Redefine Your Label

What? Hispanic, Chicano, and Latino. These titles are used interchangeably by those of us who do not understand their true meaning, but to many Mexican Americans each of these titles serve as entirely separate labels that cannot be used in place of another. Hispanic technically refers to those who are from Spain and to the countries that were once Spanish colonies. A lot of people from Mexico and Central America don’t appreciate being called Hispanic, because it relates them to Spain who took over their homeland. Latinos and Latinas are technically the countries that do not speak Spanish. Chicano and Chicana is a political term that became prevalent in the 60s. Lorena had a hard time identifying with any of these terms, because of the discourse attached to them. She never defined herself as Hispanic, she didn’t call herself Latina, “Because Latina is like, Latina with an attitude. The fighter Latina, but not the good fighter” (Orner, 198–199). The same went for Chicana, because Chicana meant that “… you’re protesting for something, you’re always angry at something or somebody’” (Orner, 199). Lorena still identifies herself as Mexican, but she finds it harder and harder for her to identify with that label since “… being Mexican now is taboo” (Orner, 198). It has been common practice that we expect immigrants to America to adapt to our society which has led some immigrants to feel like they should change who they are or be labeled into one of these categories. They lose their identities in a sense, and that is what Nelda’s interview touches on. “… the educational process fails to promote bilingualism, biculturalism, and biliteracy” (Valenzuela, 178). Immigrant and nonimmigrant children are put at a disadvantage, because they are used to one way of life at home, but must learn a new way while receiving their education. Unlike Lorena, Nelda is comfortable with identifying as both Mexican and Chicana despite the discourse surrounding the labels. Her studies in Mexican and Mexican American history have showed her what it truly means to be Chicana. She felt that her life related to the Chicana and Chicanos the more she learned about the history.

So what? Lorena and Nelda are both highly intelligent young women. They resist the discourses that marginalize their identities by continuing in the education and being highly successful in it. At the time of the interview Lorena had been in college for nearly seven years. She hopes to become a doctor, because, “When you have an MD after your name, very few people are going to tell you no, for anything” (Orner, 202). Lorena has been fortunate enough to have a steady job and to have been attending school for so long, but she knows that if she is caught that could all be taken away from her, so she puts a lot of emphasis as having the identity that comes with having a medical doctorate. She struggles with identifying with any of the labels, so perhaps she feels like her identity lies within that degree. Nelda on the other hand has found her identity through her studies. Despite the stigmas surrounding Chicana and Chicano, Nelda has identified as both Mexican and Chicana, because “… she had come to see their struggles as her own” (Valenzuela, 181). She will always be Mexican, but she sees herself as different from the Mexicans who look down on Chicanos. She is able to identify with both labels comfortably which seems to be rare for most people. They are both redefining the Mexican American label on the US, by breaking the norm and receiving an education. They are redefining their barriers. Thus, giving them new opportunities to show the country what it means to them to be Mexican American.

Now what? My community partner, Ritter House, does not serve a focused cultural or ethnic identity. They serve those with little to no income. They are not concerned with their race or where they come from. Their purpose is to provide whoever walks through their door with the services those people need no matter who they are.

I don’t think that I have ever been significantly stigmatized based on any dominant discourse, but I am anticipating to be. I am a Filipino American woman in the field of business with the hopes of one day being a sports agent in the NFL. When I say that I can see almost all the odds are against. Usually, the field of business is predominately male and predominately white. The NFL is a dominantly male institution. To become a sports agent, it is wise for me to attend law school, and that already has a lot of stigma attached to it. In high school, a female student teacher I had, told me that it would be tough for three reasons: I am not a rich, I am not white, and I am not a man. Even though I knew this going into college I knew this is what I wanted to do. I was and I am still not going to let fact that I am a middle class Filipino woman deter me from following the path that I have chosen. It is what I want, and I will work as hard as I need to for me to reach my end goal. Every label comes with its discourse. It is up to us that fall into any label to change that discourse into something positive. We must redefine our labels.