#multiculturaleducation

 “I moved to the United States about seven years ago, and quickly accustomed to the differences from Mexico. But accustoming is not the right word, because in reality I assimilated not by choice, but by necessity. I neglected my own heritage, and I was fast to abandon traditions in order to fit in. However, I wasn’t oppressed by the school, teachers, or even my classmates, but I remember that some of my friends convinced me that by abandoning those traditions and ways, and moving to the modern ways, then I could become like them. Soon enough, the oppressed became the oppressor. I began to do the same.”

- Mitchell Jimenez Hernandez

    “I hold the Chicano Power movement dear at heart because it reminds me of the challenges Chicanos and Latinos have suffered throughout American history. My only knowledge of this movement, as an immigrant from Mexico and before taking a class in college on Racial and Ethnic Politics, really was only the work of leader Cesar Chavez in the struggle for better labor conditions for farmers in California. However, the extent that the Chicano movement truly encompasses is denser and richer than what it appears to be at surface level.             

One of the most compelling and thought provoking ideas that I learned in school regarding Chicanos is the doctrine of segregation between white and Mexican kids during the 30’s. Now, I am not unfamiliar of the idea and implementation of segregation between races in the United States because I have been taught about it since high school. However, I do not remember learning in high school, or even during my first three years of college, that Mexican Americans, Chicanos, fought a similar battle for desegregation in the US. It seems that either my professors “forgot” or the education system does not do a good job in really informing young citizens of this country’s past, which I find very problematic. By using history as a tool for the masses, we can draw similar narratives and use it for similar struggles that people of color, in this case Chicanos, face.  

Today Chicanos and Latinos experience a wave of prejudice and discrimination caused by extremist right wing ideology that is inflammatory in the arena of immigration. They use undocumented immigrants as a fairy tale scapegoat to put the blame on someone for their misfortunes in life. We see that American citizens of Latino heritage are accused, and in most instances, insulted with negative comments such as “go back to your own country” or “you don’t belong here beaner”. What saddens me is that this does not change. That anyone who does not fit the norm of white citizens is instantly crucified by the ideology of white supremacy. I understand that this does not include or represent Americans as a whole, but it is embedded deep into institutions and structures that compose America. History continues to repeat itself.”

- Mitchell Jimenez Hernandez