This Place, Our Words

Isabel, Mexico:

"There are not many Hispanics, but one can see how the Hispanic community is growing since I came to study in '93. I can see it mostly in the markets, banks, etc, where one sees signs and instructions, etc. in Spanish. …

"I just graduated from college with a degree in political science and I want to go into that field and establish some sort of reputation as a professional woman. In the long run, I want to have a family; I want to have a husband and children and be a mother primarily. …

"About Tennessee – I like Tennessee. I decided to return after I finished college because I like the city of Nashville very much. I think that this is a good place to raise children. Also, the conservative aspect of this community attracts me. I am not certain how long I will be here – everything depends upon my career. I am pleased that the Hispanic community is growing, especially because I would like my children to have this influence in their lives. I would like them to know my culture; that they appreciate it; that they learn and love my mother tongue. However, I would also like them to be more independent than the children in Mexico are. I hope they have the opportunity to realize their dreams, but I also want them to maintain strong family roots – that is a part of my Mexican culture – and that they have strong and constant ties with my parents. I want them to learn Spanish and appreciate it."

Francisco, Puerto Rico:

"I am an aviation mechanic. That is what I studied. When I arrived in Miami, I worked at a federal project at a repair station for the B-1B, an Air Force bomber. After a while I was transferred to Nashville to Abcon, which is now Textron, Inc. I worked for this company for three years until the contract ended. Since I could not find work that offered enough to support family needs, I decided to start my own auto repair shop. I opened a shop on Nolensville Road. Later I opened another on Lebanon Road and expanded into an automobile dealership. This has been a good business and I have had the opportunity to help others.

"It was very difficult at the beginning because it was different culturally, but I reminded myself that I couldn't try to impose my culture here or try to change the local culture, but that I myself had to adapt in order to be able to function and be productive. I had to work very hard to show the people that I knew what I was doing and that I did it well. This helped me to establish myself and build good relations, and I am not sorry I came here. I believe that this was the best decision and the best thing that I could do for my family, especially when I see how they are developing in this country.

"I think that the United States is the best place to live. We have the liberty to attain what we want as long as we do not hurt others. This place also gives us the opportunity to maintain our identity. For example, I go to a church that is the same as that which I attended in Puerto Rico. I like feeling secure – that the individual is important, that there is order in the government, something that you do not find in other parts – like in my country. As for me, I abide by the rules of this country."

Juan, Bolivia:

"I work – right now I am working for a carpenters' union. The union that … it is work that I got through the professor of a member of the teaching staff at the university because the union needed someone that spoke Spanish in order to organize the workers completely. So, what better opportunity could there be to look for a way to better social conditions, and to seek, above all, justice for those people who are being, let us say, exploited? What better to be, what could be better than to offer one's services, so to say, help the people understand that, yes, there are rights that we are permitted to have. One of these rights is the right to demand better salaries, better working conditions, and I believe, above all – and this is what really motivated me – is the fact that I believe that this process will permit us to work with dignity. I believe – I really believe that far beyond anything else, beyond economic remuneration, what really counts in this process is to recover our dignity as individuals.

Juan, Pamela, and baby pose on the stairway of their home
Juan with his wife, Pamela, and their daughter, Carmen [photo: M. Davis]

"Yes, we speak Spanish most of the time. My daughter speaks English. My wife, who is American and I decided that her first language would be English and that she would have, necessarily to learn Spanish. And we have – I believe that the formula we have come up with so that my daughter is learning Spanish in a way that is not traumatic – it is not forced. She is learning to speak Spanish. She says things that surprise us. She listens to us speak, and I believe that this way she internalizes my language. It is most effective because as she learns the language we are teaching her, this becomes a part of transmitting to her my cultural heritage.

"We don't want to confuse her, nor force her, but, I yes – I say that the only thing that I have to give my child in this country is my language – as something that is going to help her to identify her roots. This is something that never going to … that is to say … by learning my language, any person, or society that has those roots will understand that she is Bolivian through her father. My language is something that I am giving to her because, sadly, it is something that defines differences in this country. Language is what sometimes makes us fit into this society, understand. Language is what labels me. As you would put it – when I come to this country I become Hispanic once again because I speak Spanish. Well then, I think that, the most I can hope for is that, above all, that my children maintain their identity – that they never forget their roots.

"I believe that, I believe that the hope that I have is that they will hand down this knowledge so that generation after generation will know of their roots, their identity the way they were passed along to them – just as I passed my identity along to them. I feel that, in general, for the rest of the community I would hope that we try to find balance between our cultures. I believe that it is important to retain our language as something that identifies us, that unifies us as a community. I believe that it is important that these [roots and culture and language] continue to be transmitted generation after generation so that we continue being a united community with its own identity in this society. I believe these are the hopes I would have – not only for my children, but also for the rest of the community."

Silvia, Mexico:

"I arrived a year ago in July. I arrived the 13th of July, to be more exact. I arrived in Alabama and I came because, as I told you I recorded a soccer program. … My boss offered me a month off to come to visit Christian – which is my son's name. I moved here to see if he was really going to study. But, well, my son works in a restaurant in Alabama because that was where he was able to earn more money for savings. And so, he went. I know that he would be able to work in another business because he is competent, but he opted to do that because he could save more. The owner of the restaurant where my son works also owns the station where I work now, which is "La Ley" here in Franklin. While speaking with my son the owner said – he suggested that I visit the office. And, I am very happy because I did not have to suffer as so many people do, because I came to work in a place that I truly enjoy. At the moment I am involved with the news; I also am involved with a sports program, and a program of Mexican music – and that is my area.

"Yes, it is very difficult because I have not fully dedicated myself to study English, and I need the language. They do not know what I have been through. It is very difficult for me, but here I am right now. It is my goal, if I should decide to stay here a little longer to – I have to know English. You cannot live in this country without knowing the language.

Billboard
A Memphis billboard advertising for Latino officers. It says, "Do you have abilities? Let's talk." [photo: Dennis Copeland]

"Well, the relationships I have made in my country are very good. If I should arrive this moment, I could go to work tomorrow. Only one woman was part of the program, and they still have not put another woman to work there since I came here. I speak with my boss and have a good relationship with him. The relationships here are different from the ones I have there. What happens is that here I am very enclosed in this town of Franklin. It is a lovely village, but it is still a small village. When you go to Nashville it is a totally different world. So, how I have lived my life this year has left little space for me to form relationships because I usually arrive [at work] at 5:30 in the morning and we begin to gather the news and information for the different programs that are presented during the day. … I don't have time to sit down until eight in the evening. Thus, I don't have time to get to know people. I believe that I am living in a very small world and sometimes that is why I feel desperate and that is why I want to go – because the relationships I have there [in Mexico] are very good and extensive."

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