Abstract
In the United States, it seems as though, when one is asked one's culture, it is a difficult question to answer. Mainstream people believe that, unless they have a traceable genealogy, there is a lack of identity. However, as the author will argue here, culture is far more complicated than identifying one's nationality, one's social group, or one's tradition. While some people may find that their entire identity comes from one place, one group, one shared experience, for many others it does not. As people travel, intermix, and intermarry; as business, war, and nature cause them to move, their homelands become subject to different influences, and as a result, customs are blended, and new ones created.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Personalismo: Refers to the importance Latinos place on personal goodness and getting along with others, which is considered more important than individual ability and material success (Reyes & Elias, 2011, p. 729).
Mexican American: In this book, this term was utilized to describe a citizen of the United States of America who identifies as such, recognizing family heritage from Mexico.
Social Class: In its most general sense, social groups differentiated from one another by economic status, cultural forms, practices, or ways of life. Social class refers to a group of people who share a common placement in a political economy (Collins, 2009).
Culture: It is composed of the values, traditions, worldview, common history, geographic location, language, social class, religion, beliefs, social and political transmitted ways of thinking (Gollnick & Chinn, 2013; Nieto & Bode, 2012; Peregoy & Boyle, 2013).
Latino Valores Culturales: In this book, valores culturales are the multifaceted views of how Latinos’ collectivist values of family, respect for life and people, have set the standard for work ethics to share and protect traditions, to teach language, and to motivate Latinos to strengthen their families.
Identity: Distinguishing character or personality of an individual (Merriam-Webster, 2020).
Influence: An effect on the condition or development of (Merriam-Webster, 2020).
Mexican American Culture: It is a combination of the culture of Mexico and the United States, although clearly maintaining a Mexican identity.