Cruz-Janzen
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Closing Statement
This has been a most needed dialogue. Yet, I would like to emphasize that I
consider it only a beginning. We have raised more questions and issues than
have been answered making it apparent that more work needs to be done.
I would like to close by restating that we need to open the borders in our
minds and hearts. We need to cross borders and we need to expand the
psychological borders that engulf us. Previously, I asked about the Native
American "Dine" perspective. I asked that intentionally. The U.S. Census
now categorizes indigenous Mexicans and Central Americans as Native
American Indians. We need to become cognizant of the fact that many
immigrants from that part of the world will not be (or have ever been)
Latinos. I once had a student from Ecuador who did not speak Spanish, yet
was placed in my bilingual classroom. Indigenous people from Canada are
also crossing into our borders. They may not speak either English or
French. Now the indigenous people from the Caribbean (Tainos in Puerto Rico
and Dominican Republic; Arawak in Cuba and Jamaica) are coming forth
reclaiming their identity and heritage. They are shouting, "We NEVER
disappeared."
We need to reconsider who immigrants are. Native American Indians are a
sovereign nation within our nation- an EMBATTLED nation at WAR with our
nation. What are we then to consider indigenous peoples from our country
coming out of the impoverished reservations, seeking survival in our urban
centers? I once had a Native American "Dine" elementary school child who
did not speak English!!!
We also need to reconsider who are the refugees? Are native peoples
escaping Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and other parts of Latin America
where governments are openly engaged in genocidal wars against them (and we
know about these) to take their lands and resources - are these immigrants
or refugees? What do we say about Blacks from Latin America where
governments have, for generations, engaged in racial cleansing policies of
extermination? They are leaving these countries for survival!
We need to re-examine the sociopolitical dynamics of diverse peoples within
their home countries. What is going on between Europeans, Indians, and
Blacks in Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and other parts of Latin America. There
is LITTLE in common with the dominant and ruling European White elites,
established as the power structure in those nations by Spain, who continue
to exploit Indians and Blacks.
We need to re-examine who lives in the slums of Puerto Rico, who is in the
prisons. There is disproportionate representation of Blacks, particularly
males, in the judicial and prison system of the island as well as the poor.
Indeed there is a strong association between Black, poor, and criminal.
I look forward to continuing the dialogue. Thank you very much
for allowing me to participate and share my bit.
An article I wrote has just been released. I just received the publication
tow days ago. I would like to recommend it as it deals with racism within
Latin American nations and among Latinos in the U.S.
Cruz-Janzen, Marta I. (2001). ?Y Tu Abuela A'Onde Esta? (Where is your
grandma at?). SAGE Race Relations Abstracts. Vol 26(1): 7-24. The Institute
of Race Relations, London.
I also published two articles dealing with the impact of schools' curricula
on the self-identity, self-concept, and educational achievement of students
of color, especially biethnic and biracial
Cruz-Janzen, M. I. (1999). Curricula in United States Schools:
Not Everybody Counts. Curriculum and Teaching. Vol 14, No. 2, pp. 107-122.
James Nicholas Publishers, Australia.
Cruz-Janzen, M. I. (1999). "You Are Not Enough": The "Faceless" Lives of
Biethnic and Biracial Americans. Multicultural Perspective (Journal of the
National Association for Multicultural Education). Vol. 1 (4), pp. 3-8.
Cruz-Janzen, M. I. (1998/99). The Language Bias of Political Control and
Power, Multicultural Education: Annual Editions, 98/99 & 97/98.
Guilford,CT: Dushkin/McGraw Hill. Reprinted from NCSEE News: Publication of
the National Coalition for Sex Equity in Education, (95-96), 2, Winter
1995.
Marta I. Cruz-Janzen
<cruzjanzen@fau.edu>
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