Conversation 6

• Describe one identity that you have that you are most proud of and explain why. Describe also one identity that you either are not proud of, or struggle with. Explain why you are not proud of this identity or why you struggle with it. 

One identity that I have that I am very proud of would have to be being Latina/Hispanic. Growing up, I would always take trips to Colombia during my summer breaks in school, which meant I really got to learn the culture behind the country my mom is from. I also knew the language very well so I was able to communicate with those from my culture and learn different expressions used in South America. I would always come back on the first day of school to tell my friends all about Colombia and the beautiful things that can be found there. Not only that, but I thankfully was never received with any backlash towards this, even though most of my friends were white/non-Latin, they were always willing to hear about my culture which in turn helped my pride and my security with my identity as a Latina female. Though I will say, I was always not proud of the fact that I was a Latino American woman. Nowadays, I do take more pride in this, but just a couple of years back I would always be jealous of my cousins who lived in Colombia. They would always post pictures of the beautiful views, going to farms, eating Colombian food etc. that I felt like I was missing out. I also felt what some would call, here in America, a ‘No Sabo’ kid. The term ‘no sabo’ kid is used towards Latins who don’t resonate as much with their Latin culture, aka those born in another country that isn’t their parents. Although I spoke Spanish very well, It didn’t roll off the tongue as well as most of my family. The accents and pronunciation of the ‘r’ always got me, and I would often get picked on by my family. Of course, it was a lighthearted joke, but as a kid I took it to heart and would rehearse saying words in Spanish that had the rolling r sound. I’m still not great at it even to this day and struggle with finding certain words in Spanish but I am also very proud of the fact that I went to a school that only spoke English and somehow still can fluently speak a second language, especially one as popular as Spanish. Spanish is taught in all high schools so you can imagine the jealousy my friends had when I didn’t have to study for a Spanish test and got 100’s without even paying attention. Those kinds of situations make me feel very proud of my identity.

• After reading the article “The Potential and Promise of Latino Students” discuss one new thing you learned about the Latino population. Be specific and explain your thoughts and reactions regarding what you read and learned.

I was actually very interested in reading this, especially with the statistics shown in the article. I had general knowledge of the fact that Latino students tend to lag behind in academics but I never knew the statistics were that low, so learning about them was very eye-opening. Firstly, Latinos are the least likely of all subgroups to attend preschool. Preschool is not very academically challenging but it is the foundation for kids to start learning social skills in a public setting, kids are taught how to act, how to clean up after themselves, how to make friends and this is extremely important for children, as they are just getting to know the world. Learning that Latinos are the least likely to attend shocked me, I am thankful my parents were able to afford at the time a great preschool for me. Moving on to the proficient levels found in elementary school, we see that only 26% of Latinos are proficient tin math, compared to 51% of white students and 65% of Asian students. For reading, the percentage is even lower, at 21% of Latino students scoring at a proficient level. Reading and mat are fundamental to life and less than 30% of Latino students are proficient in the early stages, this is very concerning. There is also the importance of the population of Latino students, where we see that Southern states by far have the lowest. In southern states, as shown on the graph, from 1990 to early 2000s, the percentage of Latino students were only 1-5%. As the 2010s rolled around, the number increased to 12% which is an improvement but still incredibly low. The lack of representation is southern states can add to these statistics, as Latino students might not feel as motivated when going up against their white/Asian counterparts at these schools just because of their heritage. High school graduation rates are high at 76% but we still see the consistent lagging behind of their counterparts, white students at 87% and Asian students at 89%. When we move on to the college setting, the information didn’t shock me because of real life experiences. Most of my family, including I, fit into these statistics. Nearly half of Latinos choose to go to a community college, and only 17% actually transfer to a 4 year. This is likely because Latinos have to work while attending college and likely require remedial courses that delay the progress to a degree. So many factors contribute to these setbacks like financial trouble, community, home situation and immigration status. I can first hand agree with the reasons stated in this article as I have witnessed it first hand and I too decided to a community college. I don’t regret my decision, I really love BMCC and the community here, but the reason I selected to go here wasn’t because it was my dream school, but because I thought this was the only opportunity I had.

• Choose one of the videos assigned this week. What is the main argument of the video? What reasons are used to support the argument? What are your personal thoughts and reactions to what was presented in the video?

I decided to go with the video, “Defining Latino” where the main argument of the video is identifying what a Latino is. Some Latinos in the video felt like they are too black to define themselves as Latino, even though Latinos come in all colors. One girl argued that being Latino is defined as the values we hold and the culture that comes with it. There is the abundance of Latinos that feel pressured to be more American yet America puts so much emphasis on them being Latino. There is also the subject of family, where family wants you to stick to your Latino roots but doesn’t want you to showcase them for the world to see. There are also Latinos who are shamed when they do not speak Spanish but are also shamed when they do speak Spanish, which both sides can still define you as Latino. I understand why one might struggle with identifying themselves with being Latino if they do not speak Spanish, I have a cousin who struggles with it daily. For example, we will be at a family function and all of us are talking in Spanish but she cannot join into the conversation, this might make her question her identity but in my opinion, Spanish isn’t the only reason one might identify as Latino. There is also the fact of family, whether you speak the language, if your family proudly upholds their roots and serves you comfort food from whatever Latino country you might be from, if you listen to the music, if you research more in depth about your culture you will not have a struggle with identifying as Latino. There are so many factors in place. Like I mentioned earlier, one might struggle because of their race, but race and ethnicity are too separate things. So many Latinos are black and many assume they are not Latino because of this which isn’t exactly wrong, this is an opportunity to showcase where you are from and even then, you can identify as black and Latino. Just like, you can identify as white and Latino. Not everything is a straight line, especially when it comes to topics like race, ethnicity, heritages etc. There is no one way to define Latino in my opinion because we are all so unique, I think there are endless ways to defining the term Latino and identifying yourself as one and the only thing that matters is being comfortable doing so.