Fear can rule you, and often dictates the way you carry yourself. When youre in this country illegally, you become so fearful of being sent back (to poverty, to violence, away from your family, or the world youve gotten used to), you become obsessed with presenting the right way—having the right clothes, sure, but also obsessed with the idea of acting American. You may be asking yourself, what in the world does that even mean? Truthfully, I dont have a clear-cut answer for this. Its something I grapple with every day, after growing up poor and moving up to middle class by way of the tech industry. Still, there are times I become keenly aware that its a thing—like when Im in line in an all Latino neighborhood where the cashier speaks in Spanish to everyone except me, even after I make it clear I can speak Spanish too, even after its clear that the cashier cant actually speak English, either.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 21:52:47 +0000
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