Questions About Mexican-American Surnames and Family Experiences

[nightrose83]

Hey guys

Comments

[orange_fell]

Re: #3: As an Anglo from Southern California, I can tell you that many (if not most?) Hispanic/Latino people use only one surname in everyday life when interacting with people from other backgrounds. So you've got your school friend Stephanie Cruz, your teacher Mr. Garcia, your co-worker Linda Rodriguez. As for which apellido it is, the article you linked states: In general in the US, the family as a group is addressed by the last name of the husband.

[nightrose83]

I must have missed that while trying to read several articles at once. Thank you!

[green_grrl]

1. I would say there is a good chance the children were not allowed to speak Spanish in school, although there are always individual differences. (There have even been workplaces where workers are not allowed to speak Spanish/Chinese/Tagalog with each other.) I'd amend the part about the parents to say that the children might teach them some English, but likely end up mostly being translators for their parents. Age order can make a difference, too. My brother in law is the youngest of ten. His mother learned to speak almost no English and he speaks no Spanish. They mostly understand each other, though

[nightrose83]

Very good information, thanks! In regards to number 1, I haven't fleshed out certain parts of MC's family background, but I did read some sources that said kids growing up in those situations were often bilingual--would it be plausible to say that MC's grandparents would translate for their parents?

Your brother in law's situation is interesting too. Do they understand just enough of their respective languages to communicate?

[green_grrl]

Yes, absolutely. I would not be surprised if the great grandparents spoke no English at all and their children translated for them.

Yes-they can understand each other's English/Spanish, but not speak it. As he was the youngest, his older siblings were the ones raising him as much as his mother was, and they, school, television were all in English.

[green_grrl]

OP here on mobile. Thank you very much again, very appreciative. If I write out something rough using this information, am I free to PM you a link so it can be fact-checked? Thanks again!

[water_soter]

1) Well I can tell you as a Mexican-Amercian myself that you might want to watch the movie Walkout. It does a decent job of depicting the situation in California in specific during the civil rights movement. This is the story of the largest protest ever in Mexican-American history to that point. Children were not allowed to speak Spanish in school. They were often punished for doing that. Some of those punishments were latrine duty in their schools. During the Walkout Cesar Chaves was organizing the campesinos/food pickers for fair wages. Cesar Chavez is someone worth doing research on since it falls into the information you are looking for. Also, often during this protests the black community and Martin Luther King Jr himself would bring his own people to march alongside the students. Until that movement, the older generations' mentality was to keep their heads down and take it

[water_soter]

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

[nightrose83]

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.

[water_soter]

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.