Rob Mondello
Amy Bolaski
English 201
“So Mexicans are Taking Jobs from Americans” by Jimmy Santiago Baca : Exploring Ambiguous Phrases
I chose this piece because it is often a dinner table discussion around my family, many of whom are mexican, including my daughter and little sisters, though I am not. Some of them came here illegally, although have gained citizenship since then. In the poem " So Mexicans are Taking Jobs from American's ", Jimmy Santiago Baca utilizes ambiguity to allow versatility in the target audience he is writing to. What this does is allow the poem to appeal to an even wider range of political and cultural beliefs than the issue of immigration and naturalization would have reached on their own. There is no doubt this is still a subject of heated debate, maybe even more so now than during the time the poem was written in 1977. I believe this writing's is still so strongly relevant because of the techniques of the author speaking in generalities.
The first phrase that really stood out to me having possible double meanings was "Below that cool green sea of money, millions and millions of people fight to live, search for pearls in the darkest depths
of their dreams, hold their breath for years trying to cross poverty to just having something". This line seems like it was referring to illegal immigrants struggling to make a living within a capitalist system after they have survived a life of poverty in another country, but upon further inspection it seems very possibly to be appealing to all immigration pasts that most Americans share, after all the only race that was native to this land was the Native American, in which we took our land from.
The next phrase that struck my attention was the when the author says "on TV, in the streets, in offices, should be saying, 'We aren't giving the children a chance to live.'" This is true well beyond the issue of immigration. With epic multigenerational problems such as genetically modified foods, water fluoridation, unsafe vaccination campaigns, air pollution caused by dispersed aerosols and industrialization, and the destruction of our environment. The grim future awaiting the consequences of such planetary and generational neglect, encompass a much larger radius than just immigrants.
A similar line that is equally vague states "The children are dead already ". This cynical attitude about the future generation set to inherit the problems of the planet gives little hope. One is left imagining the incoming obstacles as being insurmountable and solutionless in the same manner as that of someone purchasing a used car they are barely able to afford, later discovering a long list of expensive engine repairs they must fix. For the sake of our children I hope this opinion of the author is inaccurate.
Another part of the poem that rings of mystery is " I've gone about trying to find them, asking just where the hell are these fighters. " The writer does not specify who these 'fighters' even are. Are they fighters against inequality, or people fighting against cultural integration, one is left wondering as I believe was intended by the author. Not only does Baca not identify the meaning of the usage of the word fighter, but further re-enforces its uncertainty by not disclosing their location.
The final example of ambiguous phrase usage I single out from the the work are the words " I hear only a few people got all the money in this world ." While this is true only in relation to the scale one compares their fortune to. The group this statement signifies as having unfair ownership of planetary resources in relation to everyone else, also seems to isolate their greed as the source of our lack of prosperity.
This radical work of social commentary can seem slightly extremist at times, but it is easy to be upset when we witness injustices by classification happening to the young and helpless. Many protests are still happening to this day about economic fairness and logical immigration policies. It is unlikely to find any one answer that will satisfy all crusading for equal rights, without destroying the sovereignty of either Mexico or America. As long as both sides are willing to hear each other out and compromise, I think we will all eventually reach a solution that everybody can live with.
of their dreams, hold their breath for years trying to cross poverty to just having something". This line seems like it was referring to illegal immigrants struggling to make a living within a capitalist system after they have survived a life of poverty in another country, but upon further inspection it seems very possibly to be appealing to all immigration pasts that most Americans share, after all the only race that was native to this land was the Native American, in which we took our land from.
The next phrase that struck my attention was the when the author says "on TV, in the streets, in offices, should be saying, 'We aren't giving the children a chance to live.'" This is true well beyond the issue of immigration. With epic multigenerational problems such as genetically modified foods, water fluoridation, unsafe vaccination campaigns, air pollution caused by dispersed aerosols and industrialization, and the destruction of our environment. The grim future awaiting the consequences of such planetary and generational neglect, encompass a much larger radius than just immigrants.
A similar line that is equally vague states "The children are dead already ". This cynical attitude about the future generation set to inherit the problems of the planet gives little hope. One is left imagining the incoming obstacles as being insurmountable and solutionless in the same manner as that of someone purchasing a used car they are barely able to afford, later discovering a long list of expensive engine repairs they must fix. For the sake of our children I hope this opinion of the author is inaccurate.
Another part of the poem that rings of mystery is " I've gone about trying to find them, asking just where the hell are these fighters. " The writer does not specify who these 'fighters' even are. Are they fighters against inequality, or people fighting against cultural integration, one is left wondering as I believe was intended by the author. Not only does Baca not identify the meaning of the usage of the word fighter, but further re-enforces its uncertainty by not disclosing their location.
The final example of ambiguous phrase usage I single out from the the work are the words " I hear only a few people got all the money in this world ." While this is true only in relation to the scale one compares their fortune to. The group this statement signifies as having unfair ownership of planetary resources in relation to everyone else, also seems to isolate their greed as the source of our lack of prosperity.
This radical work of social commentary can seem slightly extremist at times, but it is easy to be upset when we witness injustices by classification happening to the young and helpless. Many protests are still happening to this day about economic fairness and logical immigration policies. It is unlikely to find any one answer that will satisfy all crusading for equal rights, without destroying the sovereignty of either Mexico or America. As long as both sides are willing to hear each other out and compromise, I think we will all eventually reach a solution that everybody can live with.
"Ese gringo, gimmee your job ....Take off your ring, drop your wallet on the blanket, and walk away"
full poem here- http://iamthelizardqueen.wordpress.com/2007/04/05/jimmy-santiago-baca-so-mexicans-are-taking-jobs-from-americans/
No comments:
Post a Comment