Label Maker

WHAT: Labels — Mexican, Chicano, Latino, Hispanic. Four words that are given to describe a wide variety of individuals, while placing each one of them into a box full of stereotypes and unforgiving expectations. Lorena and Nelda have conflicting interpretations of these words. To 12-year-old Nelda, these are words she has the ability to choose from to identify herself and capture who she is into one word. She understands the differences between each word and the hardships that are carried with them. Since she immigrated from Mexico, she was able to experience this firsthand. The author of “Desde Entonces, Soy Chicana” states, “[Nelda] told me that her father had attained a secundaria level schooling, while her mother had received no more than a primary education: ‘they both had to work to support their families. Life is very hard in Mexico’,” (Valenzuela, 180). Nelda’s experiences have given her a different perspective and interpretation of these labels. Nelda research and experiences gave her enough support to make the claim of being Chicana. Lorena, on the other hand, will do anything but identify as Latina or Chicana. She doesn’t agree with the characteristics associated with the terms. The author of “Sabrina Wants Her Identity Back” states, “I was trying to make something better, trying to broaden my horizons, and I had people telling me not to do it,” (Orner, 191). Lorena wanted to prove herself to be more than what others limited her to be. She set her own expectations for herself to show that she is more than these labels. She discussed her job as a human being to fight for others who do not have the voice and power as she does because she believes in basic human rights. Not Latino rights, Chicano rights, or Mexican rights. Plain and simple human rights. She, unlike others, had ability to look passed the premade assumptions of others from labels that are placed upon them.

SO WHAT: When in America as an undocumented immigrant, the reality of maintaining one’s full identity is slim to none. There is an overwhelming force and expected to conform to the American culture and personality characteristics. Lorena and Nelda both demonstrate their will to keep their identity in very different ways. Nelda has an undivided love for educating herself on Mexican and Chicano history. Angela Valenzuela, the author of “Desde Entonces, Soy Chicana” states, “Armed with excellent literacy skills and empowering historical knowledge, Nelda demonstrated the capacity to both achieve and to blend within her social milieu,” (Valenzuela, 182). Nelda took matters into her own hands and became educated on the difference of her potential identities. She, at a young age, had enough information to make the decision that she wanted to be identified as a Chicana. Lorena declared her identity in a subtler way. Lorena wanted to be seen in this society as a professional, hardworking Mexican American. Lorena broke a generalization that she did not belong in the office setting when she was chosen for her internship. She uses her position to stand up for the things she believes in such as, “We were basically representing that if the law didn’t pass, then when the workers walked toward the field, they were walking towards their deaths,” (Orner, 200). Lorena was not afraid to protest for what she believed in because in the end, she is not a ‘trouble making Latina’ or a ‘protesting Chicana’. She is Lorena and she proved that no one can take that away from her. Both of the girls express their identities in different, yet equally powerful ways.

NOW WHAT: At the Ritter House, the staff does not reinforce or stigmatize the recipients of their services. I have not witnessed any type of discrimination during my time volunteering, so I assume it doesn’t happen often. The Ritter House tends to look not be focused on specific traits of a person, rather they focus on the mere fact of they’re in need of help. I haven’t had the chance to have a conversation with the staff about the current discourse about immigrants in the news, but I am sure they’d have much to say about it.

Personally, I have been stigmatized regarding my ethnicity because I am mixed and where I grew up, that was simply unseen. My mother is Mexican and my father is Irish and Italian, so the issue that I have encountered throughout my life is I don’t fit the ‘typical (white/Mexican/etc.) girl’ characteristics. I am ‘too white’ to be considered Mexican by many people that I encounter, and vice versa. I have never let it bother me because that is just something I don’t find important to who I am. There was an incident when I was in Kindergarten that made me realize being a different skin tone than my mom was shocking to some people. My mom went to pick me up from school one day when we had a substitute teacher and he did not want to let me go home with her. He demanded to see her ID to prove we had the same last name. My mom, in an attempt to not make a scene, remained calm and provided her identification. In the end, he had to let her take me home because she proved her relation to me. At the time, I was very confused and scared because I did not understand why he was doing this to us. Now when I think back to that moment, I am happy that it happened. It allowed me to witness the importance of the age old saying of “don’t judge a book by its cover”.