May 25, 1977, the day the world changed. At least for some of us. I’m sorry if you can’t entirely relate, but for those of us born after 1965, History is divided into two parts, BSW and ASW. Before and After Star Wars.
Mind you, I am not some kind of huge science fiction nut who attends all kinds of conventions dressed up as all manor of space aliens, it’s simply a fact that this movie franchise, this new mythology, this story is one of the cultural forces that shaped and defined the lives and times of us who are now between 25 and 40.
That summer I saw the original “Star Wars,” the FIRST star wars, now known as “Episode Four: A New Hope” at least seven times. What an awesome escape from the blazing heat of a concrete and dirt Phoenix summer- to be inside a dark, cold air conditioned, theater physically and in the dark, cold expanse of space mentally.
When we all got back to school for second grade, most recesses were spent playing Star Wars. We made poor John Elliot have to play Chewbacca the wookie. Wookies are seven foot tall and John was the tallest kid in our class and had long brown hair. It didn’t hurt that he had such an enormous overbite that he was constantly wiping drool from his chin. He was also imitated the growl best.
John was the first kid in our class to see Star Wars, and he’d seen it the most times. Fourteen. So even though we made him be Chewie, he got to direct much of our playing, because he was the class expert on Star Wars and had most of the script memorized.
Robbie McAdam had to play C3P-O, the interpreter and protocol droid. He was the tallest and skinniest kid on the playground. Robbie was a third grader, the only one nerdy enough to play Star Wars with us second graders. The rest of them played soccer or football and such.
Some times Marko Sanders was Darth Vader. He was tall and had a deep voice for second grade. Other times Indy Eaton took the role. She was one of the few girls who liked Star Wars and she was really tall and was good at taking charge. John might have known about Star Wars, but Indy was the leader, fortunately she wasn’t evil like the real Darth Vader. They both liked playing storm troopers too.
It seems to me like I remember Patty Gail playing Princess Lea. She was blonde and actually put her hair those goofy buns. Of course we boys were always trying to get Cheryl Johansen to play with us. Every boy in second grade was in love with her.
David Neely or Michael Miller would both play Luke Skywalker or Obi Wan Kenobi interchangeably. They were both medium height, and skinny. David was blonde and even had the bowl hair cut like Luke.
I hated getting stuck playing Han Solo. How stupid could I have been? I figured they MADE me play Han because I was the only kid with dark hair and I had a vest. I wanted to be Luke, but they’d never let me. I thought that light saber duels were the coolest.
Almost three decades later, I realize that Han was the coolest. He was the swarthy, swashbuckling anti-hero that all the chick were in love with. He had the baddest ride- his Millennium Falcon was the fastest ship in the galaxy. Beside Harrison Ford was the only cast member to go on to have a kick-butt acting career. How many people even remember the name “Mark Hamel?” Exactly.
May 21, 1980: "The Empire Strikes Back" opens, it grosses $290 million in the U.S. and Canada. Fifth graders are much more savvy movie goers than Second graders. They’re also bigger consumers. That meant action figures. Truthfully, I only had a few so I’d take my few action figures across the street to my friend Ron Green’s house. He was in Fourth grade and man, he had a whole dang room full of action figures. He even let me play with his Millennium Falcon because he liked his X-Wing fighter better.
Then the greatest thing happened. Christmas, when Ron’s parents got him the mother load of Star Wars toys, an AT-AT Walker- and a snow speeder and a slew of storm trooper dolls (action figures.) MAN, that was cool.
But what a shocker! Darth Vader claimed to be Luke’s father after that big jerk put Han Solo on ice! He HAD to be lying. But we had to wait three more years to find out for sure.
John Elliot had the inside scoop on Yoda, he was actually a Muppet! John was a big Muppet fan too. One year we tried to make our own Muppets out of the insides of foam pillows and coat hangers. His mom was pretty patient.
