Omar Siddiq

 Appendix 

1. What social groups do you belong to and have you ever felt excluded based on your gen-

der or culture?

2. How do you define “family?”

3. What is the primary language spoken in your family? Any foreign-language speakers?

4. If you are from a culture that speaks English as a second language, do you speak your na-

tive language? If not, why? If so, will you teach your native language to any children you

have?

5. What is the best thing about living in the USA?

6. How much importance is placed on education in your family?

7. What is a woman’s role in society? How do you see it as compared to here?

8. How do you define success?

9. Define and describe the most important (or most celebrated) holiday of your family.

10. What would you say is, from your perspective, the most commonly held misconception

about people of your culture?

 Module 4 Paper

 I interviewed my girlfriend Anais who identifies with a few different social groups than I

do, first of all, she regards herself as a Mexican-American Latina female. She also identifies with

being a daughter and a nursing student. She grew up going to a predominately private Christian

school until her 9th-grade year, and she was one of the only ones who were not white at the

school. Although she has very fair skin, while she was growing up she felt the prejudice due to

her being different from everyone like her teachers, classmates, friends, and she even recalls an

incident where a friend's parents made a racist microaggressive comment that made her feel un-

comfortable even as a 9-year-old. She was told by her friend's parents, who were white, that she

should be friends with their nanny and gardeners because they were all Mexican and she spoke

Spanish as well. She also recalls many times wondering why she had darker hair when every-

body else she went to school with was blonde and crying many times over her appearance com-

pared to the other children. She would tell her mother about how she felt and her mom would tell

her to suck it up and get over it. “when educational equity finally becomes a reality for Chicanos,

at least some of the present-day differences in child-rearing practices between Chicanos and An-

glo-Americans will tend to disappear.” (Laosa, 1980). Anais even felt like the way her mom han-

dled these things was different than how the moms of the other children she went to school with

would have handled these things. 

 Anais’ family is her, her mom and sister at the house, and her dad has remarried but still

lives close and keeps in contact with Anais. Her parents divorced when she was younger and

when I asked her how she describes family, she responded that family is a support system of peo-

ple you can rely on, people who nurture you, and look out for you that doesn’t necessarily have

to be blood. She is closer to her mother since she lives with her, but still keeps in touch with and
cares for her father and his new family; which includes step-sisters which Anais embraces like

her own blood. She doesn’t see her parents divorce as something that affected her perception of

love and relationships too much, she believes that things can be worked out for those who want

to work it out. Opposed to my research stating “individuals from divorced families were more

likely to endorse that their families showed them that romantic relationships are not permanent,

should be approached with caution, and are beset by lack of trust and infidelity” (Weigel, 2007).

She thought that if her parents would have worked harder at fighting to stay together that they

could’ve made it work, but they didn’t. Ultimately though, this doesn’t affect her belief that

when a person commits to another that they shouldn’t give up on each other and that giving up is

a wrong thing to do.

 Anais comes from a family that speaks Spanish as their native tongue but mostly they

speak English at home now. They speak Spanish with their older relatives that once lived in

Mexico before moving over here, but she tends to see them much less as an adult than she did

before as a child. They do not see the point in speaking Spanish to each other at the house, be-

cause they live in a society that is ruled by English and Spanish is not important anymore to their

family’s future. Anais on the other hand does want to teach her kids to speak Spanish and other

languages as well to have them as culturally diverse as possible. 

 The USA is a place that gets a lot of mixed press right now; so when I asked how she

likes living here, there was almost this elephant in the room due to the national focus on social

injustices all over the USA right now. She answered that it is a place that can be seen as great

and equal but it is not really that. She praised the opportunities that our school systems can de-

liver, but it is up to the other systems in place to allow that child a fair shot at putting the school
system to use. She is in school to be a registered nurse right now and it has opened up her eyes to

the world of opportunities that education can present for you. 

 Her family values education as one of the most important things to do with your life due

to her family not always having the opportunity to do it for themselves. Both of her parents were

the first generations of their family to live their young adult lives in America, and both of them

got their bachelor's degrees before starting a family. They see education as extremely important

and as a valuable resource that made a way for her family. During times of financial hardship,

Anais did want to abandon her schooling to go and work full-time to help out at home. This is a

common reality that according to my research many Mexican American first generations face.

“Conflict between educational and relationship goals [may arise] as they feel obligated to help

alleviate and/or improve their family’s financial situation”(Flores, Niemann, 2000). 

 Success is something that, to Anais, is measured by quantifiable things and reaching set

goals. A successful life to her would mean that she is financially stable enough to take care of

herself and her family, and also having reached her educational goals. She would like to be able

to be independent and not need to rely on anyone else, as she saw her single-mother do for her

growing up. As long as she reaches her goals of having a family, becoming a nurse, and provid-

ing and supporting that family, she will view herself as “successful”.

Works Cited

Collardeau, Fanie, and Marion Ehrenberg. “Young Women’s Perceptions of Parents’ Romantic

Relationships in the Context of Parental Divorce: A Qualitative Study.” Journal of Divorce &

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Laosa, Luis M. “Maternal Teaching Strategies in Chicano and Anglo-American Families: The

Influence of Culture and Education on Maternal Behavior.” Child Development, vol. 51, no. 3,

1980, p. 759., doi:10.2307/1129462.

Niemann, Yolanda Flores, et al. “Effects of Cultural Orientation on the Perception of Conflict

between Relationship and Education Goals for Mexican American College Students.” Hispanic

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doi:10.1177/0739986300221002.

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