Deborah Torres,
Saint Paul, MN.
This has two meanings for me. First, I honor both my paternal (Mexican) and maternal (English, French & more) heritage. Second, because race is a socially constructed concept, the idea of whether or not Mexican is White evolved throughout the 20th Century. For example, on my paternal Grandfather Bedardo Torres’ WWI draft registration card in 1918, his race is checked as White for race. But when the Torres family appears in the 1930 US Census in 1930, the family members are categorized as Mex rather than W for the designation, Color of Race. Then in the 1940 US Census, the Torres Family members are categorized as W for Color of Race. This historical evidence helps to ground me.
Comments are closed.