May 26, 1983: "Return of the Jedi" opens, grosses $309 million. John Elliot told us that George Lucas planned on the speeder-bike battle on the forest moon of Endor to be between the Empire and Wookies as sort of a nod to Native American groups or maybe a commentary on Viet Nam. But instead, the movie people made him use these cute little teddy-bear like “Ewok” thingies. I guess he had to appeal to the girls.
Once Han got thawed out he finally hooked up with Princess Lea. Aw man, if he could only have seen her in that brass bikini, that would have been enough to thaw him out, hubba hubba.
My older brother and I saw “Jedi” as part of a triple-feature with the first two, only we got there late or something so we didn’t get to see them in order.
John Elliot said that there were going to be six more movies; three that would take place after Return of the Jedi and three that would take place before.
Winter-spring 1997: The first three "Star Wars" films are re-released, with new digital soundtracks, cleaned-up color, some new effects and at least one restored scene.
Bethany and I went to see the new and improved first one. It was a little weird to see Jaba the Hutt slithering around inside the space port, threatening Han if he didn’t pay him the “credits” he owed him. But it was fun nostalgia for a couple of twenty-somethings out in California.
May 19, 1999: "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," made for $115 million, opens on 2,800-3,000 screens and eventually makes $431 million. God knows why or how, though. This was one of the slowest, dullest science fiction movies I’d ever seen. I couldn’t believe George Lucas could destroy something that had been such an important part of my childhood.
May 16, 2002: "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" opens. The movie makes $311 million, but I didn’t bother seeing it till it came out on video. Once again I was let down, but for different reasons. It was too busy, too cluttered, too full of special effects and convoluted secret political alliances and conspiracies.
Plus the futuristic city that was supposed to be the capital of the Republic reminded me too much of another science fiction movie, “Blade Runner,” an edgy, dark, futuristic film noir in which Harrison Ford played a detective in search of renegade clones. Had Lucas lost his touch so much that he had to steal ideas from Han Solo’s OTHER movies?
May 18, 2005: "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" opened and the circle will be complete. I haven’t heard anything but good reviews about this film. However, since it’s so scary, I’m unlikely to take my 6 year old to it- so again, especially since we’ve got two smaller kids to keep us busy, we’ll probably wait until video.
Besides, I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that all six movies turned out to be about Darth Vader. If I was George Lucas, I would have made them all be about Han Solo. I’m also a little torked off that since he spent so much time on Star Wars that now if he does make any more Indiana Jones movies, Harrison Ford will be too old to reprise his greatest role.
I haven’t seen John Elliot since say 1984, but I hear he’s a heart surgeon in Tuscon or something like that. Hope the dark side didn’t get him.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Class of 2005
This Sunday, Charter Oak- Ute will commemorate the graduation of another class. Boyer Valley Seniors walked across the stage last week. I’m not quite sure when Denison-Schleswig or Maple Valley hold their graduations, but I’m sure it’s that time of year for them as well.
I’d like to dedicate this week to those members of the class of two-thousand and ought five.
I feel a special connection to your class. I’ve been a high school teacher now for 12 years, just shy of what sociologist call a “generation” (13 yrs) and most of you were born the year that I graduated from high school, 1988.
You were eighth graders when I moved here to Iowa, so I’ve really got to see you change if you’re in St. John Lutheran, Charter Oak’s youth group or a student where I teach in Dunlap.
I want to talk to you as if you were my own child or at least a niece or nephew. I want to give you some meaningful, practical advice that you can use.
First, if you’re sticking around here and going right into the job force: my advice is the same for freshmen coming into high school. Get involved, only obviously I don’t mean in school, I mean in your community. The only way to make a place better is for you to help. The best way to make sure that other people will be willing to lend you a hand when you need it is to lend a hand.
You’re really lucky to live somewhere where people know each other, look each other in the eye and actually talk to each other. Take advantage of it. No matter how well or how poorly you did in school, you will do well if you get involved and participate in your town, local clubs and civic organizations, and of course your church.
