Carol,
My story could have been very much like yours. You see, I was born in
Brush, Colorado, in Morgan County, way up in the northeast corner by
Kansas. When WWII started, my father got a job working in the
shipyards in Richmond CA and sent my mother, my sister and I to my mother's
relatives in southern NM near El Paso TX, then after the war he sent for us and
we settled in what is now known as Silicon Valley. My father was
brought to Colorado from Jerez in 1916 at the age of 13 by his father who I
believe arrived earlier. In the census records, I find no other Spanish
surnames. When my husband was helping me search census records before they
were all online, he kept telling me, "No hay ni un frijol aqui! [I don't see a
single beaner here!] Why did your folks end up there?". I often wonder why
they ended up way up there; maybe you can tell me why some Mexicans ended up so
far north then (we are all over now).
My father surprised me one day when he told me he had been to Wyoming as a
young man. We had been talking about why he and my mother never went out
to eat, and he said he didn't like restaurant food, that my mother fixed
everything just the way he liked it; but he said there was one place in Wyoming
(I wish I had asked where and what took him there) that served excellent
"chile". I imagine it was what they later called chili con carne, or just
"chili". He said he and some fellow workers would go there and just say
"Chile!" (I don't think they could speak much English if at all) and they
would be served a bowl of delicious chili with crackers. He said he loved
it and would never forget it, that he wished he could have some right there and
then.
So I hope you can shed some light as to why some Mexicans so early in the
20th Century went directly way up to northeast Colorado and Kansas, rather than
to Texas, NM, CA, AZ. Maybe they didn't go there directly. I think
perhaps they got jobs on the railroads in Texas after crossing over (they came
on trains from Mexico and maybe inquired about jobs) and perhaps it was railroad
jobs that took them so far north. I do recall my father telling me that he
had once worked in a railroad roundhouse (where they clean and service
locomotives) and that it was the hardest work he had ever done in his life and
he left that work as soon as he could.
Emilie Garcia
Port Orchard, WA --
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 8:00
AM
Subject: Re: [ranchos] Cultural
Identity
Carol, I loved hearing about your research and results. You are
a true inspiration to me and to others. I enjoyed our having coffee after
doing research. Marge:)
On Jan 20, 2006, at 9:02 AM, Carol Turner
wrote:
My story - I always wondered why do I live in Kansas?
Growing up in the late 60's and early 70's wasn't
easy
at times. My paternal grandparents were here by
1916
and my maternal in the early 1920's in the state
of
KS. In doing my research and going back in time,
I
found many stories that touched my heart of what
my
grandparents had sacrificed, suffered and what
their
lives were like when they first got here...it
wasn't
easy. My parents were told they couldn't
speak
Spanish in school and that we need to try to "fit
in"
with the others. I went from Mexican to being
a
Chicana to being Mexican American or Hispanic is
what
they call us now. We lived on the Westside
Community
until I was 4 and then moved to Rosedale in KS
which
at that time was predominately Anglo. They sent me
to
St. Agnes and I grew up in this community
and
basically still in this community. Things change
over
the years, St. Agnes is now 35% Hispanic and
the
numbers are going up. We have more
Hispanic
celebrations now in in the City because of the
growth
of the Hispanic population.
Being
married to an Anglo, I felt the need in my 30's
and 40's to
embrace my culture which lead me to
research our family history,
volunteer my time at the
Hispanic Heritage booth at the Fiestas,
support our
Hispanic veterans here in KC among many other
meetings
or groups I have some involvement in. However I
would
have to say doing our research has brought me
to
embracing our culture because we our embracing
our
ancestors and their stories. Well I guess I need
to
journal more so someone can read these stories of
how
I feel...I doubt my kids will save my emails. -
Carol
Muro Turner
--- Emilie Garcia
<auntyemfaustus@...> wrote:
>
Alicia,
>
> Your story of growing up in a
multi-ethnic community
> sounds so much like mine. My
husband and I were
> brought to San Jose as small children in
1947, me
> from New Mexico and my husband from El Paso, TX,
and
> we grew up in an Italian neighborhood (the old
Goose
> Town area -that flooded often---near Sacred
Heart
> church--between Willow Street and Alma Street),
went
> to school with Japanese and Filipinos; I
later
> worked with new Cuban and Vietnamese immigrants
when
> our country opened up to refugees from
those
> countries. I still feel close to Italian
and
> Japanese culture, and remember fondly all
their
> customs and festivals there in the Valley.
