How does your experience of race compare to the history of how it came to be?
I feel that my experience of race is very much different for the reason that growing up in the most diverse bubble in the United States has allowed me the privilege of not facing much discrimination. For the most part, I haven’t had any experiences of people being blatantly rude to my face or verbally identifying me with stereotypes unlike those who fought for our freedom. Despite this, there are some similarities in regards to the emotions tied to being a colored person in the United States, particularly in 2018.
Feeling particularly isolated and abused, non-Americans joined together to form Barrios and Mutualistas. These were groups formed in order to survive the marginalization and exploitation. Barrios were communities comprised of and created by Mexican-Americans in the territories acquired by the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in the second half of the 19th century. Mutualistas were organizations formed by African-Americans in the 19th century to provide essential economic and social services, such as health and life insurance, funeral services, and cultural entertainment. These groups helped them survive by allowing for Collaboration meaning they were not struggling alone. Additionally, this allowed for the support of each other. An example of this was the creation of businesses where they would buy and sell from each other. As a result, they shared financial resources, child care support, food, education and were able to prevent their culture from being taken away and Americanized through continuous cultural events.
Although I may not be able to relate to the same level of intensity as these two groups, I can relate with the idea that in order to succeed you must support each other. Coming to the United States, my grandmother and her siblings all immigrated one by one struggling to survive. With little money, they shared groceries, reused everything from cloth diapers to tin foil and would watch each other's children while they would go to work. Although this was not my personal experience, I will never forget the struggle my grandparents went through in order to give me a chance at living a better life and experiencing the American dream. Those are the same communitive ideologies that are instilled in me today. Additionally, ingrained in me is the idea that you should always help others. Between both my parents, my mom instilled this more communicative idea while my dad heavily believes in the idea that you have to deal with your one problems and you can’t rely on others. My family continues to celebrate the same holidays and prayer ceremonies that they would, living in Fiji, preserving their cultural heritage just as the Mexican and African Americans did during the 19th century. Mexican and African Americans have been facing this fight a lot longer than other cultures yet, and unlike many others, they continue to keep their identities intact. In other cultures, many people lose their ability to speak their ethnic language over the course of 1 to 2 generations, simply because they assimilated to American culture, losing their cultural roots like me.
Aside from cultural values, Mexican Americans felt the need to assimilate, despite the fact that they were born in America and felt that this was just as much their home as anyone else's. I may not have experienced quite the heavy pressure that Mexican Americans did, but I still feel that in order to utilize my potential to the best of my abilities, I must present myself as being the least "ethnic" as I can. Today's society is pressured to become more diverse and inclusive, however, I feel that features that look good on paper are all that really matter. My tan skin qualifies me as being ethnically diverse, but I feel in order to move up into higher positions you must attain specific qualities which are found in American culture rather than ethnic ones.
