A Note About Being 2nd Generation Mexican-American
This post comes as a result of growing up a light skinned Mexican-American and after many conversations with close friends and family members of similar heritage. When #blacklivesmatter started trending, I set out to better understand the struggles of African-Americans and figure out what I could do to help. I was surprised to see that in some documentaries and articles, the black and brown struggle were grouped into the same plight. My initial thought was that I had never experienced anything like the stories in the media and that this has got to be some giant mistake. Truthfully a part of me still feels this way, but upon further discussing things with my three sisters, we all came to the same conclusion. We had in fact each experienced some sort of racial discrimination at one time or another, but not quite in the way you might think. To quote the movie Selena, "we have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans," and it really is exhausting.
You see, my sisters and I are only second generation Americans. By that I mean that my mother is an American citizen by birthright but some of her siblings and my grandparents were born in Mexico. My grandparents used to come back and forth between the two countries frequently on something called a “Crop Visa.” They would come up during the crop season to work and did eventually move to North Texas and become American citizens as well. I thank my lucky stars every day to be American, but that doesn’t mean I don’t mourn the missing parts of my Mexican heritage.
Because my family were immigrants, there are parts of our Mexican culture that simply were not taught to my sisters and I. We didn’t speak Spanish at home, we didn’t observe Mexican traditions, and we didn’t learn to cook traditional Mexican meals. As an adult, I have taken it upon myself to learn many of these things. I called all my tias and figured out some of my abuelita’s best recipes, we’ve started observing Dia De Los Muertos, and I try so, so hard at Espanol. To be clear, I don’t blame my family for not teaching me those things, they were trying to assimilate into a new culture and I totally get it. The thing is though, try as we might, we aren’t fully American. It is extremely difficult to grow up between two cultures. To our white friends, we are Mexican. But to other Mexicans, we are very Americanized. Not living up to either stereotype leaves you feeling emotionally disoriented.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to the conclusion that I will no longer let someone who thinks I don't fit into their image of what a Mexican-American should be steal my pride. I am a light skinned second generation American proudly forging my own dream. My grandparents sacrificed literally everything so that I could write a story all my own and that’s what I intend to do! To all minorities, it is my belief that we were born to bravely stand together, our voices will always be louder together than as one!
To learn more about what it’s like to grow up with a mixed identity, I highly suggest you check out Mixed In America on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixed_in_america/. They are able to put so many things into words that I simply couldn’t!
If you ever want to talk to me directly about this, don’t hesitate to message me on Facebook or Instagram!
XO - Olivia