Mexican American Youth of the Southwest Borderlands: Perceptions of Ethnicity, Acculturation, and Race

Abstract

This article discusses the findings of a qualitative study of a group of young Mexican Americans in a barrio, fictitiously called “Las Montañas Bonitas,” located in a large Southwestern city. Young Mexican Americans’perception of ethnic identity is the focus of this study. The ethnographic techniques of participant observation, focus groups, and semistructured interviews were used. The most poignant finding is the respondents’use of racial terms to define and understand acculturation differences. Also, the intense negative feelings expressed by Mexican Americans about less acculturated, monolingual, Spanish-speaking individuals are noted. Other findings suggest that respondents have strong connections with both contemporary youth culture and traditional culture. The overarching themes of respondent narratives relate to boundaries and loyalty in the face of internal colonialization.

Creating Culturally Grounded Prevention Videos: Defining Moments in the Journey to Collaboration

“…Other studies underscored the need for researchers to understand what it means to be a member of an ethnically distinct group before attempting to develop prevention messages for members of those groups (Marsiglia, Miles, Dustman, & Sills, 2002;Napoli, Marsiglia, & Kulis, 2003;Okamoto, Hurdle, & Marsiglia, 2002;Sheets, 2003). Because no evidence-based research had been done with, by, and for adolescents from nondominant groups (Gosin, Dustman, Drapeau, & Harthun, 2003;Schinke, Botvin, & Orlandi, 1991) at the time this project was undertaken, the so-called culturally neutral messages of universal substance abuse prevention efforts ignored the contributions and needs of those students (Holleran, 2003;Hurdle, Okamoto, & Miles, 2002;Marsiglia et al, 2001).…”

“…Because narratives are linked to membership in speech communities (Holleran, 2003;Nikitina, 2003), language provided an arena in which actions were justified by citing reasons that were meaningful to community members.…”

Mexicanness and Social Order in Digital Spaces

“…Chavez-Dueñas et al, 2014;Holleran, 2003). Research has demonstrated that, to date, Latinos/as with darker complexions and indigenous features still have fewer social achievements and experience more discrimination than lighter counterparts (cf.…”

Youths of Mexican Descent of the Southwest: Exploring Differences in Ethnic Labels

“…Latino adults use national origin most often as a marker for self-identification (Latino National Political Survey, cited in Schmidt, Barvosa-Carter, & Torres, 2000). Second-generation Latino youths, however, tend to see their ethnicity in racial terms (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001), perhaps because the selection of a label may be influenced by how others perceive youths (Brunsma & Rockquemore, 2001) and because the dominant U.S. culture uses race as a way of understanding ethnic differences (Holleran, 2003). Applied to this study, youths who are less acculturated to the U.S. ideology would select only a Mexican/Mexican American/Chicano label.…”

“…In such an environment, people who are U.S.-born —particularly white people—often create and accept negative stereotypes about Mexican-origin communities and talk derogatorily about “Mexicans” (Holleran, 2003). Massey and Denton (1992) asserted that experiencing discrimination reinforces a racially distinct identity among Mexican immigrants when they realize that “they will not be accepted as whites” (p. 240).…”