Fighting the Heritage

We have been talking in class a lot recently about the significance race plays in society, but also on an individual level. One way to categorize race is by language. One language that we have identified as having a stigma is Spanish. It is seen as “non-white”, therefore making it different. Certain assumptions come from outsiders, along with speaking this language. Sometimes people of Spanish decent try to cut ties with their Spanish heritage in order to get away from these assumptions.

A very dear friend of mine is 50% Mexican (from his Dad) and 50% Puerto Rican (from his Mother). However, they only truly embrace their Puerto Rican side. For the longest time, I could not understand why. I found that it was because of the heavy influence from their father.

Their father did not have any pride in his heritage. When I asked him (the Dad) once on occasion about if he had ever been to Mexico, he responded “Absolutely not. And I plan on never going.” He clearly has a problem with this. As sociology minor, I was very intrigued by this. So I dug a little deeper. It turns out that the Dad does not like to embrace his full Mexican heritage. (I say “full” because, he does make a mean homemade salsa and some of the best tamales I have ever had. Cooking is where he embraces his heritage most.)

My friend has a very "American" name; however, his younger brother’s name is very clearly of Spanish decent. I found out that the Mother wanted to name my friend “Junior”, a typical name for the first born in a Spanish household. However, the Father put his foot down. “No way, was my boy being name something like that,” he said as he was recalling the story. (The Father lost the battle of naming his younger son.) He said that his Dad did give him such a blatantly Hispanic name.

I still did not quite understand why there was such a resistance to his heritage. I found that it all started with his childhood. He was the only Mexican in a predominantly black and Irish neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. I imagine he had tried to fit in his whole life, and being Mexican he had always felt he was challenged. So in turn, he cut ties with some of his heritage in order to make sure he was not associated with this group.

I found out later, that it had been something his father had done as well. He wanted to make sure that he was not necessarily fighting the stigma, but taking himself out of it completely. He believed he was at some sort of disadvantage by playing up his Mexican side. So in order to oblige with rules and norms society had developed, he cut himself away from his heritage.