I just heard this quote on a documentary about Puerto Ricans: "Assimilation is a curse because it forces you to give up your identity".
I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about this documentary, probably because it was done by Rosie Pérez and her Spanish is a more than a little rusty. (I have seriously got to get over my discrimination against Latinos who can't speak Spanish well.) The quote, however, got my attention because I've been thinking about how much I've given up simply because I live here in the US. I'm a speaker of Spanish in public places; I like resisting expectation, if that makes any sense. But my question is, is assimilation even a choice? I mean, we're here, we live here. How much can you avoid becoming something else? You retain what you can, but you give up a lot anyway. You give up and you adopt and adapt.
I've been thinking about this assimilation thing a lot. I know I've assimilated, but I know I haven't completely lost myself - that piece of my people that I carry around. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, if anyone else feels that they carry their people inside, but I do.
I don't know, I don't know.... I wonder what happens next, you know? With the next generation? What do they lose? What do they gain? I don't know.
I
Don't
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All I Want to Wear In Summer
2 days ago
2 comments:
Hi Frances. It's Amber. I am finally reading your blog for the first time, even though Ben told me about it some time ago. I kept forgetting to look at it. Anyway, I think I read as far back as January so far. It is good to learn about some of your background. Thanks for sharing.
As far as assimilation goes, I would have to say my husband has pretty much assimilated to this "haole" culture, for the most part. You know, he doesn't keep in touch w/ his family nearly as much as you do & he was hurt the first time (yrs. ago now) that he called home (his Grandma/Mom/brother's house where he grew up) & his own Grandmother did not recognize his voice because he sounded like a "haole" man! Poor thing. Anyway, he can make jokes about it because he knows it's true. But the thing is, I think for him, his identity lies more in his love & acceptance in his immediate family, his love & acceptance in Christ & his church family, & the respect he finds in his workplace. He is far away from his homeland & his people, but he has a family here & he has found a place that he is loved & accepted for who he is. He never forgets where he is from, but he doesn't let that keep him from forging ahead into a strange & sometimes hurtful place. I have always admired him for that. And yes, he has been hurt by rude & racist or just plain ignorant people. It happens. This is the sinful world we live in. It sucks sometimes. But find & keep the ones who love you for you (the inside, not the exterior). Let your identity abide in the love of Christ & His love shown you through His people. That is an identity that can never be lost, in this generation or the ones to come.
You have me thinking on this subject, now I can't stop. :) But it's good. I should add that since we've been married I have taken on some of my husband's culture & identity as well. It's what happens when you get married; "A little bit of you & a little bit of me have switched respective places in a mystifying 'we'". :) It's neat really. I like it. In our house we have "our own language" as one of my friends once observed. I have learned Pigeon English from Kamalani (& his family) & we use Pigeon words on a daily basis, & William is learning them as a result. I guess it would be like speaking Spanglish in a way. I cook Hawaiian style food sometimes too, listen to Hawaiian music, read our son Hawaiian books. There might be other little things that I can't even tell you, probably because they are just normal to us. We do adapt to where we are/who we are with, to speak differently, but we don't feel it's hiding who we are, but rather making ourselves understood to our audience.
Anyway, this is a subject (obviously) close to home for us, so feel free to ask us anything you feel like. I am looking forward to meeting you in a couple of weeks Frances!
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