Latino identity is *both* an inside job and an outside job…

This week I interviewed Stephanie Elizondo Griest, author of Mexican Enough, and we talked about identity on a number of levels.  In some cultures, including in the U.S., our culture can be ‘taken away’ from us.  I was struck by Stephanie’s commentary of the U.S. as a “graveyard of languages and cultures.”  Ouch!
 
However, Stephanie also told us of her being in former communist countries where there was severe repression and torture when people insisted on hanging on to their culture, religion or language and how certain people, strong in their belief, hung on to their identities and their beliefs no matter what.
 
This was a strong reminder to me that there are (at least!) two sides to the cultural identity – both how people see you from outside the group (and how much we each individually decide to collude with the outside group in their definition of us) as well as how we are seen by the inside group.
 
Who gets to tell you who you are?  And is it really a ‘choice’?  It’s difficult to practice a culture all by yourself, right?  For example, if there’s no one to talk to, then your language becomes dead because the meaning of language – communication – gets lost.
 
Stephanie pointed out to us that in spite of the “browning of America,” by the third generation, only 17% of U.S. Latinos speak Spanish fluently.  But this isn’t unique to Latinos.  Other cultures and languages have suffered the same fate.
 
We *choose* to give up some pieces of culture in exchange for what?  Acceptance?  Advancement?  Or simply, at times, ease?
 
And likewise, we choose to hang on to pieces of our culture for reasons of pride, because of our values, and because they create pieces of our identity that we don’t want to lose.
 
Stick with me, because Monday we’ll be talking about how the ‘outside’ group gets to tell us (in part) who we are as well.

P.S.  In case you missed Stephanie’s interview, you can purchase either the audio or the transcript (or both) of the interview at the special pre-sale price until next Wednesday.  Click here to find out more…