| Sunday, January 21, 2007 |
| Truly Divided? Walls I've Built Up & Torn Down |
There are pivotal moments most people can remember that directly links to when their perspectives changed, be it over current events, social issues, beliefs or the likewise. At least, that’s how it goes in my life.
Really until May 2003, I had held extremely stereotypical, conservative views of homosexuality, mostly because of the environment I had grown up in and my parents’ religious foundation. I’m not proud of saying my opinions were formed originally because of my parents, but at the end of the day – it’s the truth.
(The neighborhood I grew up in near Pittsburgh.)
Not that I was hateful by any means, but I definitely felt the undertones of superiority which can only be felt by somewhat sheltered, white girls in middle class America. I had relatives that used (and sometimes, continue to use) slurs against every minority group out there. From nigger, to faggot, chink, wetback -- family members who I do know and love have used them all.
Some people just refuse to change; too set in their ways by their parents and their grandparents before them.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yet my opinions were completed turned around towards the end of my high school years. It was after 2 a.m. E.S.T. and I had been on the phone with one of my best friends for hours already. After casually making a joke in reference to him being gay, there was the silence which I knew would change our relationship forever.
That night was the night he told me he was pretty sure he was bisexual, and then eventually he came out as gay months later.
Suddenly, I was the defender of gay people. I began to look at the issue in a whole new light – mainly because, someone I was extremely close to and cared about was being faced with his reality and people’s stereotypical perceptions of him.
Essentially, the same reasons I changed my awareness of Mexicans and immigration issues solely comes down to one undeniable truth: when an issue becomes extremely personal to someone, usually only then are they willing to see the world's biggest issues in a different light.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I had never had a Mexican friend until I moved to Tucson. That is just how it is. Whatever culture shock I might have had when I first moved here quickly dissipated as I became immersed in the culture that surrounded me everyday. When your life changes, sometimes you just change with it.
But once I moved to Tucson and fell in love with those who have come from Mexico, only then did I truly begin to see how beautiful their culture is inside and out.
(Daniel and Karla, two of my best Tucson friends.)
Suddenly, when people on the news or in the classroom tried to say immigration issues could best be solved with a wall, or a crack-down system, I imagined the friends I loved and adored being forbidden.
Or even worse... never having been here at all.
Their faces are the ones I see when I listen to culturally-blinded people insisting that no Mexicans are the best kinds of Mexicans.
Freedom of speech isn't always such a wonderful thing, is it?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The first “Mexican-American” I guess you could say I fell in love with was Norberta. She triggered my initial alteration in my own Mexican-American perspective.
She is one of the fulltime employees at the convience store I work at on campus. To this day, she is perhaps one of the most loving individuals I have ever known. Hardworking and friendly, there are very few times I have ever seen this woman at work without a smile on her face – and I’ve worked with her for over three years now.
Basically, Norberta is just one of those women you meet but never forget. I’ve received more hugs from her than any other employee I’ve ever worked with; when she asks how you are doing, she truly cares about your answer. She’s also a woman of faith, which shows since I’ve never known her to say anything mean about anyone.
Norberta is not only loved by the entire staff – but truly lives her life to its fullest, no matter where she is or what she is doing. Perhaps that is what I admire most about her.
(Norberta, with another employee, Spring 2003.)
She would soon be just the first of many. Being so close to the border for eight months out of the year, I’ve come to know many, many Mexicans who have proven to be everything their stereotypes are not.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Slowly, but surely, over four years I began to uncover the reality that a person cannot be defined by where or how they were raised, only how their actions and words give birth to their truest identity.
We already have enough walls around our country and its people –
The walls stereotypes help build which continue to divide us all.
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posted by Border Reflections @ 6:10 PM  |
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| Kari Anne Shaffer |
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