Mexican Independence Day: Cherishing Our Times of Celebration
by Rodolpho Carrasco
in Pasadena Star News, Tuesday September 16, 1997
(Rodolpho Carrasco is associate director of Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, Calif. and a columnist for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. Check out more articles by Rodolpho Carrasco here.)
Today is Mexican Independence Day, the day Mexicans celebrate gaining independence from 300 years of Spanish colonial rule. As Fourth of July is to Americans, this day is to Mexicans. But some Americans express concern that Latinos - now 40% of Los Angeles County - are entering this country but not assimilating into the nation. They feel Latinos are defying this nation's values and traditions, tearing apart a national identity already frayed by minority movements and they believe that Mexican Independence Day exacerbates the situation.
I see Mexican Independence Day not as a defiance of American ideals, but a source of pride for people of Mexican descent who readily accept America's place in their lives. At this past weekend's celebration at El Pueblo on Olvera Street, two large flags - one American, one Mexican - hung prominently on a wall overlooking the main plaza. It made me think of the Mexican-American boxing champion, Oscar de la Hoya, circling the ring at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics games, gold medal on his chest and two small flags - one Mexican, one American - in his hands.
There is no reason to feel uneasy about the celebration of this holiday. In fact, all Americans should ensure that Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on U.S. soil until Kingdom Come. This holiday is important for the ways it helps us reflect on assimilation and cope with it.
Cool web sites:
Areka: emerging global culture meets the Christian faith
Q'Vo: Hispanic / Latino religious news and information
CCDA: Christian Community Development Association
Harambee: an urban ministry developing indigenous leaders
To a card-carrying Chicano like me, assimilation is a historically bad word. Assimilation often means brown people ditching their own customs, language, history and values for those of the dominant culture. But I'm not afraid of assimilation. While it continues with the force of the lunar tidal pull, the way assimilation looks is changing.
Mexican-American teens in Northwest Pasadena speak an increasingly common bilingual lingo. One of the languages they speak is Spanish. The other is not Standard American English, but closer to Ebonics. "Where you fittin' ta go? Te llamó Rudy."
A Korean-American friend (born in Korea, raised in the U.S.) got caught in the crossfire when he announced to his parents his desire to marry his Chinese-American girlfriend. "Why would he marry outside the Korean community?" his parents wondered. "And why a Chinese girl? Doesn't he know the difficult history between Korea and China?"
A Caucasian friend from college, raised in an affluent suburb, finds her destiny as well as her husband in Mexican culture. This young couple is making plans to be medical and educational missionaries to a Latin American country.
Once, assimilation meant blending into the dominant (read: white) majority; now assimilation is affecting everybody. Assimilation is also bothering everybody. Consider the problems Latinos and Asians have with pan-ethnic labels.
Latinos are slow to the idea of a singular Latino "community." The majority of immigrant Mexicans and Central Americans choose to identify themselves by their nation of origin. Studies show that second and third generation Latinos - people born and raised in the U.S. (and possibly the offspring of a mixed-race union) - are more likely to identify with a pan-ethnic label like "Latino."
As for the Asian-American label, immigrant Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos and others shy away from the term. Even their children are slow to accept pan-ethnicity, as there isn't even the specter of a singular unifying language like Spanish to lean on. Koreans speak Korean. Chinese speak Mandarin and Cantonese. Filipinos, Tagalog. Vietnamese, Vietnamese. And so on.
These anecdotes on assimilation show that our nation is changing in ways we have not imagined. The changes come slowly, in a little bit of language and a lot of new foods, a taco truck stop and a friendly kid down the block. I become you as you become me.
In the midst of these changes, Mexicans gather every year at this time for a celebration. Days like Mexican Independence Day are like a harbor in a tempest.
As much as any other American group, life in the United States for people of Mexican descent means never being without a reason to feel insecure, angry or bitter. Poverty and the uncertain future of our children are a source of insecurity. For many U.S.-born Latinos, a negative media portrayal, along with social and educational ills, are a source of anger.
We respond by cherishing our times of celebration. We bring lots of food and pack in as many family members as we can stand. Our events are almost always multiethnic, given the diversity of our relationship networks and our high intermarriage rate. All Americans in the throes of assimilation - whether straight assimilation, reverse assimilation, or full-blown mutation - can learn from Mexicans how to blow off the pressure of creating a peaceful, pluralistic society.
It's not just Mexican holidays that are times are celebration. This past Fourth of July, I, along with 55,000 others, watched the Independence Day fireworks show at the Rose Bowl, that followed the L.A. Galaxy soccer game. One Mexican-American, just a few seats away, sat in the midst of his large extended family and took in the fireworks with awe and reverence. He gave homage to American independence and its ideals while he wore the soccer shirt of his favorite Mexican club team. When the song "I am proud to be an American" played, he mouthed every word.
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