Gender roles within the Chicano household

        Gender roles within the Chicano household has stayed the same since years ago. Usually within the Chicano household the male always has to catered to even when the women is sitting down eating she has to get up and serve him because within the Latino culture it is necessary. In my opinion I disapprove with the whole idea of how the gender roles in the Latino culture are so demanding and male dominant that as the women we need to stop what we're doing to cater to them which I find really annoying.
     Why can't the male serve himself, cook, or give the women a massage after a long time at work? Personally as the years are passing by this tradition in this generation has switched, especially if you're college educated some women become very independent that doing so much for their husbands becomes a certain limit.
      To some of the male youth and the female youth in the household the female has certain restrictions in which prohibits her into doing things she shouldn't do, like for example having a curfew or not being able to drink at a certain age because she's a female. Rather the male youth who doesn't get the curfew or in which he doesn't get no restrictions on drinking due to his age. Growing up with a half brother I know how annoying it can be from a female point of view to have to put up with different restrictions being put on me just because I'm a female. Most females can't go walking by a dark alley with the conscious that they might get raped, as for a male they can do everything they want without no fear.


-Cristal Canedo

A Third Border

 

Mike Davis The Third Border he talks about that borders Chicanos and Mexicanos are faced with in the United States. The first border is that of Tijuana/ San Ysidro or El Paso/ Juarez, the second border are the checkpoint that are conducted by ICE to catch the coyotes also the Check point at San Clemente, although the first two are physical borders the third is the situations they are faced with.  Davis informs that after the San Clement check point was established undocumented immigrants began crossing ten freeway lanes to avoid going thru the checkpoint which resulted in huge numbers of deaths and instead of removing the checkpoint the United States. government placed up signs which warned the drivers they could encounter people attempting to cross the ten lanes of the freeway. He gives the example of Lacy Park in San Marino where the City Council began to charge a weekend fee to enter the park because Latinos began to go there on the weekends with their families. By imposing a fee it left out the Latino Population from being able to access the park because they did not have the money to pay.

While reading this article other forms of third borders popped into my head for example how in today the media portrays all immigrants as “Mexicans” they just assume that because they speak Spanish they come from Mexico when that is far from the truth is recent years more and more Latinos from Central and South America have been migrating to the United States. Also Latinos do not make up for all of the undocumented people in the United States. Also another third border is the fact that people assume that because some is a certain skin color they do not have documents or do not speak English. The third border consist of all of the issues Latinos are faced with one they have crossed the first two borders.

            This article made me think of the different experiences which my mother and uncle have shared with my siblings and myself growing up. Both my uncle and mother have very light skin color, their hair is very light brown it almost looks golden and they have colored eyes. My uncle has shared that even though he was in this country as a undocumented immigrant for a period of time he was never faced a lot of the discrimination and racism his fellow workers, and classmates did simply because he did not look Mexican, he fit the descriptions of what a United States Citizen should look like.

            What stood out to me the most from this article was how the U.S. felt they solved the problem of deaths in the freeway simply by placing signs up. I could not believe that they do not care for the lives of the hundreds which are killed annually imply because they are undocumented immigrants who are looking for a better life than the one they had in their home countries. The United States treats these people as criminals and excludes them from reaching a better life even though they are the same ones that are responsible for  people not being able to live in their own countries, with NAFTA, and other programs they have created which instead of helping third world countries leaves them with an even worse  economic and social problems.  

- Alejandra Ibarra

Undrawn Boundaries

David R. Diaz and his Barrio Logic and the Consolidation of Chianas/os in the City: 1945-1975, covers the period of time in which the Chicano community along with other minorities fought for their right in equal housing, a cause which was greatly influenced by the Civil Rights movement. He places a great emphasize of the different types of activism which was perform that led to the change in the housing system. Diaz also informs his readers of the conditions in which the current barrios where, he gives the example that some barrios had five different freeway routes which ran through them. Lastly another major point Diaz makes is that the Barrios represented much more than just space, it was a state of mind that represented the Chicano social and political history.  