You won’t regret it, you’ll earn respect and help contribute to our quality of life.
Next, if you’re entering into the armed services, either active service or in the Guard or Reserve. I know way too many of you. First of all, thank you in advance. You may be in it for a job or for money for college, but you’re working, standing, sacrificing, risking and fighting for all of us.
The best advice I can give you is what my dad, a Marine sergeant told me. “They can tell you what to do, where and when to sleep, what to eat, how to speak and act, but no matter how much they try, they can’t tell you what to think unless you let them.”
People who’ve been through Basic tell you that the most important thing to do in basic is to be a team player- the whole goal of Basic training is to break you down as an individual so that they can rebuild you as part of a unit. Help your fellow soldiers and don’t be ashamed to ask them for help and you’ll not only survive but thrive.
You CAN support the troops and still not support the war, so don’t resent people who do, you’re fighting for their freedom to do so. Remember you are a citizen soldier. You serve at the pleasure of your Commander in Chief, but that doesn’t mean you have to vote to please him too.
And most importantly, "6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." ~Deuteronomy 31:6
Now, those of you headed for college. College can be a pretty scary place (at least for the first couple of weeks) and it will probably be more challenging than high school was. Don’t quit after the first semester. You can do it.
To survive at college, you will need to follow the same advice that I give to 7th and 8th graders the first day of school: show up to class, do your work, put your name on it, and turn it in. If you do that much, you can at least expect to pass. Your grades may not be stellar, but you’ll pass.
Next, keep perspective. For some kids, the first semester of college is as emotionally intense as all four years of college put together. Don’t let that panic you. It feels cool to know that all of a sudden you’re out on your own and legally a grown up, but keep in time that you’re still learning, growing and maturing and you don’t know everything yet. So let yourself make mistakes.
Some people seem to think that college is all about pizza, beer and sex. Keep fun in it’s place. Are you having a drink? Or does the drink have you? Are you having sex, or does it have you? It’s normal to try new things, it’s normal to want to fit in with everybody else, and it’s normal to want to have fun, but always remember that your decisions determine your destiny. Most of the people who drop out of college can’t blame grades or money- the grades and money get eaten up by poor choices.
Finally, to all of you. Enjoy the ride. Life is a journey, not a destination. Use things and love people, don’t use people and love things.
“Success is the peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” ~John Wooden, UCLA
A lot is said about kids today. Mostly critical and cynical (by me included) but I want to be the first to tell you that most of you make me feel very secure about the future.
Congratulations, and good luck.
I’d like to dedicate this week to those members of the class of two-thousand and ought five.
I feel a special connection to your class. I’ve been a high school teacher now for 12 years, just shy of what sociologist call a “generation” (13 yrs) and most of you were born the year that I graduated from high school, 1988.
You were eighth graders when I moved here to Iowa, so I’ve really got to see you change if you’re in St. John Lutheran, Charter Oak’s youth group or a student where I teach in Dunlap.
I want to talk to you as if you were my own child or at least a niece or nephew. I want to give you some meaningful, practical advice that you can use.
First, if you’re sticking around here and going right into the job force: my advice is the same for freshmen coming into high school. Get involved, only obviously I don’t mean in school, I mean in your community. The only way to make a place better is for you to help. The best way to make sure that other people will be willing to lend you a hand when you need it is to lend a hand.
You’re really lucky to live somewhere where people know each other, look each other in the eye and actually talk to each other. Take advantage of it. No matter how well or how poorly you did in school, you will do well if you get involved and participate in your town, local clubs and civic organizations, and of course your church.
You won’t regret it, you’ll earn respect and help contribute to our quality of life.
Next, if you’re entering into the armed services, either active service or in the Guard or Reserve. I know way too many of you. First of all, thank you in advance. You may be in it for a job or for money for college, but you’re working, standing, sacrificing, risking and fighting for all of us.
