COLUMN: Coming together as Latinos

From Delia Vallejo's, "Journey to Aztlan," Fall '97 From Delia Vallejo's, "Journey to Aztlan," Fall '97 Why is Latino unity lacking at Penn? The problem lies in defining exactly who is Latino and in examining the many issues we have in defining our ethnicity. Unity among a group comes from ideals and goals they have in common. Having a Spanish surname is not the only commonality to link together a group. So when Latinos do have other things in common, they unite on issues, right? Not really. We are divided as a community for several reasons. However, there are a few things we should never forget, whether we call ourselves Latinos or not. Class consciousness is often an issue that distinguishes Latinos and Latin Americans at Penn. Even though we may share certain cultural traditions, such as the foods our families cook at home and the kind of music we dance to, the differences are many. Latinos are "Americanized" and their outlook on life varies significantly with that of Latin Americans. The closeness of Latinos to their heritage varies in each household. This simply means some of us speak Spanish at home and still have relatives in Latin America while others rarely eat ethnic food at home or have never been to the country our family immigrated from. Depending on whether they are first generation or third generation, some Latinos call themselves just "American" -- especially if they are part of another ethnicity due to inter-ethnic or inter-racial marriages. It's rather difficult for a person to call themselves Latino if they have no connection to the culture that once defined their family. This acculturation process is normal, and has been the norm in American society over the centuries as ethnic groups slowly became "American." So why isn't there unity among Latinos? There are so many "Latino" organizations on campus, yet interaction among the various groups is practically nil. It seems other ethnic groups on campus demonstrate more cohesion on issues that affect them. For instance, looking from the outside, it appears my South Asian friends all know each other and are very active in cultural events. Perhaps Latinos are just too diverse to be unified. We come from across the U.S., we are from varying generations, and our families were once from different countries. Yet, I remain certain that Latino unity could exist at Penn just as it does on other college campuses. Whether we admit it or not, we do have things in common and issues that affect us. First, the government often sees us as a "group" and the diversity we see among ourselves is often ignored. This presents a problem when we don't exhibit cohesion on issues that may affect us. Maybe that's why we are considered passive people since we don't speak out together when legislation is passed affects us, whether it is negative or positive. How de WE feel about bilingual education, when some of us or our parents may have participated in such programs? How do WE feel about the mistreatment of illegal immigrants, considering many of our families immigrated? And how do WE feel about currently-attacked affirmative action programs, that often play a positive role in our lives? And at Penn, how do WE feel about the lack of resources provided to the Latin American Studies program? All of these issues affect us as Latinos and we must not be apathetic -- especially as college students who will become leaders in our communities. Whether or not we choose to have "unity" with other Latinos and Latin Americans in all aspects of our lives is not as crucial as realizing that sometimes it is important to have a united front, especially on issues directly affecting our community.