"Blaxicans" and Other Reinvented Americans - Revised

In the essay, titled “’Blaxicans’ and Other Reinvented Americans,” by Richard Rodriguez, he discusses culture in America. Rodriguez says, “I am in favor of assimilation. I am not in favor of assimilation. I recognize assimilation." (123) By making these statements, Rodriguez is saying that he accepts what is happening in regards to culture in America. While he isn't completely for or against what is going on, and he isn’t even trying to change it, he is accepting it and working with it. I don't think this means that racial and ethnic distinctions do not matter anymore in America, I just think that differences are becoming a part of everyday life and they are just so common now that it really isn't such a big deal. In this essay, Rodriguez states “I do think distinctions exist.” Throughout the rest of the essay, Rodriguez goes into great detail of how he understands distinctions exist and how it is changing America. I understand that not everyone will agree, but I think that is the point Rodriguez is trying to state.

I don't necessarily think that Rodriguez would agree with the theory that communities provide stability. In his essay, Rodriguez discussed the Laotians and Mexicans in Merced that didn't like each other. He says, “I was talking to the Laotian kids about why they don’t like the Mexican kids. They were telling me that the Mexicans do this and the Mexicans don’t do that, when I suddenly realized that they were speaking English with a Spanish accent.” Although they lived in the same community, didn’t like each other and didn’t really work together, their cultures and actions were spread among each other. They were influencing each other without knowing it. I think that although communities can provide stability, sometimes they can't and there really isn’t any way around it. What Rodriguez pointed out is that different people view their lives differently than other people in the same situation may view their own. A "hispanic" in one location may be fine with being called a "hispanic", while another person in the same community may not accept that title, they may want to be known by their actual ethnic or racial group instead.

Although people and cultures are different, they tend to combine and meld at a certain point. Rodriguez writes, “Culture is fluid. Culture is smoke. You breathe it. You eat it.” Assimilation is something that just happens after awhile and it isn’t necessarily good or bad, it should just be accepted.