Education Matters

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I can relate to many Mexican Americans both as a minority group and as a foreigner to this country. Even if I was born in the US, I feel like a foreigner in many ways. My family doesn't understand USA's complex social system (i.e. politics, legislation, education, and etcetera). My parents do not know how to read. They don't know how to speak English. The racialized hierarchy in the US and being in poverty contribute to how difficult it has been for my family to adjust to the US. The environment at home is like....(how can I describe this...?)...a struggle for everything. I feel we are still new to this country. After living here for over 30 years, we still do not know this USA world. Many times I wonder how it would be like to be born and raised in a white upper-middle class family. I just think so many things would be easier.

Motherhood

I am impressed of the Chicana mothers in 21st Century Motherhood: Experience, Identity, Policy, Agency edited by Andrea O'Reilly.

In the essay Chicana Mothering in the Twenty-first Century: Challenging Stereotypes and Transmitting Culture written by Jessica M. Vasquez, the Chicana mothers are active in demanding equality for their children's education. Chicana mothers were counteracting the "racializing messages of public discourse and institutions" (35).

These mothers academically pushed their children in a critical way. They advocated and fought for their children's rights to be in advance courses offered in schools when it was rather discriminatory to minority groups.

I would be super embarrassed if my parents did this. My dad would be shouting at a teacher, "She NO FAULT! My dau-to NO FAULT!" Guess why? Exactly.

You wouldn't really understand why, and that's why it's so embarrassing. He doesn't speak English very well. The fragments of his sentences do not match up into a comprehensive phrase. I remember the last time I told my family how my Advanced Placement World History teacher was just making us watch Bollywood videos every class hour. I wanted to learn more than watch Indian movies all day. Then my father came to school and created a big hullabaloo.

I was trying to tell my dad it wasn't a big deal and that we should just go home. He was shouting at a security guard, demanding to meet with my teacher. It was 5pm and school was already over. My teacher had already left (thank goodness). And then, the worst part was when my Hmong friend walked by and asked my dad what was wrong. My dad started getting him involved in the whole mess of things! It was so embarrassing. My friend was listening to my dad speak in Hmong about how my teacher was awful and wasn't educating the students correctly. While my dad was talking to my friend, guess what happened!?

The principal of the school walked towards us. Oh my. The principal asked what was wrong and my dad began shouting, "My dau-to. Her teacher NO GOOD!" My Hmong friend then took over and explained the situation to the principal. I was too embarrassed to even speak. I was trying to get out of the whole situation from the beginning my dad stepped foot in the school. After talking to the principal in the middle of the school's entrance, we finally went home. The teacher wasn't able to teach advanced courses anymore. I remained in her mediocre class until the end of the semester.

Similar to the Chicana mothers, both my mother and father care a lot about my education. I've always had a big academic push from my whole family. They all wanted me to become a medical doctor. They wanted me to rescue the whole family from poverty. I had straight A's in high school and was in the most advanced courses, including college courses in high school. They have used a lot of their time and energy to survive in this country and for me to have a good education. I respect those who value education's promises.