Because of my mom's work in the ESL system, my family has sort of been an honorary member of the hispanic community for as long as I can remember. I grew up around spanish speakers - my mom says I understood a fair amount of it when I was a small child (although I've had to relearn it since then). In fact, most of my family speaks spanish. I consider masa and mole the basic staples of comfort food. To top it all off, my littlest sister was adopted from Guatemala.
I never realized just how important this was to me until recently. This recent wave of anti-hispanic sentiment resulting from the immigration debate has really bothered me on a very personal level. I feel incredibly hurt and afraid of the direction the country's moving in.
I don't really have a strong stance on the issue of illegal immigration. But I do know that harsh measures against illegal immigration create a hostile environment that causes grief for all immigrants, legal or otherwise, their families and their communities. And that's unacceptable.
My littlest sister, in the meantime, is growing up well-entrenched in the hispanic community in San Antonio. She's retaining her spanish. She's retaining a sense of who she is and what she's a part of. And I am incredibly grateful for that.
I never realized just how important this was to me until recently. This recent wave of anti-hispanic sentiment resulting from the immigration debate has really bothered me on a very personal level. I feel incredibly hurt and afraid of the direction the country's moving in.
I don't really have a strong stance on the issue of illegal immigration. But I do know that harsh measures against illegal immigration create a hostile environment that causes grief for all immigrants, legal or otherwise, their families and their communities. And that's unacceptable.
My littlest sister, in the meantime, is growing up well-entrenched in the hispanic community in San Antonio. She's retaining her spanish. She's retaining a sense of who she is and what she's a part of. And I am incredibly grateful for that.