A View of US Society Through the Eyes of the Subaltern

Panethnic Identities and the Overgeneralization 

of Cultures 

    America, the big melting-pot of the world. Can one achieve this generalizing idea without sacrificing one's own cultural values?

    Anglo American society has a way of putting Latinos/as in the same category, no matter where they're from. This, mixed with the idea that in order to be part of their society you have to push your own cultural beliefs aside and assimilate to theirs is beyond toxic. Edna Acosta-Belen talks about this in the reading. This creates a lot of internal conflicts in immigrants because they are forced to compromise their identities in order to fit in. Most if not all immigrants leave their homeland in search of a better life. When you're put in the predicament of maintaining your roots, or being whitewashed to create better opportunities for yourself, it is hard.

    These aren't the only issues revolving this topic. We also have the wide criticism of panethnic identities, which a lot of the times comes from our own people. The notion that you can't be Puerto Rican or Cuban etc. because you were born in the United States even though your parents were born and raised in those countries is something that plagues the Latinx community, and it honestly makes no sense. Also the idea that when you leave your homeland it somehow makes you less "authentic". A lot of the times these people share the same struggles and discrimination that immigrants do. Panethnic identities need to stop being invalidated in order to stop making panethnic people feel like they dont belong anywhere. 

      Acosta-Belen talks about the impact artist are having in the movement to rid the Latino/a community of these issues. How bringing awareness to these struggles, we can all come together to fight against them like we have done many times before. She mentions how for a long time the works of Latinos/as living in the United States was disregarded in their homelands because of the mixing with other cultures. Luckily this has changed and now "Latina/o writers and artists are not only having an impact in US society, they are also carving their own cultural spaces in their Latin American and Caribbean nations of origin". Inclusivity and acceptance are very important. We are not all the same and we all come from different experiences and cultures, but we all suffer the same discrimination and racism, because to them, we're all the same. Therefore I believe that in order to fight against this discriminatory system we all need to see our differences and celebrate them. Learn from each other, but maintaining our own beliefs and getting rid of the idea that "you're not a real (insert nationality), because (insert dumb reason).