            As I read this article I felt a sense of appreciation for all those who fought against the unjust system and were able to make a difference. At first all I could think about was how lucky I was to have been born into a time period where those unjust situations where still according and then I realized how wrong I was. Although there are no longer laws which state that Chicanos can only live in certain areas, Chicanos today along with the rest of minorities still live like the lone that Diaz describes in the chapter. Chicanos are still receiving bad quality education, not because their teachers are under qualified but instead because they belong to school districts like LAUSD whose main purpose is to teach students how to pass a test and not actually teach them.

            Growing up in the San Fernando Valley area I remember many of my neighbors and family members who say that we were better off than those who lived in the ghettos and barrios of East LA, South Central, and Boyle Heights. Looking back at the education which was offered to me, where my neighbor hood was located and what surrounded it I realized that we were never really better off. I still formed part of the same messed up school system, freeways still ran very close to where I lived and the schools I attended, my neighborhood was largely Hispanic. There are fast food places like Mc Donald’s, Little Caesars almost at every corner. So it was a bit cleaner than East La but the differences where very few compared to all the similarities.

            Diaz mentions that the barrio was a state of mind, well that hasn’t changed today Latinos are still socially and politically uninvolved, one must no longer live in a barrio but they still do. By the end of the reading my appreciation for those who stood up for equality had not changed but I know left a sense of anger at myself and those around me that were doing nothing with the huge paths which were open to us by those who had reached a change. I feel as if we have taken two steps back to the three steps forward they took. We no longer have private sector discriminatory policies which we are chained with but we are still dealing with the consequences of the barrios in which our ancestors were once forced into, and we have now made them our homes.            

- Alejandra Ibarra 

Is Police violence based upon racism?

     In many cases police violence has been a major part of racial profiling and the different stereotypes that flow into the police's thoughts. Throughout the years the police violence has decreased as for now, 2013, there's still have been a partial  number of police violence occurring in today's society. Why has that still continuing you ask?
    Well in many cases like the Rodney King story and other stories similar to King's, it has been a huge deal now because of the rebellion that started due to the injustice of the Rodney King situation. Most police officers find it okay to just go ahead and shoot a person not knowing what exactly the situation is just because of the color of their skin and the stereotypes that a race has.
    As for one of the articles by University of Denver they stated a similar case to Rodney's where a Hispanic mother calls the police for help due to her son fighting with his dad and leaving the house aggravated with a knife was a huge concerned for the mother. In which later on the mother described him and later he was found and shot Julio in which later he was pronounced dead.
  In my opinion I find it quite interesting how Paulina Valerio (mother) calling the police to help his son had anything to do with the police taking it to the next level and calling all different police units in which the situation wasn't at all that serious. My thing with this situation was that the police officers didn't really have a sense of the story that them just witnessing a hispanic boy with a knife was suspicious and harmful that they had to shoot him just because of his racial profile.
   Julio in the other hand could've had one of those moments where he raged with anger and didn't know what to do so he left his house with a knife just to scare his parents, that not even harming them he was the one falling into the victim and getting shot for no apparent reason.
    In the article of the University of Denver I found quite interesting how the author addressed how a white, middle class youth can be considered to be un-harmful, rather than a Latino youth who are classified as violent, dangerous, and of course to be endangered. "The focus of the racial lens can be measured when their existence, their brown bodies, no matter how young or small, are circumscribed dangerous, prior to any gesture, any raising of the hand to be a source of threat," said the author from the University of Denver. I find that quite racist how a person that is brown gesturing is considered to be "dangerous" but what about if a white youth was to gesture and he was more "dangerous" than the Latino? it makes no sense and it's all up to the color of your skin which is definitely injustice.


-Cristal Canedo

The "Hood" vs. The Suburbs

Have you ever taken a look at what distinguishes different cities/areas? How the populations differ? The buildings?  It’s interesting what you learn by observing and analyzing your surroundings. Why is one area so different from another? How were these differences established? Once you begin to learn about why areas are so different and how you can tell a “bad area” from a “good area”, it’s truly mind blowing. So much is present in front of your eyes and we don’t consciously know it.

