EHE News
Words Count: Translating Mexican Culture in the U.S.
Marcia Farr
Marcia Farr spent 12 years observing the rich culture of a cluster of families who immigrated from a Mexican farming village to Chicago in the 1960s.
Her book, Rancheros in Chicagoacan: Language and Identity in a Transnational Community, describes her intimate interaction with the distinct ethnic population with roots in Michoacan, Mexico. Decades later, the group maintains close social, economic, political, and emotional ties to each other here and in Mexico.
Farr, professor of teaching and learning, is a linguist. She found that the ranchero culture has three characteristic ways of speaking that highlight their admiration of independence, individuality, toughness, and an entrepreneurial spirit. Her study has implications for anyone who comes into contact with immigrants, including employers, healthcare providers, social workers, and especially educators.
She found ranchero attitudes about formal schooling are changing, but children continue to be challenged from all sides.
Members of the ranchero ethnic group with roots in Michoacan, Mexico, Judith Cárabes Navarro and her father Javier Cárabes Linares enjoy a moment together on 18th Street in their Chicago neighborhood.
Youngsters often attend school in both Chicago and Mexico. Many are caught between expectations. The American teachers encourage them to participate in class, but Mexican maestros criticize them for not being respectful.
Ironically, both systems see them as academically lacking. The American educators say they must improve their English skills, and Mexican educators say they don't speak Spanish well enough.
There also are age and gender differences. With each generation of ranchero Americans, girls are staying in school longer, some of them going on to college and graduate school. Farr heard mothers tell their daughters if they don't do well, they would become "stupid mules" trapped doing hard field work.
However, Farr found, even when they have the opportunity for more education, boys are considered, at least by traditional, older-generation ranchero men, "lazy" or "spoiled" for staying in school. She said, "One explanation is the cultural link between masculinity and work."
Decades after his family came from Mexico, little Julián Ceja practices being 'ranchero' in his Chicago home.
However, more of the ranchero dropouts are obtaining GED certificates or getting training required for licensed trades.
Farr points out, "Many of these families are taking advantage of educational opportunities to prepare themselves and their children for a better future."
She adds, "Teachers often function with a general knowledge that is based on stereotypes and their own personal biases," which can leave them unsure how to reach their diverse students. Through studies such as hers, teachers will better understand the worth of the oral skills shown by ranchero children.
"Ideally, we can replace stereotypes with accurate awareness of the resources these students and their families bring to education."
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