Ana Rodríguez,
Wayne State,
Antioch, IL

Selena’s dad explained it best in his monologue where he talks about how tough it is to be Mexican-American. He goes on to explain that, “Anglos jump all over you if you don’t speak English perfectly and Mexicans jump all over you if you don’t speak Spanish perfectly…We have to be twice as perfect as anyone else…We have to know about John Wayne and Pedro Infante…We have to know about Frank Sinatra AND Agustin Lara…We have to know about Oprah AND Cristina…Anglo food is too bland and yet we go to Mexico and we get the runs…Japanese-Americans, Italian-Americans, German-Americans, their homeland is on the other side of the ocean…OURS is right next door. Right over there…And we gotta prove the Americans how American we are… And we gotta prove to the Mexicans how Mexican we are… We gotta be more American than the Americans and more Mexican than the Mexicans…BOTH at the same time! Its EXHAUSTING!”