...as a multicultural American at Columbia University in New York and the confusion she felt about her identity. She grew up in L.A. and mostly identified with her Mexican background, but occasionally with her Puerto Rican background as well. Upon arriving to New York however, she discovered that to everyone else, she was considered "Latina." She points out that a typical "Latina" must salsa dance, know Mexican history, and most importantly, speak Spanish. Raya argues that she doesn’t know any of these things, so how could this label apply to her? She’s caught between being a "sell-out" to her heritage, and at the same time a "spic" to Americans. She adds that trying to cope with college life and the confusion of searching for an identity is a burden. Anna Raya closes her essay by presenting a piece of advice she was given on how to deal with her identity. She was told that she should try to satisfy herself and not worry about other people’s opinions. Anna Lisa Raya’s essay is an informative account of life for a multicultural American as well as an important insight into how people of multicultural backgrounds handle the labels that are placed upon them, and the confusion it leads to in the attempt to find an identity. Searching for an identity in a society that seeks to place a label on each individual is a difficult task, especially for people of multicultural ancestry. Raya’s essay is an informative account of life for a multicultural American, because it is told...
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...the majority of my life in the United States has taught me the differences and similarities of Mexican and American cultures. Since both of my parents come from Mexican heritage, my roots align more with the Mexican culture. Therefore, I have learned the essential values of the Mexican culture from my parents, such as language and behavior. My appreciation for both cultures has come from all the experiences I have gathered from living in El Paso the majority of my life. Although I have spent the majority of my life All of my years living in the United States, I find myself abiding by traditional Mexican values. Due to this I have been able to differentiate the values and norms of both cultures. One aspect...
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...ways, all these things put together MAKE us unique in who we are. Therefore we need to embrace our differences and uniqueness. I grew up in a small community in Southern Texas where most of the individuals were of Spanish heritage. We all interacted with one another regardless of our economic status or ethnic backgrounds. My FAMILY’S background is mixed. My mother is Mexican American and my father is African American. I only experienced the Mexican part of my heritage because I was raised by my mother. I can never escape my heritage as it is a major part of who I am. My heritage is everywhere around me. It is in our names, the foods we eat, the way we dance, sing, move, and interact with each other. For example, I enjoy listening to the music, Mariachi dances, and learning how to speak Spanish fluently. I enjoy eating Spanish foods like enchiladas, tacos, and chimichangas. This will never leave who I am. There were many times when I would have conversations with others from my Spanish heritage, and they would hear me speak the language and they would comment on how I could speak Spanish really well. As we knew how to speak the same language, we already knew that there was something in common. I always assumed that anyone who spoke Spanish were of Mexican...
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...American identity is a subject that varies from person to person and typically refers to the way that those who live in America identify themselves. Both Okita's poem and in Cisneros' story demonstrate how true identity is determined by the individual based on experience and actions rather than heritage. American Identity is subjective and not objective, those who aren't American by birth can see themselves as an American depending on what they do and how they live their lives. In "Response to Executive Order 9066", Okita describes her life before the order, and how it was no different from other American girls. She lived an ordinary life with other ordinary people. She characterizes herself using plain words for all to understand, "I am a...
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...Cultural Heritage Grand Canyon University: NRS -429V-OL191 Cultural Heritage The concept of disease is a multifaceted understanding of why people select traditional folk medicine is an awareness of how the simple person defines disease. The word disease generally signifies any organic illness. All cultures have systems for classifying diseases on the basis of etiology, signs, symptoms and treatments. Multiple cultures both modern and past have defined illness when a person’s system is out of balance. Doctors have often seen patients that when they feel well – they believe they are well. This type of patient may have denial or a delay in diagnosis and treatment. Conferring to the utilitarianism of applying the heritage evaluation in to aide in assessing the requirements of the entire patient is useful in peering into the client’s culture and beliefs. Mainstream society has placed the importance of raising awareness and being culturally competent as a key factor in the health care industry. Culture itself has a prominent voice in society and demands to be heard and raises concerns within health care. Therefore the rise in public attentiveness place on competent medical attention, preventative care, and treating diseases has sparked interest from the medical community in which to provide appropriate, competent, and excellent care. Executing the Heritage Assessment toll is a great mechanist to obtain a clear foundation of a diverse individual before implementing a plan...
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...Stanford University in California, and earned his master’s degree in American History with Specialization in Chicano history in 1976. Moreover, after two years Dr. San Miguel Jr. acquired his doctorate in Social Sciences in Education at Stanford University in 1978. Currently, he is a professor of History at the University of Houston. Through the years, he specializes Mexican-American...
