Puerto Rican/Mexican American Liberation Reflection

Although it sounds cheesy, every time I read about the oppression of Chicanos or Puerto Ricans, I become further motivated to learn and support these oppressed people.  Many of the readings in the coursepack mention the Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans struggle to "affirm their presence as citizens with 'the right to have rights' and to redefine the boundaries of political inclusion in the national community."  When I read about this struggle, I become increasingly empathetic, despite being of white heritage and having no "spanish blood or heritage."  What really hits home for me is that I live in an area where I can observe how Mexican Americans' and Puerto Ricans' early struggles with oppression still deeply affect their lives today.  Although I do not have statistics and I am simply basing my statements off of my generalized observations, I see how the struggles I previously mentioned are continually affecting the life paths of many Puerto Ricans, Domincans, and Mexicans which I share my hometown with.  

My first generalization is that most of these peoples tend to do poorly in school, either dropping out of high school or simply holding a careless view for they realize that they were born into a low socio-economic class with little chance of mobility.  Providing education simply isn't enough consideration to help bring these people out of the deeprooted conditions which they inherited.  I am directly referring to the Boricua Poetry which correctly identifies how Puerto Ricans could be dedicated as no other, but in the end, their early struggles placed their culture in what seems to a be very slow, uneasy fight against deprivation.  Throughout my childhood I encountered this conflict and surely realized how much the odds are against these peoples.  No matter the persistence with which these people work and strive to make a better future for the generations to come, these peoples dreams of assimilating with middle-class Americans are more or less shattered by the harsh realities that America's initial interests were not in that of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans and now these people must work 25 hours a day, 8 days a week to overcome adversity.

These people realize the inability to rise economically, socially, and/or politically early on in life, causing them to search for other ways beyond the traditional system in order to succeed.  Some will join gangs and others will become involved in illegal activities in general.  These instances do not benefit these communities but rather set them back in their assimilation efforts.

To say the least, I realize that there have been several accomplishments in the Latino/a community, whether in the arena of politics (Governor Bill Richardson) or sports (Alex Rodriguez, among dozens of others).  However, I truly hope that during my lifetime, the Latino/a community can continue to use their rights to exponentially increase their contributions to America.   The key to success is a large round-the-clock effort by all Latinos in order to overcome the inherited difficulties which the Latino/a community has faced relentlessly.  The most important thing to remember is: not to become discouraged early on, for if the Latinos continue to take advantage of their rights; and demonstrate a large, shared idea of true freedom- they will successfully assimilate with time.