Dual Existence

I have seen dual existence very much here in the Nashville area in the past few years, especially in my hometown of Smyrna. Smyrna went from being a town with almost no Hispanics in the 1980's to a town with 4.3% as of 2000. I'd be willing to bet that it is much higher than that now, due to a noticeable difference in the Hispanic population since that time. As Quiñones talked about the Mexican enclave that exists in Garden City, it reminded me of the one that I know so well in Smyrna; however, the enclave in Smyrna consists of not only Mexicans, but also numerous Guatemalans and Salvadoreans.
I have had the priveledge of speaking with one of Smyrna's first Hispanics. He is the owner of La Poderosa, a store which caters to Hispanics in Smyrna. He and I spoke one time, and I was surprised to learn that he had been in Smyrna since 1982. He said that at that time, there were only four Hispanics that he was aware of in the whole town. Three of them are still here. He is from El Salvador, and came to Smyrna to work construction. He was the beginning of the Smyrna Salvadorean community, which now has to be in the hundreds. His store was the first one in town. Now there are six. The Hispanic community frenquents these stores for international calling cards, bread, meat, and tortillas. One store, La Raza Latina, offers many more conveniences. It sells and activates cell phones with Cricket service, sells internet, and does money transfers to native countries. Most Hispanics that speak little English use these stores to handle most of their business. There are two barber shops in Smyrna that offer services in Spanish, as well as eight Mexican restaurants and one Mexican nightclub. Many of the gas stations in Smyrna have begun to sell the international calling cards and Jarritos, a favorite Mexican soda. Wal Mart has an entire section devoted to international foods, and have reaped the benefits of most Hispanics choosing them over K-Mart and Target due to the signs in Spanish. The Bank of America has used Spanish to reach out to Hispanics as well. There is a Spanish speaking representative at each Bank of America branch in the area. The Hispanic sector of Smyrna's economy, as well as the United States economy, is a growing force which cannot be ignored.
I witnessed this dual existence in the workplace nearly every day for six years. When I was sixteen, I began working at McDonald's. It started out as a little part time job, but little did I know that it would have a big impact on my life. The kitchen staff consisted entirely of Hispanics, all of which knew just enough English to do the job. They hardly interacted with the rest of the American staff, except for the occasional smile and basic phrase. At that time, I didn't know much Spanish, and I didn't know much about them. But I had a curiosity to learn about them, their culture, and their language. I was determined that I was going to learn Spanish. I was taking Spanish in high school at the time, and I went to work and practiced everything that I learned with them. Within a year's time, I was able to converse quite a bit in Spanish. After another year, I could hold a decent conversation. After my first year in college, I was fluent. Knowing and befriending those Hispanics from McDonald's has led to many valuable experiences for me. I have been to their quinceañeras, birthday parties, and New Year's parties. They always insist that I be there. I am grateful for having the opportunity to immerse myself in their culture. When I became a manager, I saw how connections in the enclave worked. Some of the kitchen workers would bring in their friends to get jobs when they knew of job openings. They would often get the job due to the recommendation. They would then train the workers themselves. We had an established system there. As a manager, I also saw the dual existence between the Hispanics and the Americans. For the most part, everyone got along; however, the language barrier prevented any real strong social interaction between the two groups.
In order to dissolve this dual existence, teachers must create an environment in which American students show more interest and respect for students from other cultures and eliminates stereotypes. Teachers have to cultivate a welcoming attitude among American students towards immigrant students. I believe that some immigrants have a hard time adapting to the United States because they do not feel welcome; therefore, unsure about English-speaking Americans, they reach out to members of the community that they trust. Teachers must also try to erase the dual existence by doing what Angela did. I read Angela's blog, and see what she did with JT as exactly what a teacher should do with ELL students in order to break down the dual existence. She did not pressure him, but found things that he liked and sought to get him involved in class through those things. By the end of the year, he was much more active in class. Teachers have to be there to encourage the students because sometimes no one else is. Their parents may work low paying jobs and not have the money to send their children to college. For students that are undocumented immigrants, postsecondary education is very difficult to get because they would be paying out of state tuition. This often crushes any aspirations of postsecondary education for undocumented immigrants. It is a political manuever for legislators to say to their constituents "I'm tough on immigration" when really all that they are doing is holding these young people back and denying them the right to a reasonably priced postsecondary education. Apart from that, they are denying the state all of the tuition money that those students would pay. No one wins in a situation like this. As I read Chapter 8 and saw all of the students that did not pursue higher education, I thought of that as the main reason. In America, in the past century, we have made tremendous strides on civil rights and race relations. I am proud of the progress which has been made, but I feel that there is still a LOT of work left to do in order to create a more ideal society here.

