united states of immigrants

i'm a product of the american dream. both my parents came to the states at a very young age. my mother and her family were brought over by my grandfather who wanted a better life for his family. my father left home at 16 cause he wanted more than what his rancho had to offer. my mother came over legally and is now an american citizen. my father came over not so legally but was granted amnesty by the reagan administration. something my father is very grateful for. he's been a small business owner for more than 20 years and has done well for a scrawny kid from el rancho with no real education. my parents work hard, pay their taxes, and have raised 3 well educated kids. a son who's now a mechanical engineer and graduated from one of the best engineering schools in the nation. a daughter (me) who is still trying to find herself a proper job with that college degree. and their baby will officially become a college graduate next spring. i know i'm disclosing a lot, but i just wanted to start off today's politak thursday with this to show people that immigration and amnesty isn't bad, in fact in my family's experience its the exact opposite. and sadly this nation constantly needs to be reminded of this.

recently a young boy, sebastian de la cruz, from san antonio, texas had the great honor to sing the national anthem at a spurs game. something he took great pride in. he dressed to the nines, in a black and grey traje de charro representing the home teams colors and the cities history. he belted the national anthem beautifully and looked very sauve doing so; he did his city proud.

personally i loved that he wore a traje de charro. mariachi is a beautiful thing. and i took pride in someone with a similar cultural background as me singing the national anthem on television. it was a 'look mama' moment. something mexicans and latinos across the country will take pride in. as perfectly said by thinkmexican:

"sebastien was not only representing his city, he was putting a face to a huge demographic shift that has taken place in the united states over the last 20 years. at an official count of 33.7 million, mexicans now make up 11% of the total us population. a young community (median age 25) with a growing presence in regions outside of the southwest, mexican americans may surpass german americans as the largest ancestry group by 2040." 

this was a "hot topic" on the view and for once all the women agreed that the public's reaction to this was ridiculous and absurd. guest co-host luciana gimenez, argued that why aren't people this mad that the boston celtics have a leprachaun as their mascot which represents the areas large irish population. its the same with sebastian, he's representing the people of san antonio- hard working americans who happen to be mostly of mexican decent.

coach greg popovich of the spurs and the spurs organization didn't shy away from the controversy. in fact de la cruz was invited again tonight to sing the national anthem. the organization has always embraced the large population of mexican/latino fans often hosting los spurs nights which celebrates and honors their latino fan base. so it was no surprise that the organization invited de la cruz to not only stand behind the talented 11 year old but also stand behind its fans. popovish commented on the idioctic blacklash by saying

"i would like to say I would be shocked or surprised by the comments. but given the fact that there’s still a significant element of bigotry and racism in our nation, i’m not surprised. …it still plagues us, obviously. and what i was surprised by was how proud these idiots were of their ignorance by printing their names next to their comments. [de la cruz] is a class act. way more mature than most his age. and as much as those comments by the idiots saddens you about your country, he makes you feel that the future could be very bright." [x]

its good to see that among all this hate and racism that there are people who stand up against it because we are a nation of immigrants. unless one is native american, we can all trace our linage to somewhere else.

i think people tend to forget that this nation was found by immigrants seeking a better life. immigrants who wanted to escape persecutions from their own country and be free. and it is exactly what continues to drive this country; that spirit that anything is possible, that you can change your situation, that you can have it all. but why are people still so hostile to the very foundation of this country: immigration. this country doesn't have an official language or religion become it welcomes people from all different nations and ethnicity. immigrants, their children, their children's children are what make this country great. we need to start embracing the beauty of this country, that we are all american; that being american isn't determined by the way you look or the way you talk, its the way you live. its that hope inside, its the determination to never give up, its the pursuit of happiness. it isn't whether your last name is pham, jaurez, o'malley or patel, its that you can have any type of variation of those last names and still have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

my family like every other family in this country celebrates their heritage alongside their patriotism for the states. we cook a full on thanksgiving dinner with extra sides of rice and beans (word of advice don't place your beans next to your cranberry sauce, it is not a good combination). we celebrates the 4th of july, but we just add some carne asada and napal next to the hot dogs and burgers. its fusion of both cultures, just like this country is a fusion of so many cultures around the world.