The truth is that the suburbs of the LA area are meant for the wealthy. According to Steve Macek, “During the nineteenth century, most suburbs of American cities were enclaves for the nation’s wealthy elite who moved there to avoid the noise, pollution, and crime of the big cities while remaining close enough to the city-based businesses and industries they owned to actively manage them”. This still exists today. As you take a cruise down most of the suburbs of LA, you begin to notice the big million dollar mansions, and you tend to realize that your car is surrounded by extremely expensive cars now. This is where the wealthy citizens of LA reside; mostly white citizens. You won’t see liquor stores or 7-elevens. It’s strictly nice streets, nice signs that let you know exactly what part of the suburb you’re in, big houses, nice cars and expensive boutiques or mainstream grocery stores. The suburbs can even shift your mood in a sense. It wakes you up and you begin to feel overwhelmed by all of the nice things that surround you—it makes you want to live there.

On the other hand, we have the inner-city regions. These regions, for example east LA, vary significantly in the characteristics. There are no nice houses, nice cars, or groomed streets. Instead, there is a large amount of pollution, noise, crime, and liquor stores. This is where some of the working class resides. Why? Inner cities are home to all of the factory jobs and labor jobs. Immigrants began to settle here in the 1920’s to find jobs and as a result this has become a region dominated by Latino and Black citizens. However, why don’t these communities look as well groomed as those of the suburban areas? These residents might live in the “hood”, however, they are still paying taxes.

The differences in these areas have been normalized. No one really asks themselves why the street cleaners don’t come around the bad areas as often. Little things like liquor stores on every corner make a huge difference, however, citizens living there don’t really challenge why there are so many. It’s interesting how the freeways act as barriers to separate these nice and bad areas. The differences one sees while driving down a big street can be overwhelming sometimes. Watching how one side of a street is nice and clean, while 20 minutes later driving down that same street, the difference in the area shifts from nice to uncared for. It is important that we take the time to understand the different characteristics of the suburbs and the inner cities and what these differences mean.

-Jackie 

What really happened during the Los Angeles rebellion?

        According to the article "The Los Angeles Rebellion: A Retrospective View," by James Johnson, Cloyzelle Jones, Walter Farrell, and Melvin Oliver it describes how it was back in 1992 during the rebellion. Not only was it tough times for Los Angles residents but to live in the South Central area during that era was quite frightening for many living there. All three of the professors discussing this particular article discussed every detail that was taking place in the riot by addressing what economic issues were occurring during the rebellion and how hard it was to not get a job due to being of colored. 

Being familiar with this historic event and reading more about it got me to deeply understand the concept of what exactly went on during the riot not just the rebellion itself. Being one of the most historic events having to do with racism has a real impact on me, because knowing that Rodney King got beating to death by four LAPD in April of 1992 due to his color of skin is very intriguing especially after being videotaped while beating Rodney. Not only was race riots occurring at that time but the authors also mentioned that there was a lot of arrests arranged by the ethnicity of the person in which also led to arresting illegal aliens and sending them back to their country. I found it very interesting how many of the immigrants that were being arrested and deported back were mainly Latinos, with a fewer number of other ethnicities, in which in total of deportations were 477. 

       Johnson, Jones, Farrell, and Oliver brought up a really captivating point that caught my eye which was the seeds of the rebellion and how in most parts of the South central area was predominantly Black and Latino. It’s amazing how most of the main facilities were located in the heart of L.A. but as the riots caused to much chaos to the community, the owners of these different employment opportunities and decided to change locations to the Mexico border, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, and El Segundo. These areas increased employment rates higher than it was before which was interesting to me because I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley and to know that it wasn’t how it used to be is very interesting. 

  With all the different turmoil that the city of Los Angeles went through with all kinds of looting, burning, violence, and the numerous of arrests were eye opening to the residents of not only the city but the county that what was happening was a big controversial issue. With the LAPD being on duty wasn't enough at that time that they needed 10,000 National guard and 3,500 military soldiers to be on duty for a huge riot. I found it very interesting how much of property damaged was done that estimated to be about $785 million to $1 Billion, the whole Los Angeles county was definitely affected by it. Education was so bad at that era that the authors mentioned that approximately 63% and 79% was the drop out rates for adolescents in going to high school in South Central due to many students believing they needed a job instead of their education.

