Jodie Robinson

EDU 280

December 4, 2016

Artifact #2 Diversity Assignment

Choosing to immigrate to another country can be a very scary thing and the story I heard

from my coworker only solidifies that fact. Leaving everything you know behind in hopes of a

new and better life is a choice that many do not have the courage to follow through with.

Mariano Granados is the head chef at the Hoover Dam Caf and I have had the pleasure to work

beside him for the past nine years. Even though I see how hard he works and knew that he had

immigrated from Mexico many years ago, I had no idea the severity of the struggles he went

through to get where is now.

Mariano was born and raised in Mexico by his loving mother and hardworking and father.

Following their lead since a young age, he was taught to work hard for everything you have and

the importance of putting family before himself. A basic feature of the Hispanic family is the

emphasis on cooperativeness and on placing the needs of the family ahead of individual

concerns (pg. 170). His mother often worked multiple jobs, oftentimes selling fresh tortillas

from their front yard. His father was also a hard worker as he worked in multiple and often

random construction and physical labor jobs. Even though his parents were a good example for

him, Mariano often felt that the lifestyle that Mexico offered was not what he wanted for himself.

The job opportunities were not reliable and the pay was barely enough to survive on. Hearing

stories of many leaving to America, Mariano wanted to take the opportunity and make a life for

himself in the United States. The Latino population of the United States has grown dramatically
in the past few decades, surpassing the African American population as the largest minority

group (pg. 165). So at the age of 17, he and a small group of others who were going through

similar situations, decided to sneak over the border into the United States.

The day Mariano decided to sneak over the border was approximately 30 years ago so the

possibility of getting over successfully without getting caught was more likely. At that time there

were men similar to guides that would take you over for a price. The trip involved walking for

almost a day to an area that they would meet another man in a truck and they all hid in the back

as the man drove into America. Once Mariano was in America, he felt that he could finally make

his dreams turn into a reality. This, however, did not happen, at least not at first. Mariano and his

group decided to continue into California where they thought the work opportunities would be

the greatest but this was not the case. They unfortunately faced many challenges to diversity.

Racism and discrimination in education, employment, and housing have affected the progress of

African and Hispanic Americans for centuries (pg. 41). It did not take long for their money to

run out and without any income, they were forced to sleep in a random, nearby field and bathe in

sprinkler systems that they had found.

A huge hurdle that he felt prohibited him from finding good work was the language barrier.

Instead of making an attempt to learn English, many do not perceive a need to develop

proficiency in English and continue to risk survival in a predominantly English-speaking

country (pg. 172). Because their English was not good and many were prejudice because they

were Hispanic, the only job options for a long time were those in the construction area and many

paid under the table. After years of random jobs and random places to live, Mariano eventually

ended up in Boulder City Nevada where he was working as a cook in a Mexican restaurant.
Here, Mariano learned many of the skills he has today and when the caf on the Hoover Dam

opened, he was offered a job as the head cook.

Shortly after starting at the Dam, Mariano had hired a green card lawyer to help him get the

appropriate papers he needed to get his green card. Mariano has had temporary papers that

allowed him to stay in the country, but getting a green card has been nothing but a struggle for

him. Unfortunately, the lawyer that he had hired, took advantage of Mariano and his papers were

not filled out correctly. Not only did this set him back from getting his green card, but it cost him

a lot of money that he did not feel comfortable sharing. This was almost 20 years ago and he still

does not have his green card today. In an attempt to help him get his citizenship, my boss Bert

Hansen legally adopted Mariano in hopes that it would help the process. This did not help,

however, because at this point Mariano was too old and the adoption would not have any effect

on his citizenship.

Overall, Mariano does not regret his decision of sneaking into the United States. He has his

own family and he owns a nice small house in Boulder City. Yes, he had many struggles in the

beginning and is still having a hard time getting his green card, but he loves where he lives and is

now head chef at the Hoover Dam Cafe and he and his wife also own a dry cleaning business in

Boulder City. Unfortunately, because he does not have his green card, he is not able to go back

to Mexico and visit his family that still lives there. Seeing the sadness in his eyes, I had the idea

to look up the house he grew up in on Google Earth. He was able to show me his old house, the

street his mother sold tortillas on and all sorts of other areas that he visited as a child.

Hearing Marianos story impacted me a great deal. This was just one story of an

immigrants struggle to get a better life in America so I can only imagine the amount of pain,

struggles, and failures that many other immigrants have had to deal with. It is stories like these
that can make one very aware of how those of a different culture are treated. Because Mariano

did not speak good English and because he was Hispanic, he was ridiculed and often ignored for

a very long time. Being a future educator, I will need to treat everyone as equals, regardless of

their ethnicity. We do not know the struggles that people are going through on a daily basis and

we need to set an example for others to follow. Educators goals can be to teach self-

acceptance, to instill in learners an acceptance and understanding of both the positive and

negative attributes of their cultural groups, and to teach learners the importance of working

toward social justice and an equitable environment (pg. 39).