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...Heritage Assessment: Evaluation of families, cultures and views on health Anniemae Stubbs Grand Canyon University Culture and Cultural Competency in Health Promotion NURS 429 Professor Alma Celaya June 19, 2016 Heritage Assessment: Evaluation of families , cultures and views on health Cultural Heritage is a concept that is passed on from one generation to the next that depicts how people live, act, behave, or think. It can be a noticeable or vague manifestation. It includes various customs, traditions, practices, values and belief (ICOMOS, 2002). Heritage can be identified through relics, structure, sceneries, foodstuffs, clothing, linguistic and religious ceremonials. Cultural heritage is important to civilization and is needed for identity and self-realization. In nursing it is important to have self-awareness and process knowledge of the various diverse cultures in order to administer holistic care to each patient (Edelman & Greiner, 2010). Data can be acquired and utilized by health professionals to render unbiased and safe care. This can be done by conducting a heritage assessment using the heritage assessment tool. The Heritage assessment tool is a guide utilized by professionals to attain information which helps set specific goals that is patient centered prior to delivering health care (Spector 2000). A heritage assessment was done on three families from my local community the differences in health traditions and practices were compared between them. Twenty...
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...can be aware of others cultures, each culture views health, wellness, illness and healthcare workers in a different light (Edelman, Kudzma, & Mandle, 2014, Chapter 2). One assessment tool that can be useful for a nurse to gain an understanding of a patient’s culture or heritage is the Heritage Assessment Tool (Spector, 2000), an assessment was completed on 3 families from different cultures. Each family’s culture views health maintenance, health protection and health restoration in a different way. The first family that the assessment was completed for was a family that is from Mexico and all the family is from Mexico, some have moved to America while there are others that have stayed in Mexico. Mexican culture is strongly influenced by family and religion, for health maintenance, protection and restoration they rely on practices of the old ways that are performed by curanderos, spiritualists, yerbero’s and sabador’s in conjunction with traditional medicine practices(Edelman et al., 2014, Chapter 2). Hispanics believe that a person’s health is based on balance of hot and cold and when one gets sick it is because there is too much heat or cold present ("Mexican Cultural Profile," 2014). As indicated by my assessment of this family it was evident that being surrounded by family is important and...
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...illuminate and enrich the readers understanding with many aspects of life. Yet, for a poem to transcend time, the author must accomplish one fundamental thing: to create a connection between the poem and the reader. Thus, awakening of the mind, body, and soul. The poems chosen, are an attempt to understand and connect self to a forgotten and at times, unknown culture and heritage. To accomplish the task at hand, the first step was to search for Mexican-American poets. Second step was to find a common theme (culture and heritage) or writing style. Lastly, all of the poems needed to be predominantly in English. With a variety of Mexican-American poets, the task was not as simple, nonetheless, it was accomplished. The following five poems examine the language, symbols and metaphors used by the poets that elicit a deeper understanding of a culture: “187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross The Border” by Juan Felipe Herrera (688), “Legal Alien” and “Learning English: Chorus in Many Voices” by Pat Mora, “My Name” by Sandra Cisneros, and “I Am Joaquin” by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales. Furthermore they illustrate the struggles of Mexicans in the U.S. and the perseverance required to succeed in a country where we are not entirely welcomed. These literary...
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...Growing up in a rural, predominantly Caucasian town and attending a small school my whole life gave everyone, including myself, limited exposure to diversity and culture. I am the only Arabic and one of the few Mexicans within the school which has given me a unique perspective.I took it upon myself to gain and share the different experiences my unique background could only give. With my Mother remarrying into a Christian Caucasian family, this limited my exposure to my Mexican and Arabic heritage even more. I wanted to embrace and share my heritage by inviting them to my Quinceanera, one of the most important traditions in Mexican culture celebrating a girl's transition into womanhood. I took this opportunity to have a quinceanera instead of the traditional American sweet sixteen. In turn, this gave me the opportunity to experience my heritage and to share it with family and friends. I have also had the opportunity to embrace the cultures of my Muslim maternal grandfather. Even though I grew up in a Christian home, I’ve had many experiences with the Islamic culture. An example has been with my participation in Islamic holidays in particular, Ramadan when individuals fast during daylight hours. This gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of other religions and their...
