In recognition of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the M-A Chronicle talked to students of Hispanic heritage and discovered that our student body is full of students with rich and beautiful cultures. As a community we take great pride in our diversity; however, without an open dialogue the discussion is often one-sided resulting in students readily accepting stereotypes about one another. Luckily, we have the ability to be open and debunk those stereotypes for ourselves. We wish to honor the students brave enough to share their story and dare the rest of you to do the same. We must learn from each other to build a more inclusive school community. And here at the M-A Chronicle we believe the first step in learning is by listening.
"Here and around our community [many people think] that the only Hispanic people [are] Mexicans"
Junior Angie Menjivar is Salvadorian-American; she has grown up in California but has also visited El Salvador, allowing her to discover and explore both cultures, which she says is "pretty cool." When asked which stereotype she would most like to debunk, Menjivar explained how “here and around our community [many people think] that the only Hispanic people [are] Mexicans, but no [that's not true] there's a bunch of different cultures and ethnicities.” Menjivar wants “people to become more knowledgeable about other cultures.”
M-A's population is 42.8% Hispanic, 41% white, 4.8% Asian, 3% African-American, 1% Filipino, and .2% American Indian. With such a broad breakdown of student backgrounds, it is easy to forget that there is more to the demographics than a percentage. Like Angie explained, Hispanic culture is not one dimensional but varied and rich and full of different experiences. While much of M-A's Latino population have ancestors from Spanish-speaking countries and regions all over the world, senior Luiza Coelho has a different story.
...she describes the people as polite, yet not friendly enough to invite her to eat lunch with them.
Senior Luiza Coelho is ¼ Portuguese, ¼ Arab, ¼ Lebanese, and ¼ German. However, she grew up in Brazil and recently moved to the United States. Coelho initially had a difficult time adjusting to M-A; she describes the people as polite yet, not friendly enough to invite her to eat lunch with them. When asked if she thinks M-A is a welcoming community that represents Hispanic/Latino heritage well, Coelho said yes, but expressed how everyone has their own group of friends and in a sense are segregated. She explained that she made friends by explicitly telling people she was new to the school and was having trouble making friends. Coelho's favorite part of her culture is Brazilian food, luckily, she has managed to find a good Brazilian restaurant here, where the "sodas are amazing!"
While Coelho has adjusted to "the M-A experience" not every student feels so welcomed and included.
"if you're Mexican you're put into classes with Mexicans and if you're white you get put into white classes..."
Sophomore Tony Avalos and junior Jefte Lopez are both Mexican-Americans. Avalos and Lopez explained how they feel comfortable at M-A but can "see and feel the difference" between M-A students of different backgrounds. Avalos shared that “if you're Mexican you're put into class with Mexicans and if you're white you get put into white classes except for the classes that are 'mixed'.” While many factors play into the demographics of a single classroom, it is impossible to deny what someone sees and feels: to Avalos and Lopez, students are treated differently based on heritage.
Avaloz and Lopez want to disprove the stereotypes that “all Mexicans are drug dealers and that [they are] are all bad and stupid.” Lopez described a time where someone told him that “Mexicans are too stupid to solve a Rubik's Cube,” Lopez solved the Rubik's Cube right in front of the person, and the person then claimed that Lopez had cheated! Lopez laughed this off when explaining the story and chuckled at the fact that “you cannot cheat when solving a Rubik's Cube.” While Lopez was able to brush the incident aside, such stereotypes can be extremely hurtful and perpetuate the divide within the M-A community. Avalos and Lopez try not to let stereotypes impact their identities; they are incredibly proud to be Mexican-Americans.
"the experience of something different other than American culture"
Junior Nicole Salz is Mexican-American. While her mother is of European heritage, her father is Mexican and was born in Mexico. Salz is also Jewish, which plays a big role in her cultural identity; she celebrates most Jewish holidays and had a Bat Mitzvah. When asked if she embraces her Mexican heritage, Salz says, "not so much" but went on to explain that she visits Mexico often to see family and speaks Spanish, concluding that maybe “[she] kind of [does] embrace it.” In Mexico, Salz used to attend a Jewish camp where everyone was Jewish-Mexican: highlighting the diversity within an ethnicity itself. Salz is proud of her heritage; her favorite part of her heritage is the food or “the experience of something different than just American culture.”
