Essay 4 Echo Park
Paper #4: Madonnas of Echo Park
Society has placed certain stereotypes to a few ethnic groups of individuals, and standards that the people cannot meet due to their race. Is it fair for one to have certain stereotypes placed on them from the day that he/she is born? It definitely is the case for millions of Mexican immigrants and African Americans in the U.S regardless of whether it’s fair or not. Within the millions of Mexicans who made it to America legally or illegally, there is a prominent small amount of those who believe that they worked harder than the others to get to where they are (such as Efren Mendoza). They then tend to differentiate themselves from the rest, and consider themselves as “Americans”, and that’s what Mendoza stated at the beginning of the chapter: “You’re a Mexican, they say, trying to bond with me speaking Spanish. How can you turn against you own kind? They say. But they aren’t my kind. They’re not Americans.” (Skyhorse 72). They usually frown upon the Mexicans, and look at themselves on the same level as the American born people. Sure there are millions of those who fit the criteria/stereotype, however it doesn’t apply to everyone. In Efren’s mind it did. He would say that the Mexican men are here to steal jobs from the legitimate immigrants and Americans. That their women are here to pop off babies simply to get free health care, want schooling for their bastards and welfare from his taxes. He claims that they’re all freeloaders who are focusing the hatred and attention towards the legitimate Mexicans with papers; making them look bad. Mendoza is full of hatred towards these Mexicans; he even refuses to acknowledge himself as one. He had to learn the rules and suffer the stings of becoming an American. Working on a bus at an hourly rate of $21.27 and annual total of $53000 without a college degree is something that he’s very proud of coming from a Mexican background. Efren did it the correct way, the way the Government wishes
Society has placed certain stereotypes to a few ethnic groups of individuals, and standards that the people cannot meet due to their race. Is it fair for one to have certain stereotypes placed on them from the day that he/she is born? It definitely is the case for millions of Mexican immigrants and African Americans in the U.S regardless of whether it’s fair or not. Within the millions of Mexicans who made it to America legally or illegally, there is a prominent small amount of those who believe that they worked harder than the others to get to where they are (such as Efren Mendoza). They then tend to differentiate themselves from the rest, and consider themselves as “Americans”, and that’s what Mendoza stated at the beginning of the chapter: “You’re a Mexican, they say, trying to bond with me speaking Spanish. How can you turn against you own kind? They say. But they aren’t my kind. They’re not Americans.” (Skyhorse 72). They usually frown upon the Mexicans, and look at themselves on the same level as the American born people. Sure there are millions of those who fit the criteria/stereotype, however it doesn’t apply to everyone. In Efren’s mind it did. He would say that the Mexican men are here to steal jobs from the legitimate immigrants and Americans. That their women are here to pop off babies simply to get free health care, want schooling for their bastards and welfare from his taxes. He claims that they’re all freeloaders who are focusing the hatred and attention towards the legitimate Mexicans with papers; making them look bad. Mendoza is full of hatred towards these Mexicans; he even refuses to acknowledge himself as one. He had to learn the rules and suffer the stings of becoming an American. Working on a bus at an hourly rate of $21.27 and annual total of $53000 without a college degree is something that he’s very proud of coming from a Mexican background. Efren did it the correct way, the way the Government wishes