Don't live up to your stereotypes. –Sherman Alexie. In Luis M. Valdez’s Los Vendidos the author is internalizing this quote by Alexie and portraying Mexican stereotypes through the characters he has employed in the short one-act play. Los Vendidos is set in Honest Sancho’s Used Mexican Lot and Mexican Curio Shop where Sancho has on display various Mexicans machines with different characteristics. All characters and their characteristics in Los Vendidos represent a stereotype of the Mexican people.
Chicano Culture The history of ethnic Mexicans in the American political and education systems between 1940 and 2012 shows the struggle of Mexican Americans from discrimination, bias and stereotyping. Although these struggles have been somewhat addressed through various efforts, achieved primarily through the Mexicans’ coalition with other minorities, the issues surrounding Mexicans and their conditions in American society have still remained somehow extant in the 21st century. As Weber (1970) suggests, deeply rooted stereotypes against Mexicans still remain a formidable obstacle to more harmonious relations between Mexicans and Anglo Americans (p. 166-167). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made a huge impact on the political situation of Mexican Americans, as it marked a political transformation in terms of identity and political strategy. From trying to claim “whiteness” in order to escape racial discrimination, the Act has encouraged them to claim their brownness instead, and join other minorities in progressing politically (MacLean, 2007).
With these appalling circumstances who can blame illegal aliens seeking the promise of a better life? Victor Davis Hanson does, author of "Mexifornia: A State of Becoming" feels that illegal aliens aren't only a burden on the economy, but also a hindrance to the purity of American society/culture. I however don't agree with Hanson's ideology, and I firmly believe Mexifornia Hanson’s “essay within a memoir” is a critically flawed piece of literature in many regards. Hanson's work questions the very status of the state of California, as a flood of illegal immigrants from Mexico continues to cross into California unveiled, and hence Hanson's usage of terms such as "Mexifornia" and "Calexico". While Hanson makes significant points in terms of the reasoning behind this "great migration" of illegal immigrants, the rest of his work is too hypothetical and contradictory to be seriously taken into account.
For example, in 1776 there was slavery/racism and women were not given equal rights, as they were not able to vote. Today there is still some racism that exists towards Mexicans and African Americans. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, which means, we are supposed to treat fellow human beings with the same amount of respect and equality. Although this is stated in the Declaration, the principle is not currently relevant today. People in school will make racist comments towards Mexicans for their difference in race and African Americans are still judged for their different color of skin.
LOS VENDIDOS Introduction Los Vendidos which means “the sell outs” is a drama made by Luis Valdes in 1967 and it was first performed at the Brown Beret junta in Elysian Park, East Lo Angeles. This play brings the prejudices faced by Mexican in America. There is misconceptions that Americans have towards the Mexicans. The play is a form of resistance for Chicanos and it is a way for Americans to think for themselves about the misconstrued views and stereotypes they have about Mexican-Americans. He adapts the motifs and character traits that conform to relevant aspects of Mexican folk culture.
On the whole, however, he remains a subject—someone to be killed or mocked, seduced or redeemed by Saxon protagonists.” (Pettit, 132) Not only are they given these stereotypical characteristics in films, even cartoons and advertisements utilize this image to make a statement. The short and chubby cartoon character wearing a Mexican hat with a mustache on his face, dancing to a cheerful tune and talking with an accent may come across to the viewers as funny, but in fact the stereotypes portrayed are the result of the hierarchy and class system in society, even up till this day. In the United States, Mexicans have been categorized as a lower working class who are lazy and not serious about their work, and much of this phenomenon is credited to the United State's media system and its stereotypical portrayals of the minorities. These stereotypes lead to the public's assumption that members of the Mexican race are just as depicted in these films. In the film Traffic (2000) directed by Stephen Sodeberg, some historical Mexican representations apply to this contemporary film to affirm the stereotypes.
Throughout the novel, Boyle makes use of situational irony, on the where bouts of wanting to kick them out of the country for crossing the borders and its gate, yet they get paid for building those borders and gates. Furthermore, Boyle carries on the notion of how Americans despise illegal immigrants, more specific Mexicans, for being in their “American” country, with “American” values, and
The Puerto Rican people, who flee the country with no job, are still searching after arriving to the US. People who emigrate with a professional career such as: 1,206 with a managerial profession, 4,487 administrative or clerical works, 3,815 sales people, among others, are still searching for places to work after arriving. True, the world has become to be composed of sedentary people seeking compliance from one place to live. Agriculture was part of the daily life of each individual long time ago. Over the years we noticed agriculture is not the job of the individual, but which became an industry that channels the fruits and deliver them to families without the need for home gardens.
The first pro of having all year round school is the fact that the traditional school calendar is out of date. When public schools were first set up the United States was still mainly agriculturally based. Most of the students when the public schools were first set up lived on a farm and helped the parents around the farm. The school system acknowledged that and so they set up a 2.5 to 3 month summer vacation for students to help around the farm because that is the optimal time when farming is at its peak. And in today’s society, as much as we like a summer break that is two and half to three months long, isn’t really needed.
His father was a common shopkeeper, which did not give him any advantages of class or special education. At an early age he was sent away to school, where he received an early exposure to a more rural environment. His education took him to several locations throughout the English countryside, finally completing his education at the age of 15. Influenced by an Uncle who was a farmer, at the age of 21 he immigrated with two companions to the United States with the intention of farming. They traveled to the West and he settled on 160 acres in Howard County, Nebraska as a homestead farmer.