The best advice I can give you is what my dad, a Marine sergeant told me. “They can tell you what to do, where and when to sleep, what to eat, how to speak and act, but no matter how much they try, they can’t tell you what to think unless you let them.”
People who’ve been through Basic tell you that the most important thing to do in basic is to be a team player- the whole goal of Basic training is to break you down as an individual so that they can rebuild you as part of a unit. Help your fellow soldiers and don’t be ashamed to ask them for help and you’ll not only survive but thrive.
You CAN support the troops and still not support the war, so don’t resent people who do, you’re fighting for their freedom to do so. Remember you are a citizen soldier. You serve at the pleasure of your Commander in Chief, but that doesn’t mean you have to vote to please him too.
And most importantly, "6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." ~Deuteronomy 31:6
Now, those of you headed for college. College can be a pretty scary place (at least for the first couple of weeks) and it will probably be more challenging than high school was. Don’t quit after the first semester. You can do it.
To survive at college, you will need to follow the same advice that I give to 7th and 8th graders the first day of school: show up to class, do your work, put your name on it, and turn it in. If you do that much, you can at least expect to pass. Your grades may not be stellar, but you’ll pass.
Next, keep perspective. For some kids, the first semester of college is as emotionally intense as all four years of college put together. Don’t let that panic you. It feels cool to know that all of a sudden you’re out on your own and legally a grown up, but keep in time that you’re still learning, growing and maturing and you don’t know everything yet. So let yourself make mistakes.
Some people seem to think that college is all about pizza, beer and sex. Keep fun in it’s place. Are you having a drink? Or does the drink have you? Are you having sex, or does it have you? It’s normal to try new things, it’s normal to want to fit in with everybody else, and it’s normal to want to have fun, but always remember that your decisions determine your destiny. Most of the people who drop out of college can’t blame grades or money- the grades and money get eaten up by poor choices.
Finally, to all of you. Enjoy the ride. Life is a journey, not a destination. Use things and love people, don’t use people and love things.
“Success is the peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” ~John Wooden, UCLA
A lot is said about kids today. Mostly critical and cynical (by me included) but I want to be the first to tell you that most of you make me feel very secure about the future.
Congratulations, and good luck.
support the troops
What does it mean to support the troops?
from the 'Sojourners' weekly newsletter: 05.18.2005 www.sojo.net
from the 'Sojourners' weekly newsletter: 05.18.2005 www.sojo.net
Memorial Day is approaching, and calls to support the troops echo across the national media. But how does the United States really treat its soldiers and its veterans?
Even those of us who advocate nonviolence must recognize the humanity of those who, for many reasons, made the hard choice to join the armed forces. As we protest a war and an occupation that has claimed as many as 100,000 Iraqi civilians' lives, we must have compassion for the suffering experienced on all sides.
Well over 1 million soldiers have served in Afghanistan and Iraq since September 11, 2001, according to the Pentagon. A full third of those million have served more than once. In addition to the 1,600-plus soldiers who have been killed in Iraq, more than 12,000 troops have been wounded and needed to seek medical treatment. Soldiers who have suffered psychologically are more difficult to count - and often more difficult to treat. A 2004 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine pointed out that 17 percent of Iraq veterans were exhibiting signs of major depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But according to that study, less than 40 percent of those soldiers sought treatment for PTSD, due to the stigma associated with its diagnosis. According to Steve Robinson at the National Gulf War Resource Center, the military needs to be doing much more to educate about and treat PTSD.
Once soldiers arrive home, they face new difficulties. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, although veterans compose only 9 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 23 percent of our nation's homeless. More than 500,000 veterans experience homelessness each year.
The White House isn't getting kinder to vets, either. In January of 2003, just prior to the March invasion of Iraq, President Bush suspended the health-care benefits of 200,000 veterans. The Bush administration's proposed 2006 budget would charge a new $250 enrollment fee to 2.2 million veterans, and would double vets' prescription drug co-pay, which could limit access to those drugs for veterans living in poverty. The budget also proposes to cut $351 million from veterans' nursing homes, and $4 million from medical and prosthetic research.
