Okay, so let's finally get to the meat of it. You are asking about people being deported illegally even if they were legally in Mexico, if it did happen, the numbers were so low to be negligible. As someone who was born in the US and grew up in Mexico, in the border, I can tell you there is no one more against Mexicans than Mexican-Americans. In fact, when you cross the border, it used to be that if you got a hispanic person they would make your life hell. Understand that because Mexico was colonized by Spain, there's a huge elitist mentality on both sides. Mexicans that live in the US consider Mexicans that live in Mexico to be lower than them. Everything over in Mexico is about class.
Now here's where it gets tricky. A lot of Mexican-Americans live in Mexico because it's cheaper but they work and have their kids in schools in the US. You have to understand is that even now there is a huge disconnect between the generations. In Mexico, before the political revolution of 1986, there was only one party in power and only one party that had had control of the country from day one. So they had all the power. Which in turn made the country extremely corrupt. So people in Mexico learn that you don't mess with the authorities because they can kill you and you won't be able to do anything about it. It's gotten a lot better in the recent decade but that's the mentality many have when they jump the border. This is the same mentality they would have had in the 1950s. Keep your head down. Before the civil rights movement Mexicans were stomped on because, like the blacks at the time, they didn't have the same rights. Of course Mexicans mostly stayed in the southwest so no one really cared as much.
I don't know if this answered your question but I just wanted to give you a little background so you can understand a bit of the mentality that existed at the time. Now the 1950s was a time of fear. Reasonably so since you had Russia spying on the US like nobody's business. The cold war meant that people were looking under their beds for the US's enemies. Mexicans would had been such a small fry that I honestly don't think they would have bother on a large scale. Mexican cinema was considered the cream of the crop, the very best so for a lot of Americans Mexico was a romanticized world that many wanted to visit. I hope this helps.
Sorry for the info vomit, but I'm a bit of a history nut so I tend to look at things in terms of what happened and what was happened and what would happened.
3) As for this, people wouldn't shorten their last names. They just wouldn't. It's not cultural done. As for people going to the US they might have changed their last names to American names to fit in but not shorten them. They would have just grabbed the father's last name as it's traditional in the US but other than that, no. But think about it this way, a lot of second generation kids would have done anything to fit in and would have no problem americanizing their names to fit in. My name isn't Juan, it's John. My name isn't Marco, it's Marc and so on. They don't have pride in their culture and are often ashamed of it. Read about the life of Ritchie Valens or any other popular Mexican-American artists of the era. They were often forced to change everything about them to fit in with the American culture. If you have any more questions or if I can help you in any other related questions, you can e-mail me at watersoter4@yahoo.com
Thank you for the offer. Yup, I did see most of what you posted on several of the sites that I'd browsed, but the refresher is helpful. My plan at the moment is for MC's grandparents to have grown up with the shame of who they are/where they come from, so her father (their son) doesn't grow up with a huge amount of Mexican cultural influence (since he's raised in the US; MC is as well). Then, later, they allow small things that tie into their culture back into their lives and share some stories they have growing up. MC is aware of the tip of the iceberg since they wouldn't tell her everything.
I'm glad that the information I gave you was somewhat useful to you.
If your character is third generation, then that's a whole different ballgame. Third generation Mexican-Americans tend to want to know more about their heritage. They have stronger ties to their grandparents than to their parents because they feel their parents "sold out" so they usually try and reclaim as much as their heritage as possible. Your character sounds very interesting. If you need any help in any way don't hesitate to e-mail.
Thank you. I tend to write things detailing what the character's inner thoughts and reasonings are. Yes, I'd also heard that was true for some third-generation Mexican-Americans; I'm hesitant to paint any group as being *all* one thing or *all* something else. MC also lives in an area where there aren't many Mexican-Americans currently and is the product of a Mexican-American/Anglo marriage, so while she's certainly interested in the Latino aspects of her heritage, she also has other influences as well.
Well, as someone who is daughter to a half-white half-black puerto rican man and a mexican mother, I can tell you from my experience that I have yet to meet third generation Mexican-Americans that don't try to reconnect and try to get some patriotism or Chicanos. But at the same time, if they grew up on predominantly Mexican-American community that would definitely influence their mentality. Of course, a lot of it has to do with their social-economic status. Mexican culture has a LOT to do with social-economic status. Are they middle-class? Upper, lower?
Ah, that sounds interesting. I think middle to lower middle class would work really well for what you want. I highly recommend watching La Bamba and Walkout. Very interesting movies about the eras.
I did see La Bamba several years ago. I just don't recall all of it. I'll have to search for Walkout, but Netflix may have it. Once I have something worth sending, I'll be in touch, with the caveats that first, it's rough-draft material, and second, there may be a lot of mistakes in it that won't, of course, be intentional.
I did have a semi-related language question I just thought of, sorry to take up your time. Once MC's grandmother becomes slightly more comfortable sharing aspects of Mexican culture with her, would it be realistic for her to give her an affectionate nickname in Spanish that she would use from time to time, even if they were both speaking English at the time otherwise? I think MC's grandmother would start teaching her names and simple sentences in Spanish, but didn't want to posit anything inaccurate/odd.
