Published by fdwardrerros –

Comentario





depending on who's asking and what I'm feeling I'll ask the question 
when asked what I am:

"Are you asking what my ethnicity is or what my nationality is?"

Most of the time I say I am Mexican born in San Jose, CA

I just move on and let them figure it out, but their next word better 
not be, "But. . ." because then I'll give them a lesson about who was 
here first and how Mexican people should not be considered "New" to the 
United States. And who would they consider the true owners to be and how 
would they feel about the ownership of property if someone stole it from 
them.

And yes my skin can become pretty light especially over the winter when 
I stay inside most of the time, but let me get out into my garden and I 
almond up pretty good. But don't let anyone call me "white". . .one day 
this black woman  saw me eating Churches Chicken and she said, "Come on 
Joe white people don't eat churches." Well they never called me white 
again and I even heard that woman (in my presence) telling another 
co-worker that I wasn't white.

but 95% of the time i simply say, "I am Mexican born in San Jose, CA"

joseph


--

Comentario

Well said Ed, I had heard that before... maybe part of my problem is 
a feeling of unwarrented guilt, I'm not even sure of what!  All my 
ancestors ever asked of us was not to sully the name Castanon, no 
more no less.. not a word about where we came from but more about 
where we are going.. thank you for your well thought out input.
Linda in Everett

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Edward Serros" <ed@s...> wrote:
>
> --- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Erlinda Castanon-Long"
> <longsjourney@y...> wrote:
> >
> > I want to thank everyone for the input on double surnames...Many 
of
> us did not marry Hispanic but would have kept our 
> > maiden name regardless. Just like someone said, it's a matter of 
> > family pride..
> > 
> > One more question.. which is 'politically' correct to designate 
our 
> > nationality of origin if we or our ancestors were from Mexico... 
> > Hispanic, Latino, Mexican-American or American-Mexican?  I find 
I 
> > really upset some people when I call myself Hispanic. I'm told 
that 
> > excludes my Indio blood... People ask me what my nationality is 
> > because I'm just brown enough to not be Anglo but have light 
green 
> > eyes, my sister get's the same thing and she has blue eyes and 
> > freckles. I still laugh when told I don't look like a Mexican... 
what 
> > does a Mexican look like!!!!
> > 
> > Linda in Everett
> 
> Linda,
> 
> I have debated for a number of days responding to this and I wish 
to
> offend no one. In trying to figure out what to say I decided that I
> would simply try to bring attention to a book published in 1919 
that
> struggled with the idea of cultural identity, amongst many other
> things. The book was originally written in Spanish by Vicente 
Blasco
> Inañez. It was called "Los Cuatoro Jinetes de Apocalipsis" and is 
more
> commonly known by its English translation "The Four Horsemen of the
> Apocalypse". Ibañez does a fine job in presenting the confusion 
which
> may arise in subsequent generations when the "founder" moves from 
one
>  country/culture (Europe) to another country/culture (Argentina). 
The
> conundrum is presented in a very entertaining manner. Needless to 
say,
> in typical latin fashion, the end is death.
> 
> In the book one of the characters, Julio Madariaga, an immigrant
> Basque, makes a fortune in the Americas (Argentina) and has many
> children, legitimate and illegitimate, brown and fair. His son-in-
law
> is an immigrant Frenchman, Marcelo Denoyers, who says something in
> relation to cultural identity which I will never forget. You or 
others
> in this group may not necessarily agree with it but I quote the
> paragraph from the book.
> 
> "Where a man makes his fortune and raises his family, there is his
> true country," he said sententiously, remembering Madariaga.
> 
> Reread the quote. For what it is worth, Desnoyer's rich son 
returned
> to France to find a majestic country, cultural isolation, personal
> guilt, and finally death on the battlefield.  
> 
> Ed
>

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