Summary Of A Place To Stand

Baca and Maisami: The Struggle to find Themselves

In A Place to Stand written by Jimmy Santiago Baca and Born In Amrika written by Mona Maisami, both authors suffer from feeling out of place due to their family cultures and finding their identity. Baca deals with growing up hispanic and his mother’s abandonment due to the fact that she wanted to live a “white life. While on the other hand, Maisami deals with wondering if she is more Indian than American when her Indian family visits them. Although both authors deal with the same issues, both have different ways of dealing with them.

To start off, Baca and Maisami have a lot in common with each other. Both authors could have lived in a place where their lives would be completely different. Baca could have lived with Richard and his mother, and Maisami could have lived in Indian if her parents never moved to America. Maisami was born in America

For example, Maisami felt no good toward her Iranian family. She was americanized and nothing like them. Maisami felt like she has to be more Iranian to fit in with her family. Toward the end of Maisami’s story she asks her mother, “Mom, am I Iranian or American?” and her mother tells her “you have to look at yourself in order to find out who you are - it's not where you are from that defines you”. After taking time to think about her true self, Maisami finally decides she doesn't need to decide and finds who she really is on the inside. In contrast, Baca has a harder time understanding his identity. Baca deals with it in a more negative way. He grew up in poverty with no parents to teach him about his true self. Baca decides to fail class, start doing drugs, and getting in trouble constantly. Unlike Maisami, Baca understands his culture but has a very hard time understanding