-Cristal Canedo 

Are Prisons Still Relevant?

In Angela Y. Davis' "Are Prisons Obsolete?" , she presents a glipmse into the realities of what has become of Americas state of imprisonment. In it she describes how the prisions system is something that we as Americans take for granted, that prison is something just needs to be. Yet Angela Davis proclaims that perhaps prisons in this day and could be obsolete as the the title implies .

While reading this I found myself too questioning the helpfulness of jails. I used to think prisons where a place of reform and where inmates cold beter themselves. Slowly over time I grew to realize this wasn't the case. Reading Davis writings further cemented the ideas that i had about the United State' prison system. From what she says it seems that imprisonment in the long run does not seem to help anthing as it just makes for a cycle of people that keep getting arrested. She goes into an argument that prison is now a revenue stream process where they make more moeny if there are more prisoners which in turn makes incetive to have as many prisoners as possible. This leads to a dishonest approach to justice as perhaps due to these incentives more people are being put to jail. It seems as if the whole structure of prisons is bult upon getting as many americans in there as possible if one were to look at the statistics.

Davis also brings up an interesting point that prisons in essence are racist structures , meant to imprison as many minorities as possible. This can be seen in how there are many laws which make it easy for one to get trapped in prison. She compares the parallels of slavery and imprisonment in America to the point where its hard to differentiate the two. Prisons it seems are a easy way to keep minorities from participating in mainstream society. It seems that since its easier to put minorities away in jail than it is to  help them get out of the socio economic environments which lead to their arrests , our society allows for the former to happen.  People often dont think of it that way but after reading about it in this article it is hard not to look at it from that angle now.

Davis presents a picture of America that is falling to the prison system and urges us to stop taking prison as just another aspect of life. There many things that need to be changed in order for people not to get trapped in prisons such as changing arbitrary laws that land people there for long periods of time. Though at the heart of the matter is that we as people shouldnt let this go on. We should reject the system that prisons have placed upon our country and find a better solution to crimes. Although until the majority of people  start paying attention to whats going on in our country's prison system , it seems that  America is on a path towards increasing incarceration.

-Christian Morales

Latinos and the Drug War

During this drug war it isn’t hard to identify the role that latinos/as play in the trafficking world. The article, “Latinas/os and the War on Drugs” takes a look at why Latinos are at the center of the Drug War and how the media helps maintain the stereotypes alive. The media does a great job at keeping the fact that the U.S government has played a large role in the development of the drug industry, by centering their focus on Latinos and how they are responsible for the presence of these drugs in the U.S and the war. They do this, by labeling anyone who transports the drugs, as dangerous and even describe the sentences they face if caught. The groups they target specifically are: immigrants, undocumented workers, non-English speakers, the poor, and those seeking social justice. However, the most recent group added to this list, has been a Latina who lives a “fast life”.

            The section of this article that really caught my attention was the way Latinas are portrayed to be involved in the drug war. I found it interesting how the author made a connection to the fact that since Latinas and other groups of women tend to be the primary care takers of their families, they are sensitive and vulnerable to drug related threats. Latinas have even faced serious charges for not providing information to the authorities on the roles the men in their life play in the drug war. Whether it’s out of fear, or loyalty, if these women do not provide the information being asked for, they usually face worse punishments. I found this to be very shocking because they weren’t doing the labor needed to transport the drugs, however, they were still facing serious time if the authorities suspected dishonesty.

            The time the Latinas face when dealing with trafficking is sometimes worse than an active Latino involved in the drug war. The article stated that once in the criminal justice system, Latinas are often charged with harsh drug crimes, out of White and even African-American women. Also, another thing I found to be mind boggling, were the numbers of Latinas that were currently in jail or Federal prisons. I never thought that the numbers were that high for Latinas and it this really shocked me. The fact that most of these Latinas are in prison for very minor felonies, makes me realize that this is the reason why the stereotypes on Latinas/os still exist. They give serious time to a minor felony, such as not providing the police with information and then the media magnifies these people as “dangerous” and do so by giving them a serious charge.

