I Was Their American Dream Review by

kassandramurillo74 — 2024-05-24 16:25:03 UTC

To me, this is where the clash of cultures becomes an issue. In America, the mixing of cultures has become rather common, but it is not commonly discussed how this mixing of cultures can become rather negative. I relate to this page, as growing up, I was constantly being yelled at in both of my parent's languages.

kassandramurillo74 — 2024-05-24 16:30:14 UTC

Of course, growing up consuming American media, you never really think of the "mainstream" white, heteronormative family that is perpetuated in the media. I can relate to this in how my family is just as diverse as Malaka's. With two families, however, although I was used to the mix of the two cultures, there is still some hostility between them. To my Mexican family, I was always seen as the "china," and to my Filipino family I was simply "spanish."

kassandramurillo74 — 2024-05-24 16:34:32 UTC

This is something I found interesting, as my mother consistently made Monggo at home. I believe that although she was used to the notion of the "American Dream" and the American work ethnic, she'd rather embrace her culture at home. With that, she never liked American food much, and opted for cooking Filipino food to feed herself. Of course, this is her keeping her ties to her culture while simultaneously attempting to assimilate.

kassandramurillo74 — 2024-05-24 16:47:12 UTC

The way that immigrant parents take pride in having an American child is sometimes endearing to see. Despite this, it is evident that the pride that comes with an American child is due to how with them, there is a disconnect from the parent's culture. It becomes a status symbol, where the child is afforded the luxuries of a life that was not originally available to the parent. In a way, the farther the child is from the original culture, the better chances they have at assimilating and fully achieving the coveted "American Dream."

kassandramurillo74 — 2024-05-24 16:52:31 UTC

I found this amusing, as I never really thought about the lack of white people that I encountered growing up. Of course now, that I am grown and freely able to travel, I am exposed more to white people now than ever before. From where I am in Queens though, you encounter more colored people than fully white, and it's interesting how I never thought of it until recently because this is all I was ever exposed to.

kassandramurillo74 — 2024-05-24 17:02:19 UTC

As I can closely relate to Malaka's experience as a mixed American child of two immigrants, I can confidently say that it is not for the weak. In the middle of two distinct cultures, there was definitely room for an identity crisis throughout my life so far. As a result of this, you never come to terms with feeling excluded from all your cultures. Despite being born here, I am not perceived as "American" enough as I am racially ambiguous (clearly Latina but not 100%). Yet when going back to Mexico, I am not accepted there either as my spanish comes with a clear accent. In the Philippines, it is hard for them to understand my receptive fluency, adding to the exclusion from that culture as well. All of that, plus the microaggressions I've experienced, makes it hard to feel whole with the intersectional aspect of my identity.