ENG 100-20 Questions for Refelecting and Writing # 1 (175)

Chayse J. Adams

ENG 100-20

9-9-10

“On Becoming a Chicano”

Questions for Reflecting and Writing

    My name is Chayse Adams, if you could not tell from my name I am a White/Caucasian Male. I am mostly English, where I inherit my last name, and Irish, from my mother’s side of the family hinting why my last name dose not sound Irish. My mother’s sides name is Sherrard which was altered from O’Shared to hide the identity of my family’s heritage when they moved to the United State long ago as Irish were not given so good a name. Irish were viewed as less intelligent, cheap labor that stole the jobs of hard working Americans much as Mexican immigrants are viewed by the American public today. Racial or ethnic remarks against Irish people have ceased to persist; over time people have come to realize they are no different than any of the other ethnicities. White people in general have been viewed by some as the superior race, to have more mental capacity. Obviously that is not true but as a white person you may be expected to succeed more than other races such as Blacks or Mexicans. I don’t necessarily agree with the stereotype but you still want to fulfill what is expected out of a White man.

    Just as Richard Rodriguez’s ethnical stereotypes are working against him telling him subconsciously that he is not good enough, my ethnical stereotypes are telling me that I am supposed to be smarter and more intelligent. I pays on my conscious that I and scares me that I might not be smart or as intelligent, and of failure. That I might not be as smart as a White man is supposed to be. If you are White and pay any attention to ethnical stereotypes you could fear that you are not as smart as a Black or Mexican person when they are “supposed to be inferior to you”. Obviously stereotypes are not true for any ethnical group but the fact they are out there and everyone has heard them, they fan play an effect on any individual no matter their ethnicity or race.