            The media plays a tremendous role on the reason why Latinos are still viewed as the reason for the drug war. It is so easy for the audience to get carried away by the fear that the media and police instill in American citizens on Latinos/as. However, these people have little or no idea that our own government takes part in this drug war as well. 

-Jackie Vargas

Education: The True Solution

In his essay “The Hyper-Criminalization of Black and Latino Male Youth in the Era of Mass Incarceration” Victor M. Rios shares with his readers the stories of three young males of color who have been in and out of juvenile halls since a very young age. All throughout his essay Rios mentions the different sorts of confrontation these young men and those like them have with law enforcement, teachers, guidance counselors and their parents. Rios goes on to say that the reason why those young males have become involved with gang violence and are now on probation is a result of where they have grown up and the way they are portrayed.   Rios argues that because these teenagers come from low income communities where gang violence has a high rate the adults that they are surrounded by treat them as if they were criminals from a very young age and that is the cause for them ending up involved in gangs and criminal acts.

            About 26.6% of all Latinos in the United States live in poverty, children who are born into these families are born with several disadvantages that they cannot change for example, living in low income communities and attending school with low graduation rates and very low test scores. Although these children and teenagers cannot change the families that they are born into and their families economic situation one thing that they can change is how they let those factors influence their lives. The reason why very few Latinos go on to continue a higher level of education after high school is because they allow themselves to be taken out by a system that has always been against them. They blame all those around them for their actions which led them to being involved in gangs, and dropping out of school.  

I do agree with Rios’s argument that being treated as criminals because they come from Barrios and Ghettos is wrong however, the adults cannot be blamed for how the children of those communities turn out. One of the major problems with the those teens who end up involved with gangs and criminal acts is that they start to act as gang members and engage in criminal acts to teach those that see them a lesson yet they don’t stop to realize that all they are doing is hurting themselves. Rios gives the example of Jose who is annoyed at the fact that his mother, teacher and his parole officer are always checking up on him and do not trust that he will make good decisions. The problem with this example is that he is complaining that they do not trust him but the only one who is at fault there is Jose because he made the decision to get involved with a gang and has been in and out of juvenile hall since the age of thirteen, he has proved to the adults around him that he cannot be trusted to make good decision because he continues to make bad decisions.   

Rios defends the teenagers instead of realizing that the only ones who are at fault are the teenagers for acting like children when they are told not to do something and they go and do it anyway because they are curious. The teenagers that Rios interviewed as well as those like them think they are teaching the system a lesson by becoming criminals, if they could only understand that the only lesson that they are giving to them is that they were right and that treating them as criminals was right all along because that is what they ended up to be. In order for the for the teenagers to truly teach the “system” a lesson would be for them to do the complete opposite of what they are doing now which would be for them to finish high school, go on to college and graduate and become something, for them to do something with their lives so that they can one day have a family and that their children do not grow up in the same neighborhood where they did and were treated as criminals.  

- Alejandra     

A Social Chain Reaction

What will you pass on?

Mother Teresa once said, "We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do." In other words, the kindness of a smile passes from one person to the other, and they in turn pass it on to more people. Seeing someone smile at them can make someone forget about the driver who cut them off or it can lighten the load of stress. They in turn pass on that positive feeling to someone else.

 

Sadly, many people go days or even weeks without smiling. They become used to the stress and negativity around them, that it becomes contagious. A boss's bad mood passes on to his or her employees and those employees in turn, come home with that bad mood who then spread it to their family members. It's not only moods and vibes that are going around, but things like power struggle, rules, and forms of communication also spread.

 

For example, a working class parent gets used to taking orders and being told what to do. What do they do when they get home? They tell their children what to do. Children are of course supposed to be told what to do, but the difference is that they get it in the form of an order. And schools know this.

 

According to Jean Anyon's study, "Social Class and School Knowledge." Schools teach different kinds of knowledge and in different ways, depending on the social class. She went to several middle schools, each in a specific social class; then asked the students questions about knowledge. Think of how you (as a reader) would respond to these questions:

What is knowledge?
Where does it come from?
Can you make knowledge or is it already made?