Chapters 6 and 7 from AGDD

In Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream, we see two different situations: in one, there is Hector Seeman, the music teacher whose opera works were not appreciated by the Mexican people. Hector stayed in Tijuana, despite the lack of interest that the people there had in opera. He went off in poor health to live in a shack on a hill, embittered by the Mexican people. In the other situation, there is a group of immigrants from Atolinga, a small town in Mexico. The immigrants go to Chicago with the intention of building nice homes in Atolinga with their earnings. Some find the American dream in entrepreneurship and have great success. They decide that they like the life in Chicago better, and decide to live there permanently. They do return to their nice homes in Atolinga, but only to visit.
I view the situation in Hector's scenario much worse than that of the people of Atolinga. As a matter of fact, I don't see anything wrong with what the people of Atolinga did. They could not make a decent living in that small town, so they decided to get out and strive for something better. That is what people have to do: they have to adapt. Hector did not adapt. Hector should have either gotten together with other people (such as Enrique Fuentes) in order to establish opera in Tijuana, or gone somewhere else where his work was better appreciated. Enrique Fuentes went about things the right way. He kept trying, and did not get discouraged when the owners of buildings did not rent him space. His dream of opera in Tijuana eventually became a reality, largely due to him.
I have seen many people in the situation of the Atolinga immigrants. Here in the Nashville area, there are communities of people from small towns in Mexico. Some of those towns are Degollado (Jalisco), San Felipe (Guanajuato), and Puerto Escondido (Oaxaca). These towns are no bigger than Murfreesboro, but it is surprising to see just how many people are here in the Nashville area from just these three towns. It usually starts with a family, which tells other family members and friends back in Mexico how good things are here. They come to the United States, and their families and friends get them jobs through connections. Many people come with the intention of working a few years, building a nice house in Mexico, and returning to it. I have seen many people do this. For example, I have some friends that have been saying that they would return to Mexico for years, yet have not done so. They have built a nice, big house in their hometown, but have a hard time leaving here. Their children have adapted to life here, made friendships, married, and had children. It is extremely hard for them to leave their children behind. I can only imagine them returning to Mexico if some kind of immigration reform is passed. I have seen many more that never built a home in Mexico. They have decided to buy homes here instead. I believe most immigrants that come here come with the intention of returning to Mexico, but those plans change as opportunities arise and relationships are established. Another problem with returning is that many people that stay behind in Mexico and live humbly in the small towns are envious of those that have built nice homes and drive nice cars. Also, I have seen some immigrants go to Mexico saying that they would never return. Most of the time, they come back after a few months. They have become adapted to life here, and could not leave their relationships here behind permanently.
I strongly believe that if a person cannot find opportunities in their hometown, they have to leave and look elsewhere. Even in Tennessee in some of the rural towns, people that stay in their hometowns are destined to work the rest of their lives in the local factories, choosing from a handful of low-paying jobs available. Some of them do not even have high school diplomas, much less college degrees. The availabilty of a college degree is unobtainable in those small towns. If they are happy with that, that is perfectly fine; but others find themselves "stuck" due to family and friends. Hector Seeman was stuck for some reason, and lived miserably in an isolated, run down shack due to his disappointments and failures. He should have gotten out and found something better.

Velvet Paintings, Juarez, and Cultural Differences

We have all mocked and laughed at the "velvet Elvis" or "velvet Jesus"
hangings that crop up on corners. In fact, at one time velvet paintings
were for sale at the intersection of Memorial Blvd. and Broad Street. After
reading the chapters, what are your thoughts regarding this art form and
how it relates to economic conditions?

After reading Chapter 4 in Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream, I learned many things about velvet paintings that I did not know before. Honestly, I didn't know what a velvet painting was before I read this chapter! It is very interesting to see how the velvet painting industry had a huge boom in the 1970's, and how much this boom affected Juarez. I have looked at some of the paintings online, and many of them are fine works of art. The only problem is that they became popular during the 1970's, and almost everything from that decade has lost its popularity. They only managed to be a fad; however, as many things tend to do, they may come back around in a few years. The velvet paintings have now been overshadowed by other industries in Juarez. Maquiladoras in Juarez and other main cities on the border, such as Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, and Matamoros send multitudes of products such as televisions and computers north to the United States on a daily basis. Cheap labor in Mexico, minimal shipping distance, and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) have led to companies choosing places along the border to locate their maquiladoras. This has led to the rapid economic development of the border region. It has changed the demographics of the border, and especially Juarez: one third of the inhabitants of Juarez are originally from other Mexican states or from countries in Central America. 70 Fortune 500 companies are currently active in the region. People in Juarez on the average have a 25% higher salary than the Mexican per capita GDP. Due to these reasons, Juarez has become an enticing place to live for many Mexicans. Unfortunately, in recent months, there have been many problems in Juarez. President Felipe Calderon's decision to take on the drug cartels has lead to chaos throughout Mexico, especially in Juarez. Rival drug cartels are at war with each other, as well as with the Mexican government. In February, Calderon sent 2,000 soldiers and armed federal police into Juarez in order to secure the city. Many residents said that it was the safest they had felt in a long time. During the 1970's, when velvet paintings were giving Juarez some of its first strides of economic success, there was no worry about drug cartels in Mexico. Let's hope that the problem is eliminated soon: the success of Juarez depends upon it.