if we put aside the bigotry and blatant racism, and started working on better immigration reform than this country could be even greater than what its is. its a beautiful vision that i hope to get to see during my lifetime. 

whats your take on this current hot topic? all opinions welcomed!

it's a bird. it's a plane. it's an undocumented immigrant.

oh look, a foreigner play an american icon. 

about a year ago i was watching a documentary about superman, look, up in the sky! the amazing story of superman. yes, i'm that girl. but to my defense i've been obsessed with the man of steel since i was a kid. you see, i had the pleasure of growing up with boys, who were all obsessed with superheros. (don't even get me started on x-men. rogue and gambit 4eva. they were my otp before i even knew what otps were.) it was also probably the hair. i have a thing for men’s hair. or maybe it was the fact that he was the ‘all- american’ boy who had extraordinary power. he grew up in kansas, on a farm; i mean how much more classic americana can you get. as you might guess i also have a thing for americana. whatever it was, superman/clark kent/kal-el and I have been tight since we were kids.

an interesting point that the documentary brought up was that superman was an immigrant. he wasn't from the states, or even from this planet. he was a bit of an outsider because of it. despite it all, he managed to be metropolis' hero and the ‘all-american’ hero to countless boys across the states and even the world. to understand this you should know that, jerry and joe, were children of jewish immigrants who often felt like they didn't fit into their ‘all-american’ surroundings growing up. they felt like outsiders, just like kal-el did. they romanticized their emotions/experiences and made superman. i had stored this information in the back of my mind for when i would potentially come across someone who loved superman but was so blatantly anti-immigration; it was going to be my closing argument. it wasn't until last week when thinkprogress wrote an article that touched on the matter that I felt the need to write about it.

let's start with his name, kal-el. it obviously didn’t sound ‘american’. imagine how many teachers growing up would have butchered that. so his parent re-named him clark kent, something that was easier to pronounce and very american (in fact jerry and joe got the name clark kent from combining clark gable and kent taylor, two american film icons they grew up with). this is something that i saw all the time growing up. i grew up in a suburb outside of LA that was mostly half hispanic and half asian. a lot of my asian friends had chinese and vietnamese names that most couldn't pronounce. they saw that their birth names made them different and they began adopting english names like sarah or ryan. it wasn't that they were embarrassed it was just that they didn't want to stand out. they wanted to fit in and it was their way of assimilating. i saw it a lot in the hispanic culture as well. my uncle was named pedro but i only ever heard my grandparents call him that. to everyone else he was peter. he changed his name to something that was more american friendly, so he  could fit in when he immigrated to the states at a young age. a cousin of mine was given the name esteban after his grandfather, but goes by steve; showtime’s weeds did the same thing with nancy’s youngest boy. it’s something that millions of people do across the country to feel less left out; they have a desire to fit in and do so by sounding more american and so some often change their name when introducing themselves to others. clark's parents did so that he wouldn't feel left out, so that he would acclimate to his new home better.   

although superman is an american icon, he's still an undocumented immigrant. he came to this country with no papers. he came to this country in a rocket disguised as an asteroid. it is no different than people coming to this country illegal through cargo from overseas or from 18-wheelers from south of the border. the difference is that kal-el became a beloved superhero. no one ever asked to see his birth certificate cause he was too busy saving the world. if only that type of behavior held up today (i'm looking at you 'birthers'). but the thing is that many undocumented immigrants come to this country illegally without a say because their parents thought it'd be best for them, just like kal-el's parents did; they too want to be heroes but can't. they want to be doctors and lawyers and teachers, but they can't because they can't get the financial aid to help them or even if they do manage to come up with the funds their degree wouldn’t be valid. this is something that i see all the time. why was superman given the aid to go to college and become a report, cause let's be real his struggling family farm probably couldn't have paid for the whole thing, but kids now a day’s aren't given the same treatment?  or why wasnt he being harassed and deported, like many young people are being today? its because he exemplifies americana but not in the way you might think seeing that he's small town kid from kansas who grew up on a farm and became a report. it’s because he was an immigrant who came to this country and became something of himself. he's the american dream.

on a side note many have complained that an american isn’t playing superman in man of steel, since superman is an american hero and all. but its fitting and ironic all at once that a foreigner with really good hair is playing kal-el/clark kent/superman.