Quotes
This was a very hard reading for me due to the fact that she would mix in spanish, which would throw me off a bit. But overall this reading focused on mestiza, which is a woman of mixed race especially Latin American and Native American. The first quote I would like to talk about explains a mestiza; on page 377 she states, "... la mestiza is a product of the transfer of the cultural and spiritual values of one group to another... the mestiza face the dilemma of the mixed breed: which collectivity does the daughter of a darkskinned mother listen to?" The author is talking about herself she is mixed her mother is native american (darkskinned as referred to the quote) and her father is spanish. These are two different cultures that she is torn between. Late on she goes more into depth about her dilemma and the different views the cultures have and opinions she gets. She does explain a common denominator though which is the white culture, because both mexicans and native americans have been attacked by the whites and devalued. The next quote I would like to discuss relates to the white culture owning up to what it's done rather than ignoring it. On page 384, "We need to say to white society: we need you to accept the fact that Chicanos are different, to acknowledge your rejection and negation of us. We need you to own the fact that you looked upon us as less than human, that you stole our lands, our personhood, our self-respect." There is a lot more that goes along with this quote but it is basically saying that whites should accept that everyone cant be like them and respect other cultures rather than trying to colonizing them and make them indifferent and devalue them. By saying this she believes that by owning up to this it will help educate them and help this world. By being ignorant to the situation no one is benefiting from it but the whites so by educating them and making it relevant it will help the Mexicans regain their dignity and self esteem to prosper and be prideful in their culture. She then says that we must also become aware of other cultures and their history which will help us in becoming united. According to her, "awareness of our situation must come before inner changes, which in turn come before changes in society. Nothing happens in the "real" world unless it first happens in the images in our heads" (pg. 385). For there to be a change we must first rationalize our problems and realize what is going on then by doing this we make it a real problem and change it. Overall her what I got from this text was her struggles as a mixed lesbian woman and ways in which we can change it. Although I didn't use any quotes discussing her sexual orientation she does discuss it and how that also makes her feel out of place on top of being mixed but also part of something because every race has lesbians.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/468218?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
I chose this link because although it isn't necessarily talking about this piece it is talking another one of Anzaldua's pieces which is discussing the same concept and it goes hand and hand with this article.
I understand the struggle of being torn because of being a mixed race, I'm cape verdean which is a mix of African and European descent however I claim that I'm solely African because that's the one which I can relate to the most since my country is in Africa. It is a struggle because of how light skin I am when I say to others that I'm black.
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