Perhaps
> that is why we learned everything Italian, and
we
> consider it our second adopted ethnicity.
Although
> not all the Italians initially were friendly to
us,
> they more than the Anglos eventually embraced us
due
> to being Catholic, and the similarity between
our
> languages. We know of some of those Italians
who
> snubbed not only Mexicans but their own people
and
> even dropped the final vowel at the end of
their
> surname to make it sound more
Anglo--Diridondi
> became Diridon). That is very sad in
a culture that
> is normally very family-oriented and proud
of their
> ethnicity, as are the other groups I
mentioned.
>
> Emilie Garcia
>
Port Orchard, WA --
> ----- Original Message
-----
> From: Alicia
Carrillo<mailto:alliecar@...>
>
>
To:
>
ranchos@yahoogroups.com<mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com>
>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 10:38
PM
> Subject: [ranchos] Cultural
Identity
>
>
>
Linda,
>
> Just to put in my dos
centavos. I personally could
> not tell anyone else how or
what they should tell
> someone their nationality is, each
one of us is
> responsible for that very personal reply.
> From a personal persepctive If I were US born
I
> would say I was a US citizen and only if I chose
to
> go into more detail would I feel compelled to
tell
> anyone anything other than
that.
> I was not US born and was born in Mexico
and
> brought here when I was two. Most people don't
think
> of asking when I am alone but when with my
husband
> who is moreno they might ask. We then both
reply
> that we are Mexican if asked. Whenever we go
to
> restaurants, hardware store, grocery store or
any
> other place where we interface with Mexicans
or
> latinos we always go out of our way to speak
spanish
> or to deal with them in our first language.
Aside
> from making us feel better as well as making
them
> feel good that they are spoken to in their
language,
> we get preferential treatment. Occasionaly we
are
> mistaken regarding their ethnichity or
sometimes
> some people who are of Mexican/Latino descent and
do
> not speak spanish will get offended that we spoke
to
> them in Spanish.
>
> Again, I don't believe there are any hard
fast
> rules. I am more than happy to say that I
am
> Mexican, my oldest daughter is not so happy
about
> it. We know that she would rather not let
people
> know she is Mexican. Her name is Cristina Maria
and
> she puts it down as Christina Marie. Nothing we
can
> do about that, it is her choice. Our middle
daughter
> I think straddles the fence, sometimes Mexican
and
> sometimes not and our son the youngest embraces
his
> Mexican heritage. So you see, to each his own,
who
> am I to dictate what they should say and how
they
> should feel. Of course I would rather they
were
> proud of their ancestry and their heritage but
that
> is not always the case.
> I
personally feel such pride in my people,
> language, food,
music, family, land etc that
> sometimes I can feel it
bursting inside of me. Just
> like with anything in life
there are certain things
> where I do not feel pride, when I
see the culture of
> heavy drinking, spousal abuse and
ignorance but
> those are things I despise in any culture be
they
> Mexican, American or otherwise.
>
> If we each get comfortable with who we are, we
may
> not feel the need to explain it. If we do need
to
> explain it do so in a way that feels right for
you
> and don't let anyone dictate to you who you
should
> be and how you should say it.
>
> Our culture is not the only one struggling
with
> these issues it happens in all cultures. I have
a
> very dear friend who is American born of
Italian
> immigrant parents. Her parents were Peach and
Almond
> ranchers in the Central Valley of California.
