WRTG 101S
Definition Essay

We Are Our Own People

I grew up in an urban city in Southern California where Caucasians were the minorities and a person who did not speak Spanish was often made fun of. The barrios, or neighborhoods, were home to thousands of Mexican immigrants who’d come to the United Sates in hopes of better lives for their children. The chavalitos, or children, of these people were first generation American and were Chicanos, that is, American children born of full-blooded Mexican parents. I always considered myself a Chicana; I never called myself Mexican or American. To me, this was normal because I had never been around people who were different. When I left my hometown, I realized that most people outside of the Mexican-American community did not fully understand what it meant to be a Chicano or had no idea what the word meant.

The word Chicano traces back to the pre-Columbian era, when Mexico was still Meshico. It stems from Meshicano, an ancient Nahuatl word used by the Aztecs meaning “native.” The natives referred to themselves as Meshicanos, and even Shicanos, thus giving birth to the term “Chicano”. The term made its appearance in America, and was used to identify children born on American soil of Mexican descent.

Our forefathers came to America seeking better lives and new opportunities for their children. With them, they brought their culture: music, food, customs and traditions. The combination of this with mainstream American culture is where we Chicanos get our way of life. An example of this is Spanglish, our own language. Spanglish is a combination of Spanish and English words interchanged in sentences, the continuous switching from one language to other for emphasis or when we simply cannot recall how to say a word. Another example is the celebration of Thanksgiving, which is not a Mexican tradition, but