Identity and the Latino Identity

“Since childhood, I have struggled with my identity.

My elementary school’s ethnic composition was evenly split between Asian (mostly Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian) and Mexican/Mexican-American. During my time there, I met about 3 non-Mexican/Mexican-American Latinos, no joke. So for a long time I was always conscious of the fact that I had no one to really culturally identify with. There were linguistic differences that I noticed when speaking in Spanish with them, like accent, vocabulary and slang differences: ‘popote’ versus my ‘pajilla’ or “chocomil’ versus my “leche con chocolate’ and Central Americans’ and certain South Americans’ predominant usage of the 2nd-person singular form ‘Vos’ instead of “TÚ”. Also, differences in tradition mattered: ‘Dí de los Muertos’ is strictly a Mexican thing; Dí de los Difuntos is observed in El Salvador, where a family goes to a dead loved one’s grave and brings flowers, just like what the rest of Latin America and Latin Europe and the Philippines observe. Furthermore, the usage of Spanglish common among some of my peers (very much part of Mexican-American culture, ifI’m not mistaken) was very foreign to me. Because it is important to speak Spanish properly in my family, having a bad accent and poor grammar and vocabulary meant you were subject to being mocked. Speaking in Spanglish was seen as something of poor taste, as my family, though it had been poor and largely uneducated in El Salvador–and somehow arrogant and classist, interestingly enough””was not a campesina one. An example: I did not know my great-aunt was illiterate until a few years ago, when she asked me to read something for her. She, a very dignified woman in her early 70s, speaks Spanish very, very well and I would never in a million YEARS have guessed she were illiterate.”

• Ricardo Salinas Breaks Ground for What Will Be the Most Modern Television Studio in Latin America – Mexico City
• Brazil replaces Mexico as China’s top market in Latin America and boosts its surplus as well.
• In El Salvador, a grim reflection, and a glimmer of hope – The president has bestowed the country’s highest honor on six Jesuit priests massacred 20 years ago, more evidence that peaceful change is possible, if slow to come.
• The mayor of a wealthy suburb (San Pedro Garza Garcia) of Monterrey said Monday that he has sent his family to the United States for their own safety as he pursues his campaign against extortion and kidnapping gangs.
• Los Angeles council members to make donations for El Salvador storm victims
• Hispanic Entrepreneur profile: Entrepreneurship began early for Gándara family – El Paso
• LatAm Immigrants Are Changing Spain, Sociologist Says
• The current global crisis will cause the number of poor people in Latin America to rise by 9 million to 189 million this year, the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said in a report presented on Thursday.
• The leader of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Latin American division, Vicente Trius, is leaving the company after having served less than five months in the position.
• Beginning with the 2009-2010 season, Terra will stream select games live throughout Latin America, in both Spanish and Portuguese
• Western Union Foundation Donates $10,000 to Help Victims of Hurricane Ida in El Salvador
• MoneyGram International Temporarily Reduces Money Transfer Fees from the United States and Canada to El Salvador – MoneyGram International Reduce Temporalmente Sus Tarifas De Envíos de Dinero Desde Estados Unidos y Canadá A El Salvador
• The Associated Press on Wednesday announced changes in its Latin America and Caribbean operations, closing a service limited to Puerto Rican news within Puerto Rico while adding editors and reporters elsewhere for the expanding Spanish market in the Americas.
• Money Transfer Service to Latin America – ATMCASH launches online and over the phone money transfer service to Latin America
• Reviewed: Gringo: A Coming-of-Age in Latin America, by Chesa Boudin
• After accidental deportation, critics say immigration officials making mistakes – After a Salvadoran man was mistakenly deported, immigration rights activists have complained about toughened enforcement by authorities.
• The estimated damage caused by the Nov. 7-8 floods and mudslides to El Salvador’s infrastructure has climbed to $880 million, the country’s public works minister said Tuesday.
• Trend Toward Smaller Families in Latin America – The number of people per household in Latin America will fall by 18 percent by 2020, according to a study released in this capital Tuesday by consulting firm Euromonitor International.
• Death toll in El Salvador storms rises to 192
• The official death toll from the floods caused by torrential rains last weekend stands at 157, with 14,166 people still in shelters – El Salvador