JE#2

In my California history course in elementary school, I remember reading about the Battle of the Alamo and the phrase “Remember the Alamo”. The way that the story was presented to me was one of aggression on behalf of Mexico against Americans. That the tyrannical general Santa Ana was hostile towards the people of Texans and therefore the U.S. had no choice other than declaring war on Mexico.

After having read parts of De Leon’s book “And They Called Them Greasers”, I felt numerous emotions, but overall one of anger. I felt anger towards the mainstream notion of history that I was made to believe because it intentionally portrayed people of Mexican-descent the enemies or “savages”. It made me re-evaluate the way in which history speaks to people that identify with people of Mexican-descent. 

Anther example that I can point to is the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus. The hegemonic narrative completely ignores the civilizations of people that already inhabited the land before they became the “Americas”. This current way of looking at history has been detrimental to not only my educational journey, but also to my fellow colleagues of mine. This way of thinking has ingrained in my mindset a feeling of inferiority and even borderline shamefulness towards anything associated with Mexican culture. As far as the question is concerned, I’d say my historical amnesia is about a 6. It has affected me in a sense that I have struggled with my understanding of my cultural identity i.e. speaking Spanish or even learning how to dance. I would even be ashamed to be bumping( or playing really loudly) Spanish music such as cumbias or rancheras for I thought people would stare at me funny for not playing the latest pop song on the radio. I have come a long way since then, but everyday is a struggle of great magnitude and strife.