6 thoughts on “Continuing the Discussion on Preserving Mexican American history”

  1. Carolyn, doesn’t it strike you as odd that we seek to preserve Mexican history here in the United States? We don’t seek to preserve the history of Canada, or Colombia, or Great Britain, or any oth Country. Why Mexico? This is the United States; what purpose is served by preserving Mexican history?

    • Here’s the email of the organizers: maspublichistory@gmail.com. They seem to be preserving history of Mexican American people who emigrated to US, not history of Mexico. And the focus seems to be on urban renewal and preservation.

    • This strikes me as a knee-jerk, xenophobic, racist reaction to the word Mexican. Her post states Mexican American four times–Mexican AMERICAN.
      “We don’t seek to preserve the history of Canada, or Colombia, or Great Britain, or any oth Country.”
      Wrong. There are thousands of groups that do meet and study to preserve the history of their countries of origin and to celebrate their culture—Jewish, Anglo, Native Americans, Asian Indian, Mexican, etc. The United States is a country of immigrants. Immigrants do not lose all sense of personal or historical identity when they come here. Mexican Americans are just as much a part of the United States as the “we” that you use in referring to the U.S. in your post. Immigrants add to the richness of America. They do not dilute any imagined superiority and purity of the culture.

      • “This strikes me as a knee-jerk, xenophobic, racist reaction to the word Mexican.”

        Do you feel better now having vented? It is not xenophobic here in Arizona to question the wisdom of studying Mexican history if the goal of that study is to remain loyal to Mexico. This State has gone so far in catering to Mexican Americans that some of those who graduated from High School still did not have a working command of English. I don’t have to tell you that not speaking English is a sure fire way to condemn yourself to a life of poverty.

        Of course we are a nation of immigrants and that has nearly always worked to our advantage. There is a growing body of evidence, however, that shows recent immigrants are not assimilating as previous immigrants have done. They are insisting on maintaining their unique cultural identities and demanding that the United States accomodate them. This “balkanization” does not bode well for the future.

        • Exactly where does Carolyn’s post state that the goal of this group’s study is “to remain loyal to Mexico.” It states it is a “Discussion on Preserving Mexican American history” and more specifically how that history “fits in local preservation and urban development efforts.” I do not know what connection the English language or “balkanization” has to do with this group’s desire to discuss “local preservation and urban development efforts.” I repeat, “Mexican Americans are just as much a part of the United States as the “we” that you use in referring to the U.S. in your original post.” Do you feel better after a second knee-jerk, xenophobic, racist reaction to the word Mexican?

          • No, she never mentioned it was to strengthen ties with Mexican roots, but Arizona, especially the Tucson area, has a bad track record when it comes to helping Mexican Americans to assimiliate, Instead, it accomodates them to the point they don’t assimilate which does not help them. There is nothing wrong with studying Mexican history as a subject, but I fear it is studied to maintain an illusion.

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