This Memorial Day, join Sojourners in calling on our country to uphold its responsibilities to veterans, practice real compassion, and truly support the troops. With just a few clicks of your mouse, you can send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper and help us raise veterans' issues around the country.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Here is a Photoshopped-together panorama of the Loess Hills here in my part of Iowa. A little East of Soldier and Moorhead, a little South of Charter Oak, a little North West of Dunlap. Scroll back and compare this to the Grant Wood paintings that I've posted here in the past. You can see why we're so lucky to live out here.
Mallory
Friday, May 13, 2005
The cows are eating breakfast
One of the funnest things about having kids is just listening to them. Ellie, our three year old is at an age where she’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Of course she’s more work than one too.
At her older sister Grace’s birthday party, kids apparently thought it would be a great game to jump off the top of the girls’ bunk-beds. Ellie won, her prize was a broken ankle.
This was pretty traumatic for her. She was afraid to let a doctor pull on her leg. She was intimidated by the x-ray machine. She’s been afraid to put any weight at all on it, even though Doctor Crabb said that it was a minor, stable fracture to a small, minor bone and that she’d be walking on it within a few days.
The first few days of her convalescence she had to be carried from room to room, like a princess on a palanquin.
Of course, she’s not one to be kept down. By Wednesday she snuck past her Great Grandma who was babysitting and undertook crawling all the way next door to visit our neighbor Beverly Lorenzen. Not just across the yard, mind you. But down to the sidewalk and a half a block around the corner. Bev was worried that the poor thing would hurt her knees. I tell Mike and Bev that Ellie is Dennis the Menace and they’re the
Monday morning I drove her in to have Dr. Crabb examine her X-Rays to see if he needed to put a cast on. The thing about three year olds that will drive you insane are the questions.
As we walked out to the van, I noticed that she was chomping away on something. If it was gum, I wanted to make sure that it wound up in the trash and not on the upholstery. What are you chewing? I asked her.
“MMMm BOOGERS! Ha ha ha, mmmm, yummy!”
Oh gross, honey, don’t do that. That’s yucky, besides it will make you sick.
“Da-aad, it’s paper. I was just drawing and wanted to see what it tasted like.” Good grief, spit that out. Come on, lets go.
“Why are we taking the van?” Because you’re too little to ride in the pickup all the way to
“Why don’t we take the car?” Because Mommy took the car to work.
“Why’d Mommy drive the car?” Why not? This is my answer of last resort, it usually stops her.
Finally we were on our way. “Why are we driving?”
Uh…would you rather walk to
“Look, Daddy, it’s SO beautiful. Look at all the colors. I can see a million miles. Are the cows having breakfast?”
Later, in the examination room we had a minor disagreement. I told her that she was sitting on a table. She called it a bed.
“Why would I be on a TABLE?” SO I can eat your toes! I warned her. “Da-aaad, I’m not lunch!” she replied.
After several minutes of waiting, I noticed that she had her thumb in her mouth. Neither she or Grace ever did this, the closest they got was the “blankie” that Ellie carries everywhere. So I asked her, why are you sucking on your thumb?
“’Cause our friend Jesus is in there…”
Needless to say this threw me for a loop. What in the heck does that mean, I thought and gave her a quizzical look.
“Dad- He lives in our hearts- I was just kidding! Mmmm, tastes like hotdogs, yummy!” she teased me.
It was at this point that I decided that I’d better start writing down some of the crazy things she says, so I pulled out a little 4x3 note pad that I carry with me. Naturally she couldn’t let that go.
“Why are you writing in your notebook?” Why not?
Driving around town she made an observation.
“Why does everybody have red pickups like Grandpa? Everybody only has red or blue trucks- only I like PINK!”
Oh yeah? When you grow up you can get a pink pickup.
“PINK’S MY FAVOWITE COLOW!”
