Through first-person reminiscences and interviews, the viewer can have an insight into the problems that the Puerto Rican population has to face in terms of language barriers, school problems, and welfare dependence. One of the key scenes in Puerto…
Ernesto Galarza had to undertake the mission of learning the English language.Ernesto moved from Mexico to The United States. He had trouble learning English up until Miss. Ryan helped him. In the excerpt Barrio Boy in paragraph 13 it says, “...,No less shining than mine the day I conquered “butterfly” which I had been persistently pronouncing in standard Spanish as boo-tee-flee.”…
Carter then describes that restrictive language policies still occur today due to the common misunderstanding of Spanish speakers. Carter presents the misunderstandings in the form of four myths: Latinos aren’t interested and cannot learn English, speaking Spanish hinders their ability to speak English, children will learn Spanish at home, and that Spanish is taking over schools. Carter disproves each myth by providing factual evidence and personal experience. For instance, Carter mentions that social science data shows that Latinos learn English at a fast rate and that some evidence suggests that policies restricting a student’s usage of a home language affect literacy skill in English. Carter also mentions that he has yet encountered a young person that refuses to learn English. Making language policies such as Proposition 227 nothing but problematic. Carter concludes his argument by stating that Spanish is an economy and cultural resource that should be cultivated not dismantled, and should, therefore, be provided as an educational policy along with…
On May 16, I interviewed Ignacio Torres about what it means to be American to him. This man came to the U.S. at age 16 with his older brother and his mother. To live the american dream he had to wake up early every day to work in the fields with his family. Years later passed so he decided to go back to Mexico to marry my mom. Both of them came to the U.S. without any children. They lived happy and Ignacio soon became a True American almost 20 years ago.…
More than one Million Latinos live in New England. This Book observes the Latinos impact on the religions culture, politics and economics while at the same time it investigates the effects of the locale of Latino resident’s lives and traditions. This book explores demographic trends, migration and community formation, and identity and politics using a wide range of approaches. From the Dominicans entering the Latino community In Water Bury, Connecticut, to the immigration experiences of Latinos in Massachusetts, these essays show a new view of the growing Latino presence in the birth place of the United States.…
To begin with, even the most similar people have their own points of views and differences that lead them to different beliefs. In the story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker, protagonist Maggie and her sister Dee both have different views on their own heritage. Also, in the story “Two Ways to Belong in America,” by Bharati Mukherjee, sisters Mira and Bharati have the same relationship. Both sisters from each story have to embrace their backgrounds, while the other one assimilates to a new culture.…
Americans have enormous national pride, which often leads them to become unwilling and unable to look inward. Americans see themselves and their ideals as universal truths, such as freedom, while it appears to other countries to be nationalism. For those Americans who don’t question information and don’t think beyond their own existence, it makes sense to say that they are naive to our nationalism and the nationalism of other countries.…
“The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know.”(Truman) America derives from relationships, events, and ideas that shaped all that it is today. The topics that most shaped America include the environment, government, and employment.…
Few also understand how their unsupervised sons and daughters did not initially have the support of any city or church programs and had to fend for themselves. The oral histories in this collection describe how the first youth formed social sports and cultural clubs and played at the boys’ club and Y.M.C.A. As more Puerto Ricans were displaced and forced to move into previously white-only areas of Chicago, clashes became more frequent and these social clubs turned to become…
Miami, FL is a place that has to be felt rather than seen or heard—and by that I mean observed beyond all senses, with mind, body, heart, and soul. I’ve been entrenched in it my whole life, a little Cuban princesita not so different from all the rest, but it’s only as I’ve gotten older that I’ve fully felt like a part of a community, a culture. I feel it when I talk, casually, to the elderly cashier at my neighborhood grocery store, a familiar combination of Spanish, English, and what many call cubanismos, phrases with meanings that simply will not tolerate literal translations, spilling forth. I feel it while seated at a table of no fewer than four relatives on any given evening, judging the quality of a restaurant on the quality of their flan de caramelo or their café. I feel it, too, in the colorful songs of Ernesto Lecuona and the ardent verses of José Marti, but most of all in the anecdotes of my grandparents and great aunt, the nostalgia of long-settled immigrants, echoes of sorrow, shared over dominoes and rice and beans and coladas of espresso.…
Everyone sees their American Identity differently. For example, people from the 1900’s won’t say the same thing as someone from the 2000’s. There are many reasons why that is. One being that they didn’t have the same things we do today. Plus technology wasn’t as common as it is today so it was all manual labor. Now that there is more technology there is less need for that. As time went on, American identities changed a lot.…
Vargas, Deborah R. "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom." Latino/a Popular Culture. New York: New York UP, 2002. 117-26. Print.…
Puerto Rico has many places to go to visit some are: beaches, hotels, museums, and restaurants. A place very visited is the most famous cave, the Rio Camuy Cave Park. It is the island show cave. The old San Juan history and tenancy may be the best reason for visiting. Today the city vibrates as a center of art, architecture, culture, shopping and fun. You can spend days just visiting its museums, churches, art galleries, parks and plazas. Visit for a hiking in the Guánica Dry Forest. Skate ice in Aguadilla, and there are enough lighthouses, museums, monuments and shopping centers to keep everyone happy. Among the many sights to see in Ponce are a world class art the home of the family that owns Don Q rum, Cruceta del Vigía, a lookout with an Hacienda Buena Vista, and red and black Fire House, trolleys offer free transportation to the sights around the town and to La Guancha, a boardwalk and park that is popular or weekends. Not far from town is Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center, the most important archeological site of its type in the Caribbean. Other attraction is the treasure the rainforest or El Yunque National Forest. Other place interesting for the tourism of Puerto Rico is the Caguas Botanical Garden an essential destination for nature lovers. In Mayaguez, near the University of Puerto Rico, second largest campus, run by the Puerto Rico National Park Company, the Zoo named Dr. Juan A. Rivero. Also, three public bathing beaches with full facilities at Boquerón, Cabo Rojo; Caña Gorda, Guánica; and Tres Hermanos, Añasco. Arecibo Lighthouse Park is one of many popular attractions. Aibonito’s flower festival is a famous throughout the island. A great attraction in Utuado is The Caguana Indigenous Ceremonial Park. A day trip to Lago Dos Bocas paradise is so much fun with the family, children’s and friends. Other place to visit is the Luis A. Ferré Science Park. A trip to the Bioluminescent Bay at La Parguera in Lajas. Other touristic…
Over the next four years, the Katipunan founders would recruit new members. By the time the society was uncovered, the American writer James Le Roy estimated the strength of the Katipunan at 100,000 to 400,000 members. Historian Teodoro Agoncillo estimated that the membership had increased to around 30,000 by 1896. The Ilocano writer Isabelo de los Reyes estimated membership at 15,000 to 50,000.…
As a child I would always think about what my life was going to be like and how was I going to turn out. I asked myself why life was so complicated? Why were my parents so worried all the time? So many questions I didn’t have the answer to. Now that I’m old enough I see things so differently. Those questions I had when I was young, were no longer a mystery to me. My experiences through life answered them and taught me many other things.…