SOCI 290 Oral History Interview Transcription Courtney Fugate

My interview took place inside my friend Naaras home in Carrboro. I know Naara through mutual friends that I met upon arriving at Carolina. I know her relatively well and knew she immigrated to this country upon meeting her because of aesthetic reasons as well as her accent. I of course was automatically intrigued but I never got a chance to learn her story of immigration until now. The interview went well with one stipulation. I knew she would be somewhat wary to discuss this topic because she had never brought it up before. Many of her responses were very closed and she did not want to go far into depth. She said that it became too difficult for her to discuss these things because she felt it was not relatable. I did not want to pry or push too far because we had an already established relationship that I did not want to tarnish.

Transcript: Interviewer Respondent

What is your name? Naara Lopez How long have you been in America? 33 years Do you consider yourself an American? I am in America. Guatemala is part of America. It is a continent. The United State took possession of the name American. All countries of the continent are Americans and therefore there are many cultures. My culture unfortunately is lost by the influence of Americanism. In what ways do you not feel like a typical American? If you are asking me if I feel part of the United States culture, I would said that no, I dont feel at any point like a typical American. Hand gesture of quotations around American.

Do you feel segregated from the general, native population? Yes. I am a human as anybody else. I see no reason for segregation. What is your country of origin? Guatemala What did you do there before you came to America? I was a secretary. What were the driving forces behind your immigration to America? The civil war of Guatemala. How long have you been here? 33 years Do you have any children? Yes, two. Two boys. Did you have them before or after you came to America? One is from Guatemala and the other from here. Did you have trouble paying for your journey to America? No, I was financially stable. I was one of the luckier people in my town. Were there any specific people who helped you achieve your goal of immigrating to America? Not all people who comes to the country is illegal, I come with a visa and flew by plane. We had the financial stability to do so. Did you have any relatives, friends, contacts in America before arriving here? My sister was married to a USA citizen. She moved in 1979. Did they influence your decision to come to America? No Were there any organizations/institutions like churches, social groups that helped you or hindered you in your immigration to America? No Did you immigrate to America with the idea of staying permanently? Yes
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What influenced that decision? The war in my country. When is the last time you visited your home country of Guatemala? 1991 What do you miss about it? The people and my original culture. When you arrived in America what did you do for work? Cleaning houses. How long did it take you to get a job when you immigrated here? About 3 weeks. Do you feel being a foreigner hindered your attaining of a job? Very much so. People are so quick to judge and do not want to take a change and trust. Did you feel you were ever treated differently on the job? Of course. I was always almost ignored even though I did my job well with no mistakes. How do you think that influenced your ability to support yourself economically? Is was really hard. I had to really try to support myself alone. I thought of my son. Did you ever experience any racial prejudice after you arrived in America? Both on the job and off. I only work for someone else for 3 weeks, it was a factory. Discrimination was part of their daily lives. That was the main reason I decided to work for myself. Besides, my family always had their own business and never worked for somebody else. But, the worst experience I have had was in North Carolina. I am a real estate broker and working as a licensed real estate professional, agents from the same industry people who know they should not legally discriminatediscriminated against me. Where you hopeful that these situations would stop eventually or did you feel you would be forever segregated? Discrimination is part of this system. Is in Congress, the White House, and my next door neighborhood.

Do you still feel segregated? I dont allow anyone to make me feel segregated. Depends on me to set myself free from discrimination. Did you feel different from the general/native population when you arrived here? I immigrated to California which was Mexico so the differences in culture are not so separate. But, I know I was different. Do you still feel different? NO, FUCK THEM! Put that in capital letters. :Laughs: Do you think that it is a good thing to feel different? It is great think because what makes us different from each other is ignorance, and I am not ignorant. Do you think being a little different from the majority is a good thing? Is beautiful, makes you unique. Like you. :Laughs: Dont make me all embarrassed. Im trying to be professional. When you arrived in America were you interested in politics? All the time. Did you register to vote? Unfortunately, yes. Did you understand the political system of the United States? Pretty much. What did you think of it? Is a bunch of shit as any other place in America, the continent. How does it compare to your home countries political system? The same, this country is as corrupted as all Latin America. Are you interested in American politics now? I am a USA citizen. I am again all against corruption and discrimination and if I can do something to change, I will be part of the process. Do you feel you have successfully integrated, as many people call it, into American society? I have, yes.

How long do you think it took you to feel at home here? Like two years. What systems and institutions do you think helped you integrate? You can have all the resources available but if you as a person dont want to be part of the community, it wouldnt happen. What are your ties to your home country? My whole family lives in USA. I have no immediately family left in Guatemala. Do you feel you go back as often as youd like? Not really. Is it easy to go back? Very easy. What are the trips like back home? I havent been in Guatemala since 1991. But they are always beautiful. I wish to go soon. Maybe Christmas. Do you plan to stay in American or return to your home country eventually? Where do you consider your home to be? This is my home. I will stay here, get my education, work, and be happy being alive and different.

I noticed that throughout the interview she was constantly resilient about her experiences. Knowing her and sharing many spiritual beliefs with her through Buddhism and nature-based belief systems, I felt an enormous amount of strength in her words. She has a true elastic heart and no matter what negative experiences she has been lucky to go through as she says have helped her to become even more resilient. I feel this is an immigrant specific phenomena. I found it interesting that she mentioned the way the United States has overtaken the world American and even her culture because they are on the same continent. I also found it interesting that she was very determined to keep a part of her native culture of working for herself like her family had always done and would like to be a part of the attack on discrimination in and out of the workplace.