Yeah, well if you want to be a farmer like Grandpa, you’ll have to talk to John Deere about getting you a pink tractor! This must have struck her funny bone because it threw her into a fit of giggles. In fact, a few limes during the day if I wanted to hear her laugh all I had to do was to look at her and say the words Pink Tractor!
She asked for chicken nuggets for lunch, so I was all set for KFC, but she demanded that I take her to Burger King. I know that this is because they have a playground. I reminded her of her injury and told her that she wouldn’t be able to play there. What’s more, I told her that I wasn’t going to carry her in, she’d have to lean on me and hop. At this she told me that we should just go through the drive-through.
But she wasn’t too disappointed, at least her spirits didn’t show it. Even incapacitated she enjoyed the drive home and the beautiful weather. What a sunny disposition. Sometimes she makes me wish I was three years old again.
And she’s nothing if not observant-“Now the cows are having dinner.”
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Where do you fit?
The Political Typology is a longstanding effort to sort voters into homogeneous groups based on their values, political beliefs and party affiliation. The current report is based on a two-part survey of 2,000 Americans interviewed in December 2004, most of whom were recontacted to follow up on current political issues in March 2005.
Pew Research Center Political Typology:
Answer the typology questionnaire online and find out which Typology group you fit into. Click on the link above and find out where you align.
I always thought of myself as pretty moderate. Fiscally conservative, socially traditional, but committed to civil rights, equality and the working class. The quiz catagorized me as a "disadvantaged Democrat."
Pew Research Center Political Typology:
Answer the typology questionnaire online and find out which Typology group you fit into. Click on the link above and find out where you align.
I always thought of myself as pretty moderate. Fiscally conservative, socially traditional, but committed to civil rights, equality and the working class. The quiz catagorized me as a "disadvantaged Democrat."
| Key Beliefs: | General Population | Disadvantaged Democrats |
| Hard work and determination are no guarantee of success for most people | 28% | 79% |
| Poor people have hard lives because government benefits don't go far enough to help them live decently | 52% | 80% |
| Most elected officials don't care what people like me think | 63% | 87% |
| Business corporations make too much profit | 54% | 76% |
| We should pay less attention to problems overseas and concentrate on problems here at home | 49% | 72% |
Beyond Red vs. Blue: Redefining the Political Landscape
Reported on NPR's All Things Considered, Wed. May 11:
NPR : Beyond Red vs. Blue: Redefining the Political Landscape:
Political observers divided America into red and blue states for the 2004 election. But a new study fine-tunes political groups into more specific categories, including "pro-government conservatives," "disadvantaged Democrats" and "bystanders."
NPR : Beyond Red vs. Blue: Redefining the Political Landscape:
Political observers divided America into red and blue states for the 2004 election. But a new study fine-tunes political groups into more specific categories, including "pro-government conservatives," "disadvantaged Democrats" and "bystanders."
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Wheat Field under Clouded Sky, Vincent Van Gogh, July 1890
This reminds me a lot of how the fields look here in Iowa right now, Moody sky, some weeds and wildflowers in the ditches, hay sprouting in the rolling fields- even though the farmers are only now getting their corn and soybeans planted, storms on the horizon.
"I myself am quite absorbed by the delicate yellow, delicate soft
green, delicate violet of a ploughed and weeded piece of soil."
- Vincent van Gogh
Mallory
Thursday, May 05, 2005
¡Celebre el eith de la victoria de Zaragoza yo!
Happy Cinco de Mayo. Do you know what Cinco de Mayo is all about? Many gringos assume that it’s “their Fourth of July.” Actually, Mexican Independence Day is September 16, 1810, that’s the day when a lowly priest rang his church bell calling for Mexicans to fight for their liberty from Spain. Their war for Independence lasted 10 years.
In 1861, Benito Juarez became president of Mexico. He inherited a financial mess. Mexico defaulted on their debts to European countries. France sent naval forces to demand payment. France’s Napoleon III, thought he’d take the opportunity to carve an empire out of Mexican.
