JE #3A: Cultural Schizophrenia

Cultural schizophrenia is the belief of being torn into multiple directions; the past tries to control the future. Yet, the future is blurred and altered by contradictions and truths buried under layers of lies. These lies are historical accounts from the victor. The powerful do not like to share when they are powerless, and so find it best to hide the weakness. But these lies triumph over future outcomes, they decide where to go by the belief of where they have been. But schizophrenia in itself is the voices in one’s mind with multiple personalities and different visions of the future. The voices of your parents tell you to follow the world under these certain standards of living, but what happens when those standards of living are different from the standards of the power? Language, culture, religion, race, and ideology are some of the differences in what my parents taught me to what greater society wants me to be. So where does one stand? Do you go against the word of your parents, or do you go against your surrounding customs? These things are visible in the conscious mind. There are things you see and things that have been taught. Speaking from a personal stance, there are times when I had to go against the beliefs of my mother, not out of disrespect but out of survival. “Stop talking so ‘white!’” My family believed I was going against my own people, but I was just accustoming for survival. When speaking in mainstream society, presentation is everything, and with better speech comes better opportunities. Being able to speak the English language in the United States opens doors of opportunities. It is a sad truth when people believe those who are not accustomed to the language are considered brainless, but the truth of the matter is, who can sustain themselves in a room filled of discriminatory English speaking individuals? I do not go against my people, I change and alter myself to fit both my Mexican ancestry and American customs and fuse them together to better my community.