My Last Name I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico the perfect blend of Native American and Mexican culture. My last name has been traced back there since before it became a state in 1912. The area is as a part of me as the blood flowing through my veins. That’s where I spent the first eight years of my life, my last name was never seen as uncommon or strange. I was never the only one in my school to have the name, the phone book had page after page of Lovato’s plastering its pages. I never realized how uncommon, it was until I moved to Las Vegas, where me and my brother were the only Lovato’s amongst our peers. People would assume I was Italian, when my family on three sides came from Mexico. If my last name was Sanchez or Martinez would …show more content…
They would taunt me and tell me that I wasn't a real Mexican, that I was a fake who had no place to belong. All because of a name that was passed down my one fourth of my family tree. Their assumption was based on location, they grew up in the Las Vegas valley, where Lovato is uncommon. If they grew up in Albuquerque they would realize that there are thousand of hispanic’s who have that name. The only thing that changed people’s perception of my name was when Demi Lovato came to fame. The name became more recognizable connecting it to Mexican heritage, yet everyone assumed that I was somehow related to her. My name went from obsolete to well known based on someone in the public eye who randomly had the same name as me. I wonder if that happens with other people who have the same last names as celebrities, does that change the perception of that name. If I met someone with the last name Winfrey, I would automatically think of Oprah even if the person looked nothing like her. It’s interesting how certain people shape the perception of a name thousands of people probably
In the film “Mi Familia,” we follow the story of the Mexican-American Sánchez family who settled in East Los Angeles, California after immigrating to the United States. Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas introduce the story of this family in several contexts that are developed along generations. These generations hold significant historical periods that form the identity of each individual member of the family. We start off by exploring the immigrant experience as the family patriarch heads north to Los Angeles, later we see how national events like the great depression directly impact Maria as she gets deported, although she was a US citizen. The events that follow further oppress this family and begins separate identity formations. These
There comes a point in time in an individual’s life in which their name truly becomes a part of their identity. A name is more than just a title to differentiate people; it is a part of the person. In Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood by Richard E. Kim, names play a major role on the character’s identities. The absence and importance of the names in the story make the story rich with detail and identity through something as simple as the name of a character. Names are a significant factor affecting the story and the characters throughout the novel Lost Names.
Tanya Barrientos explained her struggle with her identity growing up in her writing “Se Habla Español”. Barrientos describes herself as being “Guatemalan by birth but pure gringa by circumstance” (83). These circumstances began when her family relocated to the United States when she was three years old. Once the family moved to the states, her parents only spoke Spanish between themselves. The children learned to how read, write and speak the English language to fit into society at that time in 1963. (83) Barrientos explained how society shifted and “the nation changed its views on ethnic identity” (85) after she graduated college and it came as a backlash to her because she had isolated herself from the stereotype she constructed in her head. She was insulted to be called Mexican and to her speaking the Spanish language translated into being poor. She had felt superior to Latino waitresses and their maid when she told them that she didn’t speak Spanish. After the shift in society Barrientos wondered where she fit it since the Spanish language was the glue that held the new Latino American community together. Barrientos then set out on a difficult awkward journey to learn the language that others would assume she would already know. She wanted to nurture the seed of pride to be called Mexican that her father planted when her father sent her on a summer trip to Mexico City. Once Barrientos had learned more Spanish and could handle the present, past and future tenses she still
A survey revealed that Frontline staff who will take on the role of “Named Persons”, once the Scottish Government scheme will be rolled out in August, have growing fears about the implications.
In Firoozeh Dumas’s story, “The F Word” from Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America (2003), Dumas recalls her struggle of growing up in America with an Immigrant name. She begins her story by telling us the similar struggle her brother, cousin, and friends went through right along side of her. The kids at their school took their Iranian names, which had a special meaning in their country, and turned them into a cruel joke. She goes on to tell us that all the immigrants knew that moving to America would come with its own set of new challenges, but nobody expected to be the joke of the school because of their names. Her name, Firoozeh, which means “turquoise” in Persian, translated to “Unpronounceable” in America. At the age of twelve, Dumas was fed up of the laughing and name calling. She tried to simplify her life by adding an American middle name to her impossibly hard to pronounce Iranian name. Her decision for an American middle name grew intenser after kids began calling her “Ferocious” in fifth grade. That summer when she moved to Newport Beach, she declared to her family that she wanted to add an American middle name to her name. Immune from mockery, she asked for suggestions from her family members and she finally settled with the name “Julie” as her new American middle name. That afternoon, she introduced herself for the first time as Julie to a neighbor girl her age, who coincidentally was also named Julie. Her life in sixth grade became much simpler because people were actually remembering her name for a change. There were only two problems: people spoke poorly about immigrants in front of her because they didn’t see her as an immigrant with her American name and she no longer felt like herself.