Think of the culture tied to the paintings. How would you respond to an
ELL who is ridiculed when he or she shares this family tradition within the
school environment?

I would not permit ridicule of the culture of an ELL student. Every culture and even sub-culture has certain aspects of it that may seem unusual to people from other cultures. I would quickly remind any student that ridicules an ELL student's culture that that student may find some aspects of the culture here to be strange. I would ask that student how he would feel if he went to that country. Depending upon how different the culture is, it would probably be more difficult for an American to adjust to a different culture than for a foreigner to adjust to the American culture. The main reason for this is due to the abundant lifestyle here compared to in other developing countries. One thing is for certain: a mutual understanding and respect between different cultures can lead to long-lasting friendships.

The Current State of Immigration and Reform

Here in the United States, we live some of the most privileged lives on Earth. We have the highest GDP of any nation in the world, and the highest per capita GDP in the Western Hemisphere. We have a stable democracy, good infrastructure, and a high quality of life compared to most other nations. To our south, we have many countries that are trying to find their way. Here is a list of GDPs per capita that I have compiled from the CIA website.

United States- $47,000
Mexico-$14,200 Ripe with corruption, drug trafficking
Venezuela-$13,500 Hugo Chavez
Colombia- $8,900 FARC , drug trafficking have caused instability
Peru-$8,400
Ecuador-$7,500
El Salvador-$6,200 Civil war during the 1980's set economy back for years-- Multiple natural disasters
Guatemala-$5,200 Civil war during the 1980's set economy back for years. President currently being investigated for corruption
Honduras-$4,400 Hurricane Mitch devestated Honduras in 1998
Nicaragua-$2,900 Civil war during 1980's set economy back for years

Most, but not all, of the undocumented immigrants that you will find here in the United States come from the aforementioned countries. Mexico has the highest per capita GDP of all of the Latin American countries, but its GDP per capita is still over 1/3 less than that of the USA. Nicaragua's is nearly 1/5 of Mexico's! With these statistics, it is easy to see why so many people come here from these countries. Some people ask why they do not come legally. The answer is because the visa backlog in many of these countries could be years, and it is very difficult if not impossible for a poor person to obtain a visa to the United States unless they have a family member that is a citizen in the country that is willing to sponsor them. They are willing to risk their lives to come here and do the jobs that many Americans do not want to do. With the present state of the economy, more Americans may actually be willing to do those jobs; however, once the economy gets better, things will likely be just as they were before the recession began. People will no longer be concerned about the economy, and the issue of immigration will likely take center stage again.
This time, when it gets national attention, a meaningful debate and immigration reform needs to take place. The debate needs to be free of xenophobia, racism, and a sense of superiority that some people feel over the undocumented immigrants. Here is how I would fix the immigration system:

1. Grant a five year work visa to all immigrants within the United States that are here illegally and have never had a felony. In that five year period, they must give back to the country that has given to them, completing volunteer work in the community (hours to be determined). Those who join the military or pursue higher education would be exempt from the community service. If the immigrants are in good standing with the government after five years, they will be granted LPR (legal permanent resident) status. Those who join the military would automatically be granted LPR status.

2. Improve the efficiency of the USCIS to more rapidly process visas, with a six month maximum waiting period.

3. Increase the immigrant quota from Mexico. Establish a guest worker program with Mexico in which a government taskforce monitors unemployment and determines how many guest workers can be allowed. Under the guest worker program, the worker gets a visa for three years. If their employer wishes to keep them for another three years, they would have to submit a form to USCIS. The guest worker would keep doing this every three years until he/she reaches nine years in the United States. At that point, the guest worker become eligible for legal permanent residency.

4. Establish an accurate, reliable system where employers can verify the employee's eligibility to work in the United States. Make all employers use and abide by this system.

5. Work more closely with Mexico on issues such as eliminating drug trafficking, fighting corruption, fighting poverty, and becoming a developed nation.

6. Set up a North American Security Pact in which the United States, Mexico, and Canada better share information and work more closely with each other. For example: if a person is on a terror watch list in the United States, he would be denied a visa into Canada or Mexico. (This idea would need more thought and detail before being implemented)

7. Tear down the wall

Tell me what you guys think. I feel like this could actually work!

Allow me to introduce myself

Hello...  My name is Steven Robinson.  I am pursuing a M. Ed with a concentration in ESL.  This blog will serve as a place for me to post my opinions and ideas on certain things.   I hope that my page can serve as a place where we can interact with each other and share ideas related to the course.