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...Professional Communication: Culture Sensitivity James Spring Grand Canyon University Nursing 502 March 13, 2011 Professional Communication: Culture Sensitivity Mexican Americans represent the fastest growing population in the United States, The Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has identified a widening gap in health care for this patient population. I chose this cultural because we are seeing more in our hospital and I have a niece who is married to a Mexican immigrant. My niece has been married for five years and it has been very interesting to learn more about this culture. Summary of Article In the Journal of Emergency Nursing (Jones, 2008) the article Emergency Nurses’ Caring experiences with the Mexican American patient it talks about the health care disparities in the Hispanic population. This was a qualitative study to try and understand emergency nurses experiences when caring for this patient population. The Mexican Americans in this study were individuals with Mexican heritage regardless of citizenship status or duration of residency in the United States. The results were very clear; the language barrier affected all aspects of care. The nurse patient relationship was really only established by the nurse who spoke limited Spanish. The recommendation was to have translators available for these patients around the clock. The Emergency Nurses Association supports culturally competent care and are aware that failure to provide...
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...The House on Mango Street is a coming of age story about a young Mexican-American girl named Esperanza, who struggles to figure out who her real self is. Such as, self-definition, ethnicity, language, and economic status. All these factors play a role in which she learns that what defines her is her ability to tell stories. Her writing allows her to express those aspects of her life and allow her to step out of her comfort zone about her background and how she feels towards defining herself. A common theme in House on Mango Street is the struggle of identity. Esperanza has to define herself both as a woman and as an artist, which changes throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel Esperanza wants to separate herself from her family and heritage by changing...
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...Culture and Cultural Competency in Health Promotion-The Heritage Assessment. Grand Canyon University NSR 429V Alice Verrett October 22, 2012 The heritage assessment is an inquiry tool to discover what was (past) and also help in defining what is (present) it does not show future but can aid a person to view roots-where and how came about and why certain beliefs are pertinent in or to the family and whether close or apart in distance. When the heritage assessment is utilized and the majority of the answers are positive responses can be an indicator showing a prediction that you most likely will mirror the established roles of tradition that family members before you portrayed and it is feasible that you probably would be influenced by opinions shared among family and repeat the actions of past family members regarding health issues and illness. (Spector 2000). I learned that the assessment can help as you become acquainted with various cultures it can help you learn about yourself and the patient as you become more sensitive to issues that the patient deals with on a sometimes daily basis. Each culture is different and the patient does not always be open for they may be reluctant to verbalize his feelings because sometimes this is perceived as a sign of weakness in the culture. In some cultures women are not allowed in the same room with men even if...
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...with his frustrations. In the ‘’The Unexpected Lessons of Mexican Food,’’ Montano uses food to make a bridge between Mexican and American culture. First, Montano uses food to make a bridge between Mexican and American culture when in the article he refers to himself as a ''Wexican'' (936). ''Wexican'' is a union between the words White and Mexican. According to the article, ''In the Mexican side of my family I was known as the white one’’ (936), and ''On the other side, my cousins called me a ‘Wexican,’ a white Mexican despite my similarly toned skin'' (936). He was not recognized for either even though he spoke Spanish and strongly identified with his Mexican heritage. Right after writing about his biracial identity, he makes the bridge when he tries to eliminate his frustrations by using Mexican and American products to cook, and he feels more comfortable because ''I could make a food that doesn’t have to be Mexican or American'' (936). In his introduction, Montano refers to ‘’the earthy smell of boiling pinto beans’’ as something that apparently both sides of his family liked (936). Later in life, his experience in Argentina with cooking Mexican food for his friends helped him realize and gain confidence in his identity as a Mexican- American (940). Second, talking about Eagle Pass, Texas, Montano uses food to make a bridge between Mexican and American culture. It is the hometown of his dad. Eagle Pass is an American town by the Rio Grande River with Mexico. Montano describes...
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...27 October 2014 First Generation American-Mexican I am a first generation American-Mexican, I was born and raised in Northern California; Santa Rosa, CA., it is about one-hour from San Francisco, California. It is a place filled with various cultures from many different cultural background, customs, and traditions. The majority of individuals living Northern California are from Mexico as it borders the United States. While, growing up my school had a few American-Mexican: Chicano population, with the majority Caucasians and Asian. My school had few African-Americans. As a youth, I sought to grow up and assimilate into the American culture while maintain my cultural identity. As my identity makes me who I am today, and someone I am not. As I grew older, I learned what made the United States different amongst other nations as it was the melting-pot of various cultures from all around the world, in which made it unique from other countries. Furthermore, at Santa Rosa Junior College challenged my mentality to keep an open mind of others, in which I was blind, but each day at school meeting new people, and engaging in conversation with individuals asking them, various questions of what they wanted to do, what was their major, and what gave them passion to keep studying. I had to readjust my ideals about higher education. Higher education has help me find my identity, through knowledge. As I hold on to my customs and traditions that my parents have bestowed upon me. ...
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