Que Onda Urban Youth Culture and Border Identity - Essay Example

There are also the issues of changing economic conditions where Mexicans are seen as the main economic contributors yet; they do menial and inferior jobs. There is also lack of upward mobility by the inferior ethnic groups, who immigrate across the border. The history and geopolitics of the groups determine the social capital each group is going to enjoy, and whether the group is going to assimilate easily. For instance, Chicanas/os are adapted to youth experimentation and popular culture in the United States and their parents put “fewer restrictions to them” than the Mexicanas/os parents do to their youths (45).

The other lines of politics are projected along the legal and policy context of their immigration status (14). This way, the Mexicanas/os and Chicanas/os are made to feel inferior based on their ethnic grouping and social hierarchies (46). These politics is also perpetrated by the issue of whiteness as the top hierarchy and the fact that “without the social capital and social networks and English skills, immigrant youths cannot succeed in the United States education” (14). This also triggers identity politics where Chicanos use English, the language of America, while Mexicans use Spanish but at their own detriment.

The teaching of different languages leads to a division in these two ethnic groups, which share the same ethnicity. In this case, the politics are too heavy for them as students from both sides “harbor ill feeling towards each other” because of border politics as “bantering over each other’s style, language, class, and gender and citizens status” (119). The political Chicano movement does not bar the youths from identifying themselves with inferior ascriptions, as opposed to the perpetrated positive proscriptions (46).

Therefore, the book bounds all these issues among others to show the value of each aspect in the lives of Mexicanas/os and Chicanas/os in a way that can be viewed non-hegemonically. It is because of the bonder politics and race wars that saturate our society that Mexicanas and Chicanas experience discriminations from one another and others (45). What factors influence identity development for Latinas/os along the border region? Many factors have been established, by the book, as influencing identity development for Latinos along the border region.

For instance, Latino youths use “aspects of Mexicana/os, Chicana/os and American culture to create their alternative youth cultures” (96). In this case, the identity of Latinas/os is influenced by the Mexicana/o and Chicana/o youth who share many characteristics. There is also the factor of language where English is considered to be the dominant class language. For this case, the Latinos are influenced to identify with American culture by learning English language. Even though the American pop culture has appropriated Latino culture, this does not bar it from identifying itself with top social class in the hierarchies (96).

There is also the issue of boundary or geographical position of the Latinos. This is closely linked to their immigration status and proximity to the Mexican border. Those who are close to the border experience extreme discrimination and less social property than those who are far away. On the other hand, those who migrated to the United States earlier have