People of the same race tend to always live with or around each
other. When it comes to any racial group, living in a community with people
that look like you tends to make life somewhat simpler. Of course, you never
seem to escape other forms of indifference, but as far as race is
concerned you are equal. If you drive around different parts of Los Angeles,
that becomes very clear. I understand that living like this didn't happen
accidentally but we have grown so accustom to it that it seems abnormal to have
it any other way. We know where our boundaries lie and where we are welcome as
well as not. For someone part of a minority group, frustration has got to be
the number one emotion that comes to mind when thinking of these
"invisible lines" one can not cross. Being confined to one section of
a city is not exactly the type of living situation we all hope for. Nowadays it
is more acceptable for people of minority groups to live outside these
boundaries, but as far as the readings, it wasn't always like that. For a
Chicano/a to live outside their barrio was just not going to happen and there
were people who were going to make sure this didn't happen. it opens your eyes
to the kind of world we've grown familiar with when a property looses value
because of where it is located or who happens to live in the surroundings.
Growing up, my family was fit to this mold. Looking back now, i realize we only
lived in areas where we had other Hispanic families around us. I must
imagine that to my parents living in a community with people who came from the
same background as our family made the transition to living in the
United States that much easier. I can most certainly say that attending public
schools rather than private schools made my childhood a significantly easier
just by the fact that my classmates too were of Hispanic descent and we
understood each other. My parents could communicate with theirs and there
wasn't that economic barrier of not being able to have things in common because
of the different lifestyles we lived. I can imagine that not only would it have
been difficult for my parents to afford private schooling, but to them it was
like living in mexico where everyone went to public school. Living in a
Hispanic community was simple and "safe" for us. Also there was no
need for private schooling because again living among other Chicanos we were
safe. We didn't bother questioning why it had to be that way, it just was. i
can't help but feel a sense of anger that right from the beginning families are
pushed into a mold that has been around for so long and shows no signs of
improvement. It amazes me how even though these small communities have so
little, when a freeway or public building has to be built, they are the first
to go without proper compensation for kicking someone out of their homes and
having them relocate and find a home elsewhere. people living in these barrios
don't have the funds or anything to compare to what a wealthy person can pay to
make sure their homes aren't near highways or public buildings. Minorities
simply get the boot and have to accept the fact that it is suppose to be like
that, because honestly there is only so much you can fight back until they
decide to drive you out or fight back until you have no money left to keep
attorneys and to appeal them. At which point they make you settle for a
"pay out".
you are right! from what i have seen about chican/o communities, they always tend to live near each other. I feel its because they feel comfortable within each other that they stay that way and do not try to get out of those barrios. They get so accustomed to living a certain way with certain people, that even though they are being pushed away, and are being squeezed together, they still choose to stay because that is all they know. Its true, they should fight back but like what you said, they can only fight back for so long. They do not have the same advantages that the majority possess. It is not fair they are being forced to live in areas that are highly polluted when it was not like that when they first got there. No amount of money can sum up being driven out of your home.
ReplyDeleteI believe comfort is a main reason for people staying close to those of the same ethnicity. We are born with the inclination that we should fear the unfamiliar. Minorities do not want to separate and live in all white communities, just as much as whites fear moving into a mostly Mexican populated area. Being near those with the same ethnicity, culture, and religious practices makes everyday tasks easier, and makes conversation easier with neighbors. I am a prime example of this scenario. I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood. There was one African American family and only a handful of Mexican decent. In school, the chicanos formed their own group and surrounded themselves with the familiar. As I walked past them, they were speaking spanish. This is common because they probably connect more with this group and feel most at home with them. In a larger scale, this is true for families in neighborhoods, which then develop into larger cities.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you, comfort is a big part of living with the same race. When you live with the same race you don't have to deal with people judging you if you park your car on your lawn or have a bbq in the front yard or dry you clothes outside or live with 2 other families, because the likelihood of your neighbors doing the same thing is very high. When I took a polysci class last semester we talked about something called linked fate, where people of the same group stick together because they feel more accepted there even if they do not agree with the groups ideology. That if something happened, it would affect the whole group and not the individual. I just feel like people just want to be accepted and if they have to deal with something like that its only a small price to pay. Maybe people don't want to move because they have no where else to go. They don't want to feel uncomfortable in another place.
ReplyDelete