Oh yeah. Complete normal. My mom has two names and when my grandma was mad she would use one over the other so my mom always knew when she was in trouble. But yeah. My aunt they call her Chacha. Heh.
Cool, thanks. :) What do those things mean translated, or are they just affectionate names in general?
Either's fine. I recall reading that Mexico City has some interesting cultural landmarks, but others in other areas of the country would be fine too, please. Thank you again!
**Either's fine. I recall reading that Mexico City has some interesting cultural landmarks, but others in other areas of the country would be fine too, please. Thank you again!**
A lot of people like going to natural landscapes. Like in Chihuahua, people like to go into the mountains, the Sierra and visit the small towns there. It's really beautiful. But if you want cultural areas, I would say states like Guanajuato, Michoacán, Veracruz, or cities like Guadalajara, Monterrey, Mexico D.F., there are more but I would have them go to Guadalajara. It's a wonderful city and its maintain a lot of its cultural roots. Also small towns in Guanajuato, Michoacán, Veracruz. There's also the very popular pyramids in the state/peninsula of Yucatan. Do you need more specific?
Thanks again! Do you have specific names of those sites in Yucatan? I'd like to Google the basic information about those places.
Also, MC may be gay/bisexual (these things tend to come out as I write them). But in the case that holds true, what might a possible reaction of her family be? It seems most people have said things like, 'it depends on the family background/personal feelings of the people involved' but I want to be sure.
Now here's where it gets tricky. A lot of Mexican-Americans live in Mexico because it's cheaper but they work and have their kids in schools in the US. You have to understand is that even now there is a huge disconnect between the generations. In Mexico, before the political revolution of 1986, there was only one party in power and only one party that had had control of the country from day one. So they had all the power. Which in turn made the country extremely corrupt. So people in Mexico learn that you don't mess with the authorities because they can kill you and you won't be able to do anything about it. It's gotten a lot better in the recent decade but that's the mentality many have when they jump the border. This is the same mentality they would have had in the 1950s. Keep your head down. Before the civil rights movement Mexicans were stomped on because, like the blacks at the time, they didn't have the same rights. Of course Mexicans mostly stayed in the southwest so no one really cared as much.
I don't know if this answered your question but I just wanted to give you a little background so you can understand a bit of the mentality that existed at the time. Now the 1950s was a time of fear. Reasonably so since you had Russia spying on the US like nobody's business. The cold war meant that people were looking under their beds for the US's enemies. Mexicans would had been such a small fry that I honestly don't think they would have bother on a large scale. Mexican cinema was considered the cream of the crop, the very best so for a lot of Americans Mexico was a romanticized world that many wanted to visit. I hope this helps.
Sorry for the info vomit, but I'm a bit of a history nut so I tend to look at things in terms of what happened and what was happened and what would happened.
3) As for this, people wouldn't shorten their last names. They just wouldn't. It's not cultural done. As for people going to the US they might have changed their last names to American names to fit in but not shorten them. They would have just grabbed the father's last name as it's traditional in the US but other than that, no. But think about it this way, a lot of second generation kids would have done anything to fit in and would have no problem americanizing their names to fit in. My name isn't Juan, it's John. My name isn't Marco, it's Marc and so on. They don't have pride in their culture and are often ashamed of it. Read about the life of Ritchie Valens or any other popular Mexican-American artists of the era. They were often forced to change everything about them to fit in with the American culture. If you have any more questions or if I can help you in any other related questions, you can e-mail me at watersoter4@yahoo.com
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If your character is third generation, then that's a whole different ballgame. Third generation Mexican-Americans tend to want to know more about their heritage. They have stronger ties to their grandparents than to their parents because they feel their parents "sold out" so they usually try and reclaim as much as their heritage as possible. Your character sounds very interesting. If you need any help in any way don't hesitate to e-mail.
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I'd also planned for MC to visit Mexico at least a few times--are there any popular areas/sites most people would want to go to visit?
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Mexico City or Mexico country?
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Either's fine. I recall reading that Mexico City has some interesting cultural landmarks, but others in other areas of the country would be fine too, please. Thank you again!
Reply
**Either's fine. I recall reading that Mexico City has some interesting cultural landmarks, but others in other areas of the country would be fine too, please. Thank you again!**
A lot of people like going to natural landscapes. Like in Chihuahua, people like to go into the mountains, the Sierra and visit the small towns there. It's really beautiful. But if you want cultural areas, I would say states like Guanajuato, Michoacán, Veracruz, or cities like Guadalajara, Monterrey, Mexico D.F., there are more but I would have them go to Guadalajara. It's a wonderful city and its maintain a lot of its cultural roots. Also small towns in Guanajuato, Michoacán, Veracruz. There's also the very popular pyramids in the state/peninsula of Yucatan. Do you need more specific?
Reply
Also, MC may be gay/bisexual (these things tend to come out as I write them). But in the case that holds true, what might a possible reaction of her family be? It seems most people have said things like, 'it depends on the family background/personal feelings of the people involved' but I want to be sure.
Reply
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