Anyon noted several findings about what the students in each social class responded. For the working class, she explained how "resistance" was a dominant theme.

I have seen this student resistance when I was in middle school. I had ended up in ESL during my sixth and seventh grade year and so I had students in my class who really didn't care about their education. They didn't care about vocabulary or grammar. Despite all of that I was the only one who actually wanted to improve and get out of ESL. Everyone else just wasted time because they didn't want to be there. But there were times where no one responded to the teacher's questions. Sometimes they took a more active resistance where the students would insult the teacher or bring a can of deodorant spray. (My teacher had a delicate Asthma condition.) So my teacher's well-being and safety was at risk, it was common for her to run out of the room gasping for fresh air. She even had to be taken to the hospital a few times.

But most of the knowledge as Anyon said, "[was] fragmented facts, isolated from context and connection," as well as "practical knowledge." But why is this kind of knowledge chosen for working class schools, instead of the middle class's "possibility" or "individuality" theme? Where does the student's resistance come from?

Working or lower class students live with parents or a parent who struggle to get by. Most of the time, these adults have given up on moving to a better class. They settle for order-dominated work environments and that attitude is transferred to the students, who's teachers have given up on them. The students give up like the adults around them and they begin to fight against the rules that bind them to where they are at. Instead of using that desire for change to improve their lives, they use it in a counter-productive way.

I believe that in order for the students of the working class to change, the adults surrounding them need to change. Children learn from the adults in their lives, and that child sees that everyone is giving up. They will inevitably give up themselves. Then what else is left for them to do? Blame the world around them and resist.

Parents need to encourage their children to work hard in school, and teachers should never give up on or give in to their students. They should pass on Mother Teresa's smile and hope. Yes, it may sound corny and unreal; but truth often takes on those characteristics. We need to think of everything else as something that can be passed on, our opinions, our hate, our positive attitudes, our ethics; it is all passed on from person to person, most of the time without realizing it. But it is up to us to be aware and choose the lasting impression that end up giving.

-Abel Mendoza

 



 

No Accident

Placita Olvera present day, where tourists come to experience "authentic" Mexican  life.

            Its hard to believe that the current social inequalities present in today's world are not just by coincidence. That every aspect of the modern world ,in terms of social inequality  ,has occurred through deliberate thought and a long drawn out history of actions made to better fit a certain group. Though this is exactly what has occurred in American history time and time again. It seems since its inception the united states of America has only really been interested in furthering the advancement of the white male. Through countless acts in history , American society has been shaped to benefit whites while leaving other groups to be cast aside or assimilate into a safer white friendly version that present no fear to whites. 

         While reading "Construction of the Ghetto" from American Apertheid by Douglas Massey and "Creative Destruction" by Raul Homero Villa, the more I read the more I found myself frustrated by how blacks and Mexicans were always made to be second class citizens through the acts of domestic segregation. I couldn't believe how underhanded and vile people could be in terms of making sure a racial group would be put down. Although I'm familiar with history and the civil rights movement ,its different when you read an article that deconstructs and analyzes exactly how we got from point a to point b. For example when in article he talks about how the reason blacks exist mostly in inner city low income areas is because of a long drawn out intent to segregate blacks from whites. The powers that be made sure that even if a black person had the means to leave these ghettos that they could not simply because they were black.  

           A similar thing occurred in the west to Mexican as they also underwent segregation. The article talks about how over time the Mexicanos in California slowly lost land in Los Angeles until they were displaced into certain sections of the city. The article makes it clear that it is no coincidence that a east la is where a majority of Latinos live today as they were displaced into these areas. Something that bothered me was how white people would romanticize the Spanish culture by organizing their own fiesta days or things of that nature all while at the same time putting down the local Mexicans. To me that seems as though they were mocking them by enjoying this mythic cartoonish version of Mexican "traditions" and imagery.This is still scene everyday as the article talks about how most authentic plazas were displaced and what most people associate now with being an "authentic" plaza is Placita Olvera , which he goes on to say was a sort of experiment in themed streets like you would see in Disneyland. 

          Although there are many reason to why our country has been shaped to be this socially unequal landscape it seems white fear has played a major factor time and time again.

-Christian M.