Are YOU Bicultural? (business2community.com)
I don’t seem Hispanic, if that means brown skin and speaking with an accent. If you saw me walking down the street, you wouldn’t think, there’s another one of those newfangled Latinos. Of course, my name gives me away.
When I introduce myself as Pablo, I get curious looks.
Bicultural Confusion (http://IAmAnonymousIAm.Files.wordpress.com)
But…you’re white! is the unspoken implication. And I am, and so are many Hispanics. As of 2013, there are 54 million of us living in the United States. We’re black, brown and white, native born and immigrant, legal and illegal, fabulously wealthy and desperately poor. I can’t possibly speak for such a broad group, but I can speak for a few: the young, bicultural and confused.
My mom and dad immigrated from Mexico and Cuba, respectively. One to escape poverty and the other to escape political turmoil. I’m the first generation of my family born an American citizen, and I’m pretty assimilated into mainstream American culture. I graduated from high school. I speak English better than I speak Spanish, and have seen Star Wars, the Godfather and Pattonplenty of times. If I changed my name from Pablo to Paul, you might not guess my family wasn’t from around here—unless you came to my house.
In middle school, I brought my buddy Josh to visit. My mom was home, and they chatted politely for a minute before we went to my room.
Bicultural champion Leo Manzano won the silver medal running the 1500 meters at the 2012 London Olympic Games. (http://tamiu.libguides.com)
“Dude, I can barely understand your mom,” he whispered. “She has such a thick accent.”
I couldn’t believe him.
Accent? Her Spanish seems fine to me.
Of course, he meant her English, I just never noticed it because she always spoke Spanish in the house. But the outside world was different, and it had crossed our home’s threshold with Josh.
That’s a part of life for the child of immigrants. Living in two worlds, the old and the new. Spanish at home, English at work and school. Here is a paragraph from Francois Grosjean, Ph.D., writer for Psychology Today.
It has long been known that there are many advantages to being bicultural such as having a greater number of social networks, being aware of cultural differences, taking part in the life of two or more cultures, being an intermediary between cultures, and so on. Recent research shows that biculturals are also characterized by greater creativity and professional success.
Please let that be true, just like the rest of Los Millenials, I got rent to pay, amigos.
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