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El Laberinto, 1971-1987
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7 WHO AM I?* After I tell you who I am you may not know me. You may not recognize me. You may deny I exist. Who am I? I'm a product of myself. I'm a product of you and of my ancestors. Now, one half of my ancestors were the Spanish who were Western European, but who were also part African and part Middle Eastern. They came to this country and met with the other side of my family -- the Indians. The Indians also were a great race -- people of a great culture. There were many kinds of Indians, as there were many kinds of Spaniards. They mixed, they married, they had children. Their children were called Mestizos, and this is what I am. We came to California long before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. We settled California and all of the southwestern part of the United States, including the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. We built the missions, and we cultivated the ranches. We were at the Alamo in Texas, both inside and outside. You know, we owned California -- that is, until gold was found there. I think it was a mistake to let you into the southwestern states, because eventually you took away our lands. When we fought to retain what was ours, you used vigilantes to scare us away, to hang us, and to take away our lands. We became your slaves. Now we cook your food, we build your railroads, we harvest your crops, we dig your ditches, we stand in your unemployment lines -- and we receive more than 20 percent of your welfare. But we've done some good things, too: We won more Medals of Honor during World Warr II than any other ethnic group. We've never had a turncoat, even during the Korean War. Yes, we have had outstanding war records. But, you know, we don't get much attention, either. We don't live in your neighborhoods unless we let you call us Spanish, French, or something else, but not what we are. We usually attend our own schools at the elementary or junior high level; and if we get to high school, we may go to school with you. However, even before we finish high school, more than 50 percent of us drop out, and you know we don't go to college. We make up less than 1 percent of the college students, yet we are 12 percent of the total school population. We don't use government agencies because our experiences with them have been rather poor; they haven't been very friendly or helpful. The Immigration Department has never really been our friend. The land offices help take away our lands -- we couldn't exactly call them friendly. The Farm Labor Bureau has never truly served us.
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7 WHO AM I?* After I tell you who I am you may not know me. You may not recognize me. You may deny I exist. Who am I? I'm a product of myself. I'm a product of you and of my ancestors. Now, one half of my ancestors were the Spanish who were Western European, but who were also part African and part Middle Eastern. They came to this country and met with the other side of my family -- the Indians. The Indians also were a great race -- people of a great culture. There were many kinds of Indians, as there were many kinds of Spaniards. They mixed, they married, they had children. Their children were called Mestizos, and this is what I am. We came to California long before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. We settled California and all of the southwestern part of the United States, including the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. We built the missions, and we cultivated the ranches. We were at the Alamo in Texas, both inside and outside. You know, we owned California -- that is, until gold was found there. I think it was a mistake to let you into the southwestern states, because eventually you took away our lands. When we fought to retain what was ours, you used vigilantes to scare us away, to hang us, and to take away our lands. We became your slaves. Now we cook your food, we build your railroads, we harvest your crops, we dig your ditches, we stand in your unemployment lines -- and we receive more than 20 percent of your welfare. But we've done some good things, too: We won more Medals of Honor during World Warr II than any other ethnic group. We've never had a turncoat, even during the Korean War. Yes, we have had outstanding war records. But, you know, we don't get much attention, either. We don't live in your neighborhoods unless we let you call us Spanish, French, or something else, but not what we are. We usually attend our own schools at the elementary or junior high level; and if we get to high school, we may go to school with you. However, even before we finish high school, more than 50 percent of us drop out, and you know we don't go to college. We make up less than 1 percent of the college students, yet we are 12 percent of the total school population. We don't use government agencies because our experiences with them have been rather poor; they haven't been very friendly or helpful. The Immigration Department has never really been our friend. The land offices help take away our lands -- we couldn't exactly call them friendly. The Farm Labor Bureau has never truly served us.
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