They
> worked very hard all their lives to raise their
two
> children a boy and a girl. They gave them both
a
> very good education and they lived very
comfortably
> in an old farmhouse in Modesto. The son grew up
to
> be a local politician in Modesto and was
always
> ashamed of his parents and distanced himself
from
> them as much as possible. The daughter embraced
her
> Italian ethnicity to the max.
>
> When the parents died they owned much
land along
> with the old farmhouse. Because of the
estrangement
> from the son and daughter-in law everything
was left
> to the daughter. The father died first
with
> Parkinson's disease and in his will he had
left
> everything to his wife so she could leave it to
the
> son upon her death, after all he was the only
living
> male heir.
>
> The son would not be caught dead with
his father
> in public. His dad was a farmer till the day
he
> died, rough hardworking hands, flannel shirts,
jeans
> and workboots. He made his own wine which the
son
> would not drink.
>
> Keep in mind that the son had been favored
over
> the daughter most of his life because he was
the
> only male heir but ultimately when the mother had
a
> stroke and just before she died she transferred
all
> her assets to her daughter to do with as
she
> pleased. The daughter has two children a son and
a
> daughter. Her daughter who is tall and beautiful
was
> sent to Italy before finishing high school to
model
> in Milan. Upon her return she attached herself
to
> her uncle because he had more prestige and
she
> assumed would soon have more money as
the
> grandmother was very ill and near death. They
all
> assumed they would inherit big
bucks..........boy
> were they wrong. My girlfriend who is
the happiest
> Italian I know and who does not really need
the
> money had the last laugh. She always attended
the
> Italian Feasts with her mother in the church
and
> Italian clubs, family events etc. and has never
felt
> anything but pride in being who she is. Of
my
> girlfriend's two children her son is like her
and
> her daughter is like the brother.....go figure,
so
> you see Linda, it happens in all
cultures.
>
> I know I made this
too long but all my life most
> of my friends have been of
different ethnicities. Of
> my dearest friends one is
Italian, the other
> Japanese, Vietnamese, East Indian,
Persian and
> Chinese. I have always been told by all of them
and
> by many other people that I am very accepting
of
> their accent, language, foods and traditions. When
I
> was still working they always came to me for
advice
> and for assistance with issues that were new
or
> different to them. I guess that comes from being
an
> immigrant myself and having to assist family who
was
> coming in from Mexico as an interpreter, filling
out
> forms and documents and as a child even going
to
> court and to doctors appointments with them as
an
> interpreter. I grew to know them as people first
and
> secondly as immigrants.
>
> Ya Basta.....I will stop
now............Alicia
>
> Edward
Serros <ed@...> wrote:
>
--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Erlinda
>
Castanon-Long"
>
<longsjourney@y...> wrote:
>
>
> > I want to thank everyone
for the input on
> double surnames...Many
of
> us did not marry Hispanic but
would have kept
> our
> > maiden name regardless. Just
like someone
> said, it's a matter
of
> > family
pride..
> >
> > One more question.. which is
'politically'
> correct to designate our
> > nationality of origin if we
or our ancestors
> were from
Mexico...
> > Hispanic, Latino,
Mexican-American or
> American-Mexican? I find I
> > really upset some people when
I call myself
> Hispanic. I'm told that
> > excludes my Indio blood...
People ask me what
> my nationality is
> > because I'm just brown enough
to not be Anglo
> but have light green
> > eyes, my sister get's the
same thing and she
> has blue eyes and
> > freckles. I still laugh when
told I don't look
> like a Mexican... what
> > does a Mexican look
like!!!!
> >
> > Linda in
Everett
>
>
Linda,
>
=== message truncated
===
__________________________________________________
Do
You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
YAHOO! GROUPS
LINKS
?
Visit your group "ranchos"
on the web.
? To unsubscribe from this
group, send an email
to:
ranchos-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
? Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
|
|
by Date 
-