Talking about immigration
April 1, 2008
There are a lot of stereotypes about immigrants.
I talked about them this week with a group of high school students at Incline Village High School. They’re members of Mi Cultura, a group of Hispanic youths at the high school.
I asked them what some of the misconceptions they thought existed when it came to immigrants — most of their parents, some of them.
The first reaction of Jennifer, the president of the club, was to correct me. They’re not “immigrants,” she said, they’re people.
And they’re not all the same.
Everyone comes for his or her own reason, they argued. And most of those reasons are noble, usually to make a better life for their children.
And as the children of immigrants, this group of high-schoolers feel the pressure.
One freshman girl will be the first in her family to graduate.
“I’m not doing it just for myself,” she said. “I’m doing it for everyone in my family.”
Because of that, they work hard on their grades. They’re involved in student activities, like planning for the prom.
And they do most of it slipping seamlessly from Spanish to English and back again.
It was enlightening to meet them, to hear their stories. It was especially interesting to hear them talk about whether racism existed in their community. They grappled with what it means exactly and the ways in which it can be manifested.
It was a little intimidating too, to be honest. Although teenagers look like the rest of us, they really are distinct creatures. That makes it hard to relate sometimes, but they also have such a fresh insight.
As part of this project, this group of teenagers will be discussing issues like these, and they’ll be publishing stories and photos on this site.
I’m excited to see what they do.
You should be too.
Related posts: [ Telling their own stories ] [ Spending time with family makes a difference ] [ Understanding diversity ] [ Freshman sets sights on graduation ] [ Tahoe Latinos confront garbage problem ]
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