El Norte Film Analysis

Traditionally, growing up as a Caucasian, especially in the United States, one never considers racism an issue. In the Western civilization, race places a vital role in determing one’s class and status. Historically, “the development of the concept of race can be traced back to Aristotle’s doctrine of genus, species, difference, property, and accident” (Mulvaney 2016, 1). For instance, “in the 19th century, societies with imperialistic tendencies used the concept of race to their advantage” (Mulvaney 2016, 1). As a result, the White race is perceived as the superior race, while Minorities are perceived as racially oppressed in order to maintain and defend a system of wealth, power, and privilege. Therefore, “good reasons were needed to justify …show more content…
That is, Guatemalans and Mexicans share similar cultures and should be treated similarly. One should not be treated less than the other. Instead, Mexicans are perceived as the more dominant Latino race in the film due to the fact that Enrique and Rosa had to pretend to be like them, in order to cross the border and get to the North. On the other hand, while Enrique and Rosa pretended to be like Mexicans, the Mexicans found them to be illiterate and unsuspicious campesinos. For example, the character Don Mojte who happens to be Mexican, played a role of significance in the film. Not only does Don Mojte, profits by placing Enrique and Rosa “in low paying jobs and taking their wages as rent… [But his role,] depicts the economic exploitation of one Hispanic by another, and it stands in sharp contrast to the solidarity within the Indian village” (List 1989, 29). Hence, one’s race should not be used to determine one’s status. In the end, “race is a ‘social, cultural, and political concept based largely on superficial appearances’” (Boyd 1996). Therefore, privileges are bestowed on Caucasians by the institutions with which they interact solely because of their race, not because they are deserving as