Americanization for Mexican Americans

It’s 1920 and you, Alonzo Vasquez, are a Mexican immigrant to the United States. While you love your new country, it is very important to you that your family remember and honor your culture and traditions, many of which are tied to your homeland. You are increasingly worried that your children, in the process of becoming “American,” are ignoring the importance of their heritage. Why is it so important to you that your family retain some cultural connection to Mexico and your Mexican heritage? What evidence is there that your children are being wholly “Americanized?” What conflicts has this created between you and your children?

My name is Alonzo Vasquez and I came to America five years ago in search of the American dream. I wanted a better life for my family, a life in which I could earn a higher pay than back in Mexico so that I may provide much more for my wife, Maria, and two children, Antonio and Esmeralda. I also knew that in America, not only was anything possible, but everything was safer and more economically stable. I knew that if we were to move here, we wouldn't have to worry about my children being taken from us to be put into some rebel forces turning against the unstable government. The Mexican Revolution had already existed five years and wasn't going to be ending anytime soon. And that was when I decided we deserved something better. We deserved life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We settled into an urban city so that I could work at one of the factories. Our shelter was one large room which we shared with another Mexican family. They had already been in America for close to two years and I could tell from the moment we moved in that they had already become somewhat "Americanized." I was offended at this, since the Mexicans are a people that stick close to their roots, now matter how hard other cultures push for something otherwise. Our one-room apartment was in the the worst part of the city, with rats and insects having their homes in our walls, and wide-spread sickness and disease. But no matter how bad it seemed, I, along with my family, remained optimistic because it was still better than back in our homeland. It was safer and I earned more than I could ever have hoped of earning in Mexico. One of the things I love most about America is the Bill of Rights, which protects the people and their individual rights. There was never anything like that back in Mexico. I can actually say if I dislike or disapprove of something in public here. In Mexico, I would have been shot. But unfortunately, these were only my first thoughts. Although I make far much more money here in America, it's still barely enough to put food on the table every night. And although I do have rights that can't be taken from me technically, I am still discriminated against and don't have the same rights as a white person born in the United States.

When my family moved to America, we intended on keeping everything we lived with the same, meaning our religion, language, culture and tradition. Just because we moved to America doesn't mean we can't maintain what we were born with and taught to hold forever in our hearts. Part of our culture as Mexicans is to remember our heritage and where we come from. Because without that, we are nothing. We are a humble people, satisfied with what we have and never striving for more than what's possible. We are Catholics, putting God as our first priority in life, and with family as a close second. Esmeralda and Antonio must remember their roots, or else my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will miss out on all our history as a family. But in coming here, we have been told time and time again that we must change our ways. We must forget our language, heritage and culture to become fully American. If we don't Americanize Esmeralda and Antonio, they will be taken from Maria and I. This has been our only motivation in becoming American. It isn't fair in any way.  We actually have a social worker stop by our house once a week asking Maria questions as to how she has been teaching Esmeralda and Antonio the American ways.  We are forced to send them to school, whereas in Mexico, they would have aided me in tending our farm. I don't understand these American ways. Why must my children have a "traditional education?" So that they can graduate and get paid more in working for the white man? It is unjust to take a parent's rights away in parenting.  Worst of all, Antonio and Maria, who are both reaching adulthood now are going along with the American lifestyle. Antonio, 18, is wasting time going out at night, staying up until the early morning hours. He feels that going to the theatre with numerous girls and going drinking with his guy friends is a necessity. In America, leisure is a priority. Even worse, Esmeralda, 16, is interested in working. She is escorted by men other than myself or my son. In Mexico, this would be inexcusable. I already picked a suitor for Esmeralda who is patiently waiting his trip to America so that they may be married. Yet she feels she can disagree with me and chose her own suitor. This too, would be inexcusable in my homeland. What has happened to my Mexican-American children? They have forgotten their parents, their traditions, their language, and their God. They now worship Materialism. Esmeralda and Antonio no longer talk to me in Spanish. Instead they speak to me in English and pressure me to speak it too. I do not care if I am "old fashioned" as they call me. I would rather die knowing my Mexican roots than to fully succumb to American ways. Communication was once very present in my family. But five years ago, that began to perish. Now, it is non-existent.

Maria, too, has changed. We are on the brink of separation. Yet I will not allow a divorce, as it is against my religion. If I must force her to stay with me, I will do so to follow my culture. Because of her recent aspirations in becoming more independent as a woman, she has taken a job at a textile mill. I will not allow it much longer. I blame her for my addiction to alcohol. Because I am frustrated with being forced to be something I was not born to be and never will be, I drink every night at a bar with other Mexican men who agree with me and my frustrations. You see , they too have all had the same problem with America, Americanization and loss of the important role in their once Mexican life-styles.