During the French-Mexican War, a poorly supplied and outnumbered Mexican army defeated a French army attempting to capture a small town, or “puebla” in east-central Mexico. Winning the “Battle of Puebla” was a great moral victory for the Mexican government, proving their country's ability to defend its sovereignty against a major world power.
6,000 French troops attacked 2,000 rag-tag rebels. 500 French soldiers were killed, but Texas-born Mexican General Zaragoza lost only 100 men. On the fifth of May, 1862, the French retreated, although it was another six years until the French withdrew completely.
Pretty cool, huh? Reminds you of our own American Revolution. Except, France was our ally, but that was pre-Napoleon. And of course we attacked Mexico in the 1840’s and took half their country (California, Arizona, Colorado, etc.) I’m sure that war added to their debt and cut into their gross national product a little too.
Much has been said about “all the Mexicans” in Denison in the last 5-10 years. As a high school teacher, I certainly overhear a fair share of disparaging and ignorant, sometimes even racist remarks that kids make about the changing demographics of our area.
When I was growing up in Phoenix, I just assumed that anyone who wasn’t African-American was “White.” My best friend when I was five was a kid named Juaquin. Everybody thought he was Mexican, but actually his dad was a Maracopia Indian and his mom was Italian.
Bob Lopez, our barber used to get frustrated with the Mexican nationals who’d come north for work, but wouldn’t speak English. He said they knew how to speak it, they were just embarrassed by their accents. Sounds like stories I’ve heard around here from the old timers about speaking German before WWII.
One thing I learned teaching in Los Angeles, is that, like with my childhood friend Juaquin, you can’t assume you know someone’s ethnicity. Guatamalan and Cuban kids would actually make fun of Mexican kids because they spoke so slowly. I guess it’sort of like the difference between a Chicago accent and an Alabama one. El Salvadorans could be very offended if you thought they were Mexican.
Most of all, when you’re talking about the western half of the U.S. there’s a real question of did you cross the border, or did the border cross you? Some peoples families were here before here was “here.”
There’s no such thing as “Hispanic.” Seriously, it’s not a race or a nationality- the term was actually made up in the 1970s by the Census Bureau as an all-inclusive label to define people who’s family origins are in Mexico, the Caribbean or Central and South America. But let’s face it, most people you’d think of as Hispanic are even less Spanish than I am Irish- although many of them do at least speak Spanish. I have no idea how to say anything in Gaelic.
The term “Latino” comes from the Spanish “latinoamericano.” It’s supposed to refer to people who are from former Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Latin America. But see, that doesn’t just cover South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico. It also means territory that the United States acquired from Mexico, like Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, California and Arizona. So therefore, having been born in Arizona, I am a Latino.
I think that the best thing to call people sir or ma’am or for that matter, call them by their first name. Better yet, call them “friend.” In my experience, folks of Mexican decent are warm, friendly, generous, hard working, fair, devoutly faithful Christians who value their families above all else. But of course, these may be overgeneralizations.
While I don’t really commemorate Zaragoza’s victory, I do think that today is not just an excuse to party. Although, I enjoy Mexican beer, Mexican food, Tejano music, and margaritas as much as the next Gingo.
By the way- Gringo is derived from “griego” which means “Greek,” suggesting a stranger or foreigner- as in someone confused by Spanish, who’s apt to give up and say “it’s all Greek to me.”
Of course it may have been derived from the Spanish pronunciation of a slang word meaning "fast spender,"
But it’s more likely that it came out of the Mexican War. The Yankee soldiers sang a marching song called “Green Grow the Rushes.” The Mexicans heard it and started calling the Yankees “Gringos” because of the repeating lyrics “Green Grow.”
FYI: “¡Celebre el eith de la victoria de Zaragoza yo!” translates to “Clebrate Zaragoza’s victory with me!”
