Association of Latina and Latino Anthropologists : ALLA Awards Competition
1
Anthropology News February 2000 SECTION NEWS sionalism development at the annual meetings. Such a workshop will provide an orientation to both Latina(o2 graduate students and junior fac- ulty seeking mentoring and professional guid- ance and advice for navigating the often turbu- lent waters of the academy. At the Business Meet- ing, a number of ALLA members and leading scholars offered their assistance for the 2OOO meeting workshop. Among those who volun- teered their time to the development and coordi- nation of the workshops are Diego Vigil, Pat Zavella, Jim Taggart, Tom Weaver, Roberto Alvarez and Ruben Mendoza among others. Once again, please contact Program Co-Chair, Javier Tapia for information. AUA Awards Competition Please see this month’s Awards Alert column in the Rites of Passage section for information on AUA’s 2000 Student Paper Competition and its Rising Professional Award. As We See Ourselves By Alejandro Lug0 This is my last column as contributing editor. I am glad that I could partiupate in this forum in the last year or so with my colleague, Arlene Torres. I know that I will continue to try to serve ALL4 in other capacities in the future. I would like to use this opportunity to share with the readers of this column my honest response to one of the most difficult questions a serious undergraduate student posed to me in my nine years of teaching. The questions came through email during the last two weeks of the fall semester. He stated the following: “Professor, if you don’t mind, how do you identify yourself? And why? I question whether it is appropriate to call myself Mexican American. Should it not be just Mexican? Not like the American part really means anything to the mainstream world. I am not sure, I am a little confused. These questions were being posed by one of the best students (a sophomore) in the class (“Spanish-speaking Peoples in the United States”). How would you, my colleagues, have answered these questions?How do you idenbfy or see your- self? I felt a re>ponsibility to try to do justice to his concerns. I attempted to answer as a teacher, and not always as a thmrist or scholar. I hope that this excerpt from the original reply produces a bit of discussion, if not, some reflection on how I could have done a better job, or how you (my audience) have answered these kinds of questions in the past. What is at stake here should concern all anthropologists (not just ALL4 members) who teach about identity, issues of belonging, and everyday life experiences. Dear Student, With regard to your question (which is actual- ly about choosing one and only one identity), and if I were to apply it to all individuals of Mexican descent in this country, there really is no general answer. Below I will tell you how I feel about my identity. But with regard to other indi- viduals/authors and the communities they belong to/study (throughout the country: Southwest, Midwest, East Coast), I first look at how they situate and how they i d e n w them- selves and why: Chicano/a, Latino/a, Mexican, Mexican-American, Tejano/a, Hispano/a-inde- pendently of what I think. Situating them and torical coqtexts is a major step forward. Myself in a Nutshell: Identity for me in the US is like language; I can- not dream in, or limit myself to just one lan- guage: English or Spanish. Sometimes I speak both at once (Spanglish), other times I speak only English, other times I speak only Spanish. But I will never limit myself to speak, write and dream in only one language--even though as a kid, I only spoke Spanish; even though as a teenager, I struggled with both Spanish and English and even though as an adult, I came to speak both languages comfortably. In the same way, even though when I lived in Mexico I identifiedmyself only as mexim; even though as a teenager in southern New Mexico, I identified myself only as either mexicano or Mexican American; even though it was only in college that I began to call myself Chicano, a politicized identity that demands equality; and even though it was only in Illinois that I began to appreciate myself as a Latino-for all these multiple identities that I have come to understand and appreciate-I can- not limit myself to just one of these identities. As when speaking Spanish, English or Spanghsh, I feel comfortable with all these identities depend- ing on the context (Note: At the same time, we must remain critical of the limitations of each label, and we must be aware of the fact that other individuals might still prefer only one of these cano, Mexican, Mexican American and Latino. My family and US identity politics: Con mi fmil- ia [with my family], I am meximo-con mi madre [mother], mis hemrmzos/as [siblings] y espsa [wife]; con mis hijas [to my daughters], I am both mexicam and Mexican American. Later, when they get older and experience (and acknowledge) racism, they will understand my Chicano identi- ty. Here in Urbana, IL, if my daughters don’t say that they are Mexican American (that they were actually born in Wisconsin and Texas), their teachers think that they are mexicanas and, there- fore, in the teachers’ minds, some day my daugh- ters will go back to “their country.” Hopefully, by the time my daughters go to college, the main- stream society will recognize that Mexicans can Understanding them in their OW^ social and his- terms). So, I can be (and I am) Chicano, Mexi- be Americans, too (without denying their mi- amidad). . . . The term for Mexicans from Chicago is “Mexicano/a”.