Caught Between Cultures
Gloria Anzaldúa’s The Homeland, Aztlán / El Otro México, explores the political and social impact of creating borders between places and their residents. Through use of her unique and diverse writing style, Anzaldúa is able to capture the struggle faced by displaced Mexicans and their posterity. Not only is she able to accurately portray their hardships, but she is also able to alienate her white audience by using both English and Spanish. This is done in a way that provides some insight into the cultural barriers that Mexican-Americans encounter. Her use of historical context illuminates the injustice that these people were subject to, while her incorporation of firsthand experiences and family history give the reader a more personal view of the trials and tribulations of a typical Mexican family. The combination of these different writing techniques make the reader empathize with the Mexican people’s struggle, by providing a new perspective on the conflict between Mexico and the United States and its impact.
Anzaldúa uses a substantial amount of background information and history to provide context for her audience. She begins by explaining that the oldest evidence of human existence in the United States, is from the ancestors of the Chicanos, who settled there in 35,000 B.C. (Anzaldúa 41). This initial piece of history is important because it shows that the ancestors of the Chicanos were the first inhabitants of the land that is now modern day Texas. This land was theirs, until whites illegally migrated there and later forced the Natives out. “Some call themselves Chicanos and see themselves as people whose true homeland is Aztlán [the U.S. Southwest]” (Anzaldúa 39). Anzaldúa informs her reader of this atrocity, to give them an alternative perspective on illegal immigration. Rather than viewing illegal immigration as people breaking into a place that is not theirs, she wants readers to think of it as native people returning to their rightful homeland. Many readers in the white audience have probably never looked at illegal immigration from this perspective. The reality of the situation is that they are not intruders, coming to steal American jobs, like many Americans think, rather they are returning to the land of their ancestors. However, instead of an easy return to their homeland, they are faced with racism and insensitivity due to their ‘alien’ status in American society. Many Americans are not fully aware of the history of the American Southwest and this ignorance has created an image of Mexicans as intruders. The author’s family stories provide insight to the thoughts and feelings of those who endured hardships that were imposed on them by whites. These real accounts bring a human quality to the piece that enables the reader to empathize with their situation. “Mi pobre madre viuda perdió two-thirds of her ganado. A smart gabacho lawyer took the land away mamá hadn’t paid taxes. No hablaba inglés, she didn’t know how to ask for time to raise the money” (Anzaldúa 45). It is unfortunate to hear how Mexicans were swindled out of their land, but readers gain a whole new perspective after reading an up close and personal account about a woman that lost her land, her livelihood, in such an unjust and discriminatory manner. This more detailed description of white exploitation also leaves the white audience feeling guilty and ashamed of the actions taken by these early Americans. It forces the reader to reflect on how reparations still have not been made and how barring Mexicans from entering the US is a continuation of these injustices. This piece incorporates a unique blend of both English and Spanish. This interesting and different approach serves a very specific purpose. It is done in order to show white readers what it is like for non-English speakers to live in America. The discomfort and awkwardness that readers feel as they struggle to pronounce and understand these words, mimics the experience of non-English speakers living in America. “Con el destierro y el exilio fuimos desuñados, destroncados, destripados- we were jerked out by the roots, truncated, disemboweled, dispossessed and separated from our identity and our history” (Anzaldúa 45). Sentences like these are implemented in the text to alienate the reader, just like Mexicans in America feel alienated by the language and culture that is so unlike their own. Reading this short essay is not enough to capture the culture shock experienced by those who cross the border, but it subjects the reader to one aspect of the difficult transition. The use of Spanish also serves another purpose. The vast majority of white audience members are unable to understand the Spanish that Anzaldúa utilizes. This illustrates the white audience’s inability to conceptualize the adversity that these people have endured. However, members of the Mexican-American community that have undergone the process of assimilation, can comprehend the combination of English and Spanish, the same way they are able to understand their people’s struggle. In this essay, Anzaldúa aims to recover the memories of America’s acquisition of the American Southwest, that have been repressed by mainstream American society. By bringing this information to the public eye, she intends to alter the current perspective on illegal immigration and racism, which are both modern day impacts of the conflict between Mexico and the US. Anzaldúa is successful in her attempt because she is able to supplement her strong historical context with real accounts of the injustices suffered by her people. She provides her white audience with pieces of history that they are probably unfamiliar with. This history evokes feelings of shock and dismay toward the actions of their ancestors. These emotions are then matched by the guilt and shame they feel upon realizing that Mexicans are not much better off than they were several centuries ago. The emotions that arise after reading this essay, are the reason that it is such an effective piece. Anzaldúa does not have to make a call for change, in order to make her readers realize that change is necessary. The white audience realizes that Mexicans have been, and continue to be treated in a disgraceful way and that the insensitivity and unequal treatment needs to come to an end. They learn that just because the border separates two places, it does not have to divide their residents.

1076 Words
Works Cited
Anzaldúa, Gloria. "The Homeland, Aztlán / El Otro México." Other Words - A Writer's Reader. Ed. David Fleming. N.p.: Kendall Hunt, n.d. 39-49. Print.