The United States of America is the epitome of the unification of diverse races and cultures. Although Americans do not coexist as well as others may believe, there is much racial strife today, despite the countless civil rights movements throughout the years. In Richard Rodriguez’s article “Does America Still Exist?” he makes the argument that this type of strife and this type diversity is the very definition of America. Rodriguez, raised during the fifties in Sacramento California, wished to call himself an American but referred to himself as Mexican. Rodriguez believes that assimilation is a natural process that occurs in America, regardless if people choose to assimilate, it is very different from Martha Serrano’s view of assimilation.
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Serrano does not wish to be a part of the labels that America has placed on her people, and that is why she wishes to be called Chicana. Serrano’s refusal of assimilation is ultimately ruined when she declares, “My ancestors are the conquistadores and the conquered indigenous people…” (149). Serrano wishes to conserve her culture and people, a people that has been conquered and assimilated. She fights against assimilation but she is already a part of an assimilated group. Mexico is a country that was molded by the Spanish who came to convert and unite the Indigenous people under one God. Its culture and language was shaped by the Spanish and Indigenous alike. Serrano mentions that the “Chicanos are mestizos, or the blending of two races and cultures” (149). America and Chicanos are alike in that they both are a blending of cultures, because the Chicano takes from American society just like America takes form the Chicano communities. Serrano and Rodriguez are the very definition of American society, from the people that refuse assimilation to those that accept …show more content…
Serrano believes that being Chicano, “means knowing who you are, and where you came from… means being proud of your ethnic background and history… means resisting assimilation into American mainstream society” (149). Being American does not mean being white but being a part of a group of racially diverse people. Serrano believes in creating a community of Chicanos and segregating herself from American society. But in her quest to segregate herself from American society she is becoming closer to it. Refusing mainstream society is already mainstream, as Rodriguez had previously stated. There have always been various people who have refused to conform and Serrano is just one of those countless people. She is part of a mainstream group, because she has already assimilated through her school and ideas. America was founded on this idea of rejecting the orders and ideology of others, and Serrano is just following up on this
Serrano does not wish to be a part of the labels that America has placed on her people, and that is why she wishes to be called Chicana. Serrano’s refusal of assimilation is ultimately ruined when she declares, “My ancestors are the conquistadores and the conquered indigenous people…” (149). Serrano wishes to conserve her culture and people, a people that has been conquered and assimilated. She fights against assimilation but she is already a part of an assimilated group. Mexico is a country that was molded by the Spanish who came to convert and unite the Indigenous people under one God. Its culture and language was shaped by the Spanish and Indigenous alike. Serrano mentions that the “Chicanos are mestizos, or the blending of two races and cultures” (149). America and Chicanos are alike in that they both are a blending of cultures, because the Chicano takes from American society just like America takes form the Chicano communities. Serrano and Rodriguez are the very definition of American society, from the people that refuse assimilation to those that accept …show more content…
Serrano believes that being Chicano, “means knowing who you are, and where you came from… means being proud of your ethnic background and history… means resisting assimilation into American mainstream society” (149). Being American does not mean being white but being a part of a group of racially diverse people. Serrano believes in creating a community of Chicanos and segregating herself from American society. But in her quest to segregate herself from American society she is becoming closer to it. Refusing mainstream society is already mainstream, as Rodriguez had previously stated. There have always been various people who have refused to conform and Serrano is just one of those countless people. She is part of a mainstream group, because she has already assimilated through her school and ideas. America was founded on this idea of rejecting the orders and ideology of others, and Serrano is just following up on this