“Chicano” is a term many have not heard of, and “Mexican American” is very suspicious to most of them (just as it is for the Chicanos in Texas, but for a different reason: in Chicago most of them simply prefer mexim). Here at the U of I, as you know, I also work with Puerto Rican and Cuban students, who see me as mexicano and probably as a Latino Professor who happens to be mexim and (maybe) Mexican American. When I teach about different “American Ethniaties” in generak Asian Americans, Kom Americans, Italian Americans, Cuban Americans, and so forth, I feel that I should then talk about “Mexican Americans” to be consistent. Then I clanfy that some Mexican Americans label them- nos/as,” and that some of them do not like the term “Mexican American” because the “Ameri- can” part is always contested, especially by Anglos who assume that “American’, means white, or “European American” exclusively. If I am speaking to a “multiraaal/multiCtural audi- ence” in the Midwest, I say that I am a US Latino of Mexican descent (not an international Latin American): I tell them that I am Latino, but also Mexicano, Mexican American, or Chicano-I am all of these things. In short, your identity, like your ability to speak more than one language, speaks to more than just one choice. These choic- es should add to our abilities as years go by, with- out losing your foundation. Because of all these abilities and identities, we can go very, very far. Nuestra Raza [nuestra comunidad]--los mexicanos y las mexicmas-es inwmparable [is incompara- ble]. selves “Chicanos/a~, ” “H~sP~~os/~s,” “Mexica- For contributions to the AN via AUA and @any comments please reach the contributing editors, Al&mdm Lug0 and Arlene Torres, via mil to the fbl- laving addresses: [email protected], a-tones@uiuc. edu. You can also wn’te to the U of Illinoisl Dept of Anthropology, 109 Davenport Hall, MC-148, 607 South Mathews Avenue, V b l lL 61801. Association for Political and Legal Anthropology JOHN R BOWEN CONIRIBWITNG EDITOR We are exploringways of strengthening ties with related sections and organizations in other disci- plines (as some other AAA sections are doing). For APLA this “lateral collaboration” in the past has meant primarily active partiapation in the Law and Society Association. I would like to encour- age column readers to communicate (via my email address) news about other organizations with which we might wish to have regular con- tact-which could mean anything from regularly posing anthropologicalbeachheads at their meet- ings, to more active forms of collaboration. As for the Law and Society Assodation, their meeting will be in Miami Beach this coming May 26-29. The theme is the rather opaque “Millen- nial Accidents-On the Road with the Rule of Law.” Fortunately, the LSA call for papers sounds less like a Bob Hope movie than a serious engage- ment with issues of transnational legal processes, one that is particularly appropriatefor anthropo- logical comment and contribution. Among the subthemes proposed for the meeting are: the relationships of law and competing forms of authority (familial, economic), transnational movements of layers, legal institutions and NGOs, and the exportability of “the rule of law.” listing their conferences (and they ours), to P’O-
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Transcript of Association of Latina and Latino Anthropologists : ALLA Awards Competition
Anthropology News February 2000 S E C T I O N N E W S
sionalism development at the annual meetings. Such a workshop will provide an orientation to both Latina(o2 graduate students and junior fac- ulty seeking mentoring and professional guid- ance and advice for navigating the often turbu- lent waters of the academy. At the Business Meet- ing, a number of ALLA members and leading scholars offered their assistance for the 2OOO meeting workshop. Among those who volun- teered their time to the development and coordi- nation of the workshops are Diego Vigil, Pat Zavella, Jim Taggart, Tom Weaver, Roberto Alvarez and Ruben Mendoza among others. Once again, please contact Program Co-Chair, Javier Tapia for information.
A U A Awards Competition Please see this month’s Awards Alert column in the Rites of Passage section for information on AUA’s 2000 Student Paper Competition and its Rising Professional Award.
As We See Ourselves
By Alejandro Lug0 This is my last column as contributing editor. I am glad that I could partiupate in t h i s forum in the last year or so with my colleague, Arlene Torres. I know that I will continue to try to serve ALL4 in other capacities in the future.
I would like to use t h i s opportunity to share with the readers of this column my honest response to one of the most difficult questions a serious undergraduate student posed to me in my nine years of teaching. The questions came through email during the last two weeks of the fall semester. He stated the following: “Professor, if you don’t mind, how do you identify yourself? And why? I question whether it is appropriate to call myself Mexican American. Should it not be just Mexican? Not like the American part really means anything to the mainstream world. I am not sure, I am a little confused. These questions were being posed by one of the best students (a sophomore) in the class (“Spanish-speaking Peoples in the United States”).
How would you, my colleagues, have answered these questions? How do you idenbfy or see your- self? I felt a re>ponsibility to try to do justice to his concerns. I attempted to answer as a teacher, and not always as a thmrist or scholar. I hope that t h i s excerpt from the original reply produces a bit of discussion, if not, some reflection on how I could have done a better job, or how you (my audience) have answered these kinds of questions in the past. What is at stake here should concern all anthropologists (not just ALL4 members) who teach about identity, issues of belonging, and everyday life experiences.