Her essay is aimed at Middle Americans or other immigrants living in the country who face the same issue as her. Having a name that is uncommon and hard to pronounce, can be a challenge for the peers of those with the names. The claim is not being made toward the easy to pronounce Bill’s, Susan’s, and Richard’s. The claim is also not aimed at professionals or people of
The Washington, D.C. football team, known as the Redskins, has generated controversy for years because of its name and mascot. Some say that the name should be changed because the term “redskin” is a racial slur that denigrates Native Americans. Others, including team owner Dan Snyder, insist that the name denotes only the football team’s proud history, and that changing the name is unnecessary.
Navigating between cultures requires a person to blend in. Blending in is an access to get more opportunities and brighter careers. Munoz described his stepfather’s experience with the Anglicization of his name. Though unwilling to change his name from Antonio to Tony,
The Japanese and their rabid ethnocentrism have their effect on the narrator’s family. The family is generally happy and well structured. The narrator lives with his mother, father, little sister and grandfather. As mentioned before, the narrator’s family pressures him to be better than the Japanese students. Upon returning home after being beaten, the men of the house invite him to eat with them and drink wine. This is a strong scene that is filled with the proudness of a parent for their son. Simply standing up to a
“My Name” by Sandra Cisneros is a short excerpt from her book The House on Mango Street (1984). In this excerpt, Cisneros narrator is a girl named Esperanza, who is telling us that her name reminds her of a lot of negatives things, including who she inherited it from. Esperanza is trying to convince us that her name is a terrible name, which is built up of negativity and bad history. She state that she was named after her great-grandmother, who was born in the Chinese year of the horse, which they have in common, and is well known for her wild customs which lead to her feeling sad and lonely all her life. Esperanza specifies that her name sound beautiful among Spanish speakers, but to non-Spanish speakers her name is pronoun funny “as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth” she says. She indicated that she would like to baptize herself under a new
Culture is an invisible bond that connects people together. The literature, art, religion, food, and language of a community represent its culture. Navigating between cultures is not something impossible to do, but there are a lot of limitations and sacrifices to make in order to blend in with other cultures. To respond about the cultural navigation issues and benefits, Manuel Munoz, the author of “Leave your Name at the Border”, talks about the importance of the non-Americans’ names, especially Mexican Americans’ names, to their identities. Munoz wants readers (Americans) to give everyone the respect they deserved as human beings, starting with accepting and using people’s real names. However, Andrew Marantz, the author of “My Summer at the
The essay “What's in a Name?” written by Lini Kadaba was published on December 7th, 1997 in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Kadaba's essay is rooted in exemplification. She utilizes the framework of names, specifically surnames that were changed during the immigration process, to showcase examples of Americans that had previously immigrated to the United States and successfully assimilated. Kadaba then chronicles those Americas quest over time to regain and reconnect with some of their own culture and learn more about their ethnic roots. In many cases Lini Kadaba found that those Americans were changing their surnames back to versions more closely resembling their heritage. She asserts that pressures to assimilate have lessened over time and that
My name, Daryl Naquin, Jr., represents the fascinating social attitude that males are considered to be the carriers of the family legacy. I contribute to the trend that Virginia Postrel mentions of boys’ names changing slower due to the influence of custom. Unless I were to change my name in the future, which is highly unlikely, this social duty is something that I will inevitably carry out if I were to have a family of my own. I represent my dad, my family, our values, and our aspirations. Moreover, it is interesting to consider the belief across many cultures that one can “stain” the family
Names are a terrible way to understand someone’s identity because names are regularly replicated. In my sixth grade class, there were three Mollys. We all had different backgrounds, different religious affiliations, and different personalities. If our names displayed who we are, wouldn’t our identities all be the same? Instead of staring at names and trying to understand their meaning, one should focus on a person’s personality, for personality depicts our identity. In fact, I have learned from experience to not infer one’s identity based on their name. For instance, in middle school, I was mutual friends with a girl named Kassidy. One Tuesday afternoon, my friend, Katy told me that Kassidy was going to sit with us at lunch that day. I shrugged my shoulders and replied with a casual “okay”. Before Kassidy walked in, I had a whole image of her in my mind: blonde hair, cute pastel colored clothes, and religious, all stereotypes that I thought a person with an innocent name like Kassidy
My names Gabriel Hudson, I hated my name it for some reason, when I was innocent and blind to societies imperfections, I wanted a “cool name” that was popular among my peers. When I was younger I never knew the importance that a name could possess. I never really thought about having to fight for anything or having to struggle to have a life that is so weighed down by the gravity that money has in our society. Money has always been relevant and at the forefront in my family. My parents are extremely diligent and would be part of the category of misfits, I have stated previously. My parents knew how the world is and tried their best to prepare me for that. Being named after an archangel in the Bible, not because they think i’m an angel to have as a child, but because he’s strong and fights for what’s right and good in people. I am now coming to this realization as I become a young adult and seeing that life is not fair and people like me who does not have as much wealth and resources to be set for greatness. People like me have