Section One/200-300 words
1. Drawing on the book, Sacrificing Families and the film we viewed in class, "De Nadie," explain why Latin American migrants come to the United States.
Latin Americans migrate for many reasons; however, there are some individuals who assume that the primary reason people migrate is to seek the "American Dream" when in reality their reasons surpass that. Latin American migrants come to the United States as a last resort in order to either provide for their families or remove themselves from their war-torn countries in order to avoid inevitable death. Both political and economic reasons cause Latin Americans to migrate (Abrego 32). At times those who are fortunate enough and have proper resources are able to migrate …show more content…
Rios lists that the institutions that enforce the youth control complex are "schools, police, probation officers, families, community centers, the media, businesses, etc." (Preface). These social control institutions take a toll on youth who are subject to constant microaggressions and forms of structural violence. They are left feeling a sense of worthlessness because they are targeted, affecting future outcomes. Many who fall under the youth control complex tend to abide by what is expected in regard to the way they are treated. However, those who do not let these institutions take them over, resist. Resistance from the youth control complex happens in many ways but for Emiliano, a former gang member, resistance came in the form of politics and being politically active. He states, "Racism makes some people break, but it makes others break records" (Rios 41). Emiliano used his understanding of what was occurring to him and other black and brown youth and used it as a format to be politically active and combat hyper-criminalization. Finding political identities through resistance is one of the many ways youth resist, others resist by committing violent crime, by organizing themselves and blocking off their streets with stolen cars and concrete slabs so police cars were unable to access them (41). These different forms of resistance are all …show more content…
In this country, there is a constant reminder for immigrant families that they should act a certain way or adhere to certain expectations. These expectations are automatically placed on second-generation immigrant children. They grow up having to comply with the cultural values their parents bring from their country and set values that society in the US implicitly set on immigrant families. As we have seen in Anthony Ocampo 's and Katie Acosta 's articles about Queer Latinx Youth, the receptions to gay men, lesbian women, and gender nonconforming individuals vary. Ocampo highlights the roles that race, cultural background, and status have on the experiences of homosexual males. Machismo plays a huge role into how gay men are perceived by parents, for immigrant parents, "it is more socially acceptable for women to engage in traditionally masculine behaviors than men, who are not permitted to engage in feminine behaviors and activities" (7). Acosta, on the other hand, speaks to the experiences of queer Latinas, and how their "relationships with family cannot be placed into simple categories of acceptance or rejection" like gay men (64). After disclosing their sexuality queer Latinas are sexually silenced and "families try to erase it by using control and manipulation tactics" (64). These are the different experiences both
1. Drawing on the book, Sacrificing Families and the film we viewed in class, "De Nadie," explain why Latin American migrants come to the United States.
Latin Americans migrate for many reasons; however, there are some individuals who assume that the primary reason people migrate is to seek the "American Dream" when in reality their reasons surpass that. Latin American migrants come to the United States as a last resort in order to either provide for their families or remove themselves from their war-torn countries in order to avoid inevitable death. Both political and economic reasons cause Latin Americans to migrate (Abrego 32). At times those who are fortunate enough and have proper resources are able to migrate …show more content…
Rios lists that the institutions that enforce the youth control complex are "schools, police, probation officers, families, community centers, the media, businesses, etc." (Preface). These social control institutions take a toll on youth who are subject to constant microaggressions and forms of structural violence. They are left feeling a sense of worthlessness because they are targeted, affecting future outcomes. Many who fall under the youth control complex tend to abide by what is expected in regard to the way they are treated. However, those who do not let these institutions take them over, resist. Resistance from the youth control complex happens in many ways but for Emiliano, a former gang member, resistance came in the form of politics and being politically active. He states, "Racism makes some people break, but it makes others break records" (Rios 41). Emiliano used his understanding of what was occurring to him and other black and brown youth and used it as a format to be politically active and combat hyper-criminalization. Finding political identities through resistance is one of the many ways youth resist, others resist by committing violent crime, by organizing themselves and blocking off their streets with stolen cars and concrete slabs so police cars were unable to access them (41). These different forms of resistance are all …show more content…
In this country, there is a constant reminder for immigrant families that they should act a certain way or adhere to certain expectations. These expectations are automatically placed on second-generation immigrant children. They grow up having to comply with the cultural values their parents bring from their country and set values that society in the US implicitly set on immigrant families. As we have seen in Anthony Ocampo 's and Katie Acosta 's articles about Queer Latinx Youth, the receptions to gay men, lesbian women, and gender nonconforming individuals vary. Ocampo highlights the roles that race, cultural background, and status have on the experiences of homosexual males. Machismo plays a huge role into how gay men are perceived by parents, for immigrant parents, "it is more socially acceptable for women to engage in traditionally masculine behaviors than men, who are not permitted to engage in feminine behaviors and activities" (7). Acosta, on the other hand, speaks to the experiences of queer Latinas, and how their "relationships with family cannot be placed into simple categories of acceptance or rejection" like gay men (64). After disclosing their sexuality queer Latinas are sexually silenced and "families try to erase it by using control and manipulation tactics" (64). These are the different experiences both