to our society (Welch,
According to a study conducted by National Hispanic Media Coalition shows that people who watch entertainment or news programs about Latinos that convey negative images hold the most unfavorable and hostile views” towards them. The study also showed that even the people who are inclined “to hold positive views about Hispanics are adversely influenced when exposed to negative media images.” In addition to this we rarely see Latinos playing a leading role in a film or tv show where we can see them being portrayed positively and even though there are character who are beginning to break the stereotypes there is still a long
Going into this interview project I was curious to learn more about the experiences that immigrants had to go through. My interviewee, Mario, is an 18 year old immigrant that migrated to America from Bolivia at the age of 10. I have known Mario since middle school and we’ve been friends since then. We have grown up around the same area too and now we both attend the University of Maryland.
