Edna Viruell-Fuentes

In the writing by Edna A. Viruell-Fuentes, she looks at the effects of an individual’s generation on the feeling of “otherness”. While interviewing first and second generation Mexicans there was a big difference in their personal feeling of acceptance in the U.S. population. “Even though the first generation did not report “ othering” experiences as often as the second generation, their narratives pointed to an understanding of the racial dynamics in the U.S.” (Viruell-Fuentes, pg. 1527) As explained in the writing, and from my understanding, the first generation of Mexican Americans immigrated to the U.S. expecting a change from their previous life. Because different way of living were expected, the “othering” experienced was in a way an expected experience for new inhabitants. However, this is not true for second generation Mexican Americans. “ The experiences of the second generation, in contrast, were characterized by exposure to explicit and pervasive “othering” messages, which made them aware of belonging to a marginalized group.” (Viruell-Fuentes, pg. 1528) Since the second generation was born in the

Examples are given. In the writing the white Latino, Mr. Valdés, fits into society very well. “Mr. Valdés transition into this world has been seamless, so much so that he does not really think of himself as an immigrant at all” ( Ojito, pg. 8) He is able to walk down the street without receiving glares. However, his friend, Mr. Ruiz is a black Latino who lives in a different part of the town because he looked down on by whites. One example was when he went to eat with his friends and they were followed and pulled over. This would never happen to Mr. Valdés because he is white. “Here in America, Mr. Ruiz still feels Cuban. But above all he feels black.” (Ojito, pg. 2) This writing also shows the stress and worry immigrants live with daily, specifically in Mr. Ruiz’s