In 1861, Benito Juarez became president of Mexico. He inherited a financial mess. Mexico defaulted on their debts to European countries. France sent naval forces to demand payment. France’s Napoleon III, thought he’d take the opportunity to carve an empire out of Mexican.
During the French-Mexican War, a poorly supplied and outnumbered Mexican army defeated a French army attempting to capture a small town, or “puebla” in east-central Mexico. Winning the “Battle of Puebla” was a great moral victory for the Mexican government, proving their country's ability to defend its sovereignty against a major world power.
6,000 French troops attacked 2,000 rag-tag rebels. 500 French soldiers were killed, but Texas-born Mexican General Zaragoza lost only 100 men. On the fifth of May, 1862, the French retreated, although it was another six years until the French withdrew completely.
Pretty cool, huh? Reminds you of our own American Revolution. Except, France was our ally, but that was pre-Napoleon. And of course we attacked Mexico in the 1840’s and took half their country (California, Arizona, Colorado, etc.) I’m sure that war added to their debt and cut into their gross national product a little too.
Much has been said about “all the Mexicans” in Denison in the last 5-10 years. As a high school teacher, I certainly overhear a fair share of disparaging and ignorant, sometimes even racist remarks that kids make about the changing demographics of our area.
When I was growing up in Phoenix, I just assumed that anyone who wasn’t African-American was “White.” My best friend when I was five was a kid named Juaquin. Everybody thought he was Mexican, but actually his dad was a Maracopia Indian and his mom was Italian.
Bob Lopez, our barber used to get frustrated with the Mexican nationals who’d come north for work, but wouldn’t speak English. He said they knew how to speak it, they were just embarrassed by their accents. Sounds like stories I’ve heard around here from the old timers about speaking German before WWII.
One thing I learned teaching in Los Angeles, is that, like with my childhood friend Juaquin, you can’t assume you know someone’s ethnicity. Guatamalan and Cuban kids would actually make fun of Mexican kids because they spoke so slowly. I guess it’sort of like the difference between a Chicago accent and an Alabama one. El Salvadorans could be very offended if you thought they were Mexican.
Most of all, when you’re talking about the western half of the U.S. there’s a real question of did you cross the border, or did the border cross you? Some peoples families were here before here was “here.”
There’s no such thing as “Hispanic.” Seriously, it’s not a race or a nationality- the term was actually made up in the 1970s by the Census Bureau as an all-inclusive label to define people who’s family origins are in Mexico, the Caribbean or Central and South America. But let’s face it, most people you’d think of as Hispanic are even less Spanish than I am Irish- although many of them do at least speak Spanish. I have no idea how to say anything in Gaelic.
The term “Latino” comes from the Spanish “latinoamericano.” It’s supposed to refer to people who are from former Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Latin America. But see, that doesn’t just cover South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico. It also means territory that the United States acquired from Mexico, like Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, California and Arizona. So therefore, having been born in Arizona, I am a Latino.
I think that the best thing to call people sir or ma’am or for that matter, call them by their first name. Better yet, call them “friend.” In my experience, folks of Mexican decent are warm, friendly, generous, hard working, fair, devoutly faithful Christians who value their families above all else. But of course, these may be overgeneralizations.
While I don’t really commemorate Zaragoza’s victory, I do think that today is not just an excuse to party. Although, I enjoy Mexican beer, Mexican food, Tejano music, and margaritas as much as the next Gingo.
By the way- Gringo is derived from “griego” which means “Greek,” suggesting a stranger or foreigner- as in someone confused by Spanish, who’s apt to give up and say “it’s all Greek to me.”
Of course it may have been derived from the Spanish pronunciation of a slang word meaning "fast spender,"
But it’s more likely that it came out of the Mexican War. The Yankee soldiers sang a marching song called “Green Grow the Rushes.” The Mexicans heard it and started calling the Yankees “Gringos” because of the repeating lyrics “Green Grow.”
FYI: “¡Celebre el eith de la victoria de Zaragoza yo!” translates to “Clebrate Zaragoza’s victory with me!”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
