By: Vanessa Iglesias
Introduction
In all films, we watched there was one main difference that I wanted to go more into depth with. In Real Women Have Curves we see Ana who was born in American and then in El Norte we see Enrique and Rosa who are siblings crossing the border for a fresh start and because they are unsafe in their home country. I explored the similarities and differences both their stories have and how a small difference of where they were born can make such a huge difference with their future success and with their safety in America. At the end of the day though they are all Hispanic and so I wanted to research more in-depth if the racism and stereotypes affect one more than the other.
Research
One huge role of the success and opportunity of immigrants and first-generation Americans is education. Both can be faced with the stereotypes of being “poor” “uneducated” and “unmotivated” usually don’t end up going to college because they grew up with poor education and don’t have the funds to go to school. “Nearly nine-in-ten (89%) Latino young adults say that a college education is important for success in life, yet only about half that number—48%—say that they plan to get a college degree” (PreReaserchCenter 1). One struggle that most first-generation Americans don’t have to face is the ability to speak English. They have grown up around the American culture they understand how things work and how to communicate with people. Throughout life, we are building skills to build opportunities for ourselves and without certain things we can be put at a disadvantage, “Taken together, the research on earnings suggests that controlling for age, education, race, marital status, geographic location, English fluency, and length of time in the US is important” (Sullivan and Andrea 670). Criminal injustice is also a huge role that is played when it comes to immigrants because they are not US citizens they are always at risk of being deported. That can cause them to not go to hospitals when sick or lose jobs. “Increased fears are having significant negative effects on the health and well-being of children that have lifelong consequences.”(Artiga and Ubri 3) Immigrants live their life in fear it must feel like they always have a target on their back. That is something First Generation Americans will never have to experience because they are lucky enough to have loving parents who came to America at a young age hoping to create a better life for their future children. All Hispanics are going to be faced with challenges simply because of what they look like but immigrants and first-generation Americans will face different challenges from each other at times but they know that they will always have a family within the whole Hispanic community in America.
Enrique is hard at work and getting promoted because he learned good enough English until his coworker gets jealous and calls immigration on him.
Ana at the airport with only her dad because her mom refused to go to the airport once they finally agreed to let her go to school in New York.
Nobody leaves their home and family for no reason. Enrique and Rosa lost both parents and they knew if they did not get out of there they would be killed next. Crossing the border to America was their only chance at a safe and better life.
Work Cited
Sullivan, Dennis H., and Andrea L. Ziegert. “Hispanic Immigrant Poverty: Does Ethnic Origin Matter?” Population Research and Policy Review, vol. 27, no. 6, Springer, 2008, pp. 667–87, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41217977.
“Latinos and Education: Explaining the Attainment Gap.” Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project, Pew Research Center, 18 Sept. 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2009/10/07/latinos-and-education-explaining-the-attainment-gap/.
Samantha Artiga and Petry Ubri Published: Dec 13, 2017, and Dec 2017. “Living in an Immigrant Family in America: How Fear and Toxic Stress Are Affecting Daily Life, Well-Being, & Health.” KFF, 22 June 2018, https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/living-in-an-immigrant-family-in-america-how-fear-and-toxic-stress-are-affecting-daily-life-well-being-health/.