Dear Student, With regard to your question (which is actual-
ly about choosing one and only one identity), and if I were to apply it to all individuals of Mexican descent in t h i s country, there really is no general answer. Below I will tell you how I feel about my identity. But with regard to other indi- viduals/authors and the communities they
belong to/study (throughout the country: Southwest, Midwest, East Coast), I first look at how they situate and how they idenw them- selves and why: Chicano/a, Latino/a, Mexican, Mexican-American, Tejano/a, Hispano/a-inde- pendently of what I think. Situating them and
torical coqtexts is a major step forward. Myself in a Nutshell:
Identity for me in the US is like language; I can- not dream in, or limit myself to just one lan- guage: English or Spanish. Sometimes I speak both at once (Spanglish), other times I speak only English, other times I speak only Spanish. But I will never limit myself to speak, write and dream in only one language--even though as a kid, I only spoke Spanish; even though as a teenager, I struggled with both Spanish and English and even though as an adult, I came to speak both languages comfortably. In the same way, even though when I lived in Mexico I identified myself only as m e x i m ; even though as a teenager in southern New Mexico, I identified myself only as either mexicano or Mexican American; even though it was only in college that I began to call myself Chicano, a politicized identity that demands equality; and even though it was only in Illinois that I began to appreciate myself as a Latino-for all these multiple identities that I have come to understand and appreciate-I can- not limit myself to just one of these identities. As when speaking Spanish, English or Spanghsh, I feel comfortable with all these identities depend- ing on the context (Note: At the same time, we must remain critical of the limitations of each label, and we must be aware of the fact that other individuals might st i l l prefer only one of these
cano, Mexican, Mexican American and Latino. My family and US identity politics: Con mi fmi l - ia [with my family], I am meximo-con mi madre [mother], mis hemrmzos/as [siblings] y espsa [wife]; con mis hijas [to my daughters], I am both mexicam and Mexican American. Later, when they get older and experience (and acknowledge) racism, they will understand my Chicano identi- ty. Here in Urbana, IL, if my daughters don’t say that they are Mexican American (that they were actually born in Wisconsin and Texas), their teachers think that they are mexicanas and, there- fore, in the teachers’ minds, some day my daugh- ters will go back to “their country.” Hopefully, by the time my daughters go to college, the main- stream society will recognize that Mexicans can
Understanding them in their OW^ social and his-
terms). So, I can be (and I am) Chicano, Mexi-
be Americans, too (without denying their m i - amidad). . . .
The term for Mexicans from Chicago is “Mexicano/a”. “Chicano” is a term many have not heard of, and “Mexican American” is very suspicious to most of them (just as it is for the Chicanos in Texas, but for a different reason: in Chicago most of them simply prefer m e x i m ) . Here at the U of I, as you know, I also work with Puerto Rican and Cuban students, who see me as mexicano and probably as a Latino Professor who happens to be m e x i m and (maybe) Mexican American.
When I teach about different “American Ethniaties” in generak Asian Americans, K o m Americans, Italian Americans, Cuban Americans, and so forth, I feel that I should then talk about “Mexican Americans” to be consistent. Then I clanfy that some Mexican Americans label them-
nos/as,” and that some of them do not like the term “Mexican American” because the “Ameri- can” part is always contested, especially by Anglos who assume that “American’, means white, or “European American” exclusively. If I am speaking to a “multiraaal/multiCtural audi- ence” in the Midwest, I say that I am a US Latino of Mexican descent (not an international Latin American): I tell them that I am Latino, but also Mexicano, Mexican American, or Chicano-I am all of these things. In short, your identity, like your ability to speak more than one language, speaks to more than just one choice. These choic- es should add to our abilities as years go by, with- out losing your foundation. Because of all these abilities and identities, we can go very, very far. Nuestra Raza [nuestra comunidad]--los mexicanos y las mexicmas-es inwmparable [is incompara- ble].
selves “Chicanos/a~, ” “H~sP~~os /~s ,” “Mexica-
For contributions to the AN via AUA and @any comments please reach the contributing editors, Al&mdm Lug0 and Arlene Torres, via m i l to the fbl- laving addresses: [email protected], a-tones@uiuc. edu. You can also wn’te to the U of Illinoisl Dept of Anthropology, 109 Davenport Hall, MC-148, 607 South Mathews Avenue, V b l lL 61801.
Association for Political and Legal Anthropology JOHN R BOWEN CONIRIBWITNG EDITOR We are exploring ways of strengthening ties with related sections and organizations in other disci- plines (as some other AAA sections are doing). For APLA t h i s “lateral collaboration” in the past has meant primarily active partiapation in the Law and Society Association. I would like to encour- age column readers to communicate (via my email address) news about other organizations with which we might wish to have regular con- tact-which could mean anything from regularly
posing anthropological beachheads at their meet- ings, to more active forms of collaboration. As for the Law and Society Assodation, their
meeting will be in Miami Beach this coming May 26-29. The theme is the rather opaque “Millen- nial Accidents-On the Road with the Rule of Law.” Fortunately, the LSA call for papers sounds less like a Bob Hope movie than a serious engage- ment with issues of transnational legal processes, one that is particularly appropriate for anthropo- logical comment and contribution. Among the subthemes proposed for the meeting are: the relationships of law and competing forms of authority (familial, economic), transnational movements of layers, legal institutions and NGOs, and the exportability of “the rule of law.”
listing their conferences (and they ours), to P’O-
