Nearly six years ago, I set pen to paper and began to write a book. As a Mexican-American, I felt that something needed to be done to help the plight of Latino students who drop out of school in droves. I wanted to help culture to which I belong. When nearly half of the Latino student population drops out of high school, the entire country suffers as a result. These former students end up committing violent crimes, joining street gangs, or end up having several children out of wedlock. They also end up going on public assistance. You and I as taxpayers end up footing the bill. It drains the national and state economies of valuable resources.
However, when I decided to write Clipping Their Own Wings, I wanted to approach this problem from a different angle. I focused on the culture, and took the bold position of stating that it was the culture that was at the heart of the problem. In so doing, I put forth my proposition that the culture values other things over and above education. I was not stating that the culture couldn’t care less about education, but, rather, that other things, such as sheer survival, and family cohesion, pull rank over education. My book’s message was not placing any value judgment on this matter. We all have to survive and most of us place strong importance on family values. However, for some cultures, education is more important and more of a priority than it is for others. Plain and simple. And for those of us who are able to study the panoply of cultures living in our modern society, this should be rather self-evident.
I then decided to take an even more discerning view of the Mexican-American culture. I put together the series of essays that I compiled and published them as the book, The Mexican-American Mind. It came to attention of my readers that I was using words such as “lazy”, or “ignorant.” However, what was less known was that I was using terms to describe other people’s perceptions of the Mexican-American culture. Those terms are not necessarily representative of my own views of the people who comprise the culture. Many of my readers made the mistaken assumption that because such terms were being used in my books, they must be some indication of how I personally view Latin Americans in general, and Mexican-Americans in particular. Naturally, this caused much indignation, which I completely understand. Those are harsh terms. It is only natural that intelligent and hard-working Hispanic readers would feel incensed at seeing such adjectives being placed so strategically in front of their ethnic category.
Like with any large group of people, one is going to see the bell curve of mental and intellectual abilities in the Mexican-American population. On one end of the curve will be the outliers who are incredibly intelligent. On the other end will be the outliers who are incredibly slow. As usual, the bulk of the population will be somewhere in the middle. Thus, when I am speaking or writing in such over-reaching terms to describe a very large population, I use terms that attempt to capture, as accurately and as candidly as possible, public perceptions and popular stereotypes. Many of these perceptions and stereotypes are unfair and unpopular. One cannot describe the entire population by only looking at the bottom of the barrel.
My books were written with the intention of examining, as critically as possible, only the sub-population of Mexican-Americans that are dropping out of high school in record numbers and plaguing our society with violent crimes. In the course of doing this difficult work, I undertook the unpleasant task of reviewing popular perceptions and prejudices to see if they had any validity or truth behind them. However, it was not my intention to mix or tangle my personal views with the views that other people have of this culture. I am very proud of my heritage and want to help Latin Americans in general, and Mexican-Americans in particular, in any way I can through my work. There will be times when my work will force me to confront the divergent attitudes in society with a critical eye and an even more critical mind. Even if I must stand alone, the importance of achieving my goals is worth the effort and the criticism I will receive.
Ernesto Caravantes, Author, Essayist.
However, when I decided to write Clipping Their Own Wings, I wanted to approach this problem from a different angle. I focused on the culture, and took the bold position of stating that it was the culture that was at the heart of the problem. In so doing, I put forth my proposition that the culture values other things over and above education. I was not stating that the culture couldn’t care less about education, but, rather, that other things, such as sheer survival, and family cohesion, pull rank over education. My book’s message was not placing any value judgment on this matter. We all have to survive and most of us place strong importance on family values. However, for some cultures, education is more important and more of a priority than it is for others. Plain and simple. And for those of us who are able to study the panoply of cultures living in our modern society, this should be rather self-evident.
I then decided to take an even more discerning view of the Mexican-American culture. I put together the series of essays that I compiled and published them as the book, The Mexican-American Mind. It came to attention of my readers that I was using words such as “lazy”, or “ignorant.” However, what was less known was that I was using terms to describe other people’s perceptions of the Mexican-American culture. Those terms are not necessarily representative of my own views of the people who comprise the culture. Many of my readers made the mistaken assumption that because such terms were being used in my books, they must be some indication of how I personally view Latin Americans in general, and Mexican-Americans in particular. Naturally, this caused much indignation, which I completely understand. Those are harsh terms. It is only natural that intelligent and hard-working Hispanic readers would feel incensed at seeing such adjectives being placed so strategically in front of their ethnic category.
Like with any large group of people, one is going to see the bell curve of mental and intellectual abilities in the Mexican-American population. On one end of the curve will be the outliers who are incredibly intelligent. On the other end will be the outliers who are incredibly slow. As usual, the bulk of the population will be somewhere in the middle. Thus, when I am speaking or writing in such over-reaching terms to describe a very large population, I use terms that attempt to capture, as accurately and as candidly as possible, public perceptions and popular stereotypes. Many of these perceptions and stereotypes are unfair and unpopular. One cannot describe the entire population by only looking at the bottom of the barrel.
My books were written with the intention of examining, as critically as possible, only the sub-population of Mexican-Americans that are dropping out of high school in record numbers and plaguing our society with violent crimes. In the course of doing this difficult work, I undertook the unpleasant task of reviewing popular perceptions and prejudices to see if they had any validity or truth behind them. However, it was not my intention to mix or tangle my personal views with the views that other people have of this culture. I am very proud of my heritage and want to help Latin Americans in general, and Mexican-Americans in particular, in any way I can through my work. There will be times when my work will force me to confront the divergent attitudes in society with a critical eye and an even more critical mind. Even if I must stand alone, the importance of achieving my goals is worth the effort and the criticism I will receive.
Ernesto Caravantes, Author, Essayist.
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