Zoot suits, associated with the Mexican race, consisted of a long jacket that reached almost to the knees, pants with a “tight stuff cuff”, a “wide, flat hat, and Dutch-toe shoes” (Berger 193). These zoot suits were worn by the Mexican youth who were accused of murder on August 2, 1942. People claimed that Jose […]
“Legal Alien,” a collection from “Chants,” is a short free versed poem written by Pat Mora. The poem explores the lives of Mexican-Americans and the cultural tension they have to face. The poet discusses a bi-cultural person whose parents are from Mexico but the person was born and raised in America and is an American […]
Abstract In this paper I am going to talk about the 1997 movie Selena as it has a strong focus on the singing career of a developing Mexican American singer in the early 1990’s. She experienced many hardships from fans that did not admire the fact she primarily spoke English. She soon embraced her culture […]
Since I was born in a time where things were very peaceful within the States, I don’t really know much about segregation and other civil issues. But from this article, it seems that most people did not really know that Mexican segregation was the norm back in the 1900’s. The segregation of Mexicans was almost […]
At the end of Cheech Marin’s Born in East L. A. (1987), a pair of undocumented Chinese immigrants who have been trained by Rudy (Marin) in the art of walking, talking, and gesturing like Mexican-Americans successfully act Mexican-American in front of a police officer to convince and assure him that they indeed are “natives. ” […]
The San Joaquin Valley of California is nestled in the center of the state. Within the San Joaquin valley the rich culture of the Mexican people can be seen in almost every facet of living. There are also many nursing schools in the area, approximately five in the area in which I reside. The most […]
In this book, Timothy J. Henderson examines the origins, outcomes, and modern-day consequences of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). A Glorious Defeat is organized around two central questions: why did Mexico go to war with the United States in 1846 and why did the war go so badly for Mexico? Henderson does provide the answers to […]
In the United States, the 1890s through 1920s time period is known as the Progressive Era. Political reform, along with social activism, was what established this era. In order to move forward as a country, progressives believed we needed to fix or reform our problems. The problems that the nation focused on were major issues, […]
Ora is in the open poem form, it has no stanzas. It does have a few words that rhyme which are “English” (5) and “Spanish” (6) and also with “Mexicans” (14) and then with “Americans” (15). The poem also has rhythm, it is a low steady beat. It is a straightforward poem about how life […]
My decision to write in response to Gary Soto’s work, “Like Mexicans” was influenced for the most part because of the similarities between myself and Gary Soto, and our families included. Gary Soto is a Mexican American male, who grew up in the San Joaquin Valley in the industrial part of a town called Fresno. […]