Introduction
There are several stereotypes that are associated with Mexican Americans living in the United States currently. Most of these stereotypes have never been proven to be true as they were just a creation of most whites in this country. From research it has been found out that most Mexicans who have immigrated in the U.S. have faced racism either one time or another from most whites and even blacks some time. This racism was however in form of people stereotyping these Mexicans and their way of life. One of the most common stereotyping that Mexican Americans face is the assumption that most of them have lower education levels compared to non-Hispanic whites and blacks. Other stereotypic notions that people have on Mexican Americans is that most of them are gardeners, they love fast-food joints, they love swimming and that they all love tacos, and they all love to be associated with gangs and a majority of them are poor.
Several scholars have researched on whether most Mexican Americans have lower levels of education and it was found out that in deed most Mexican immigrants in the U.S. have lower levels of education and this trend has been witnessed in the in the last four generations (Telles and Ortiz2008). This has been spotted as one of the reasons why they face much stereotyping as most of them do not have enough level of education compared to the average American standard of education. This paper looks into the matters involving race and racialization experienced among Mexican Americans by looking into their levels of education, skin color, and social relations with racial identity within the society. Many have reported that Mexican Americans have encountered racism and stereotyping in their entire history while living in this country (Acun˜a1972; Almaguer1994; Barrera1979; Foley1997; Gomez2007; Montejano1987; Ngai2004; Vasquez2010).
The long history of Mexican Americans as labor migrants looking for employment opportunities at the jobs at the bottom of the economic hierarchy has not helped most of them as this has contributed to the fact that most of them are casual laborers. Though they do not experience the level of seclusion compared to Black Americans they have been subjected to racial barriers that has denied most of them opportunities in the economic front and this might be one of the reasons most of them lack proper education (Alba and Nee2003, Perlmann2005).
There is this notion that people have of Mexicans being construction workers and being house maids but the truth of the matter is that most of these jobs that are seen by many as preferred by Mexicans are just ordinary jobs that can be taken up by anyone regardless of his racial background. The reason why most Mexicans find themselves being involved in such forms of employment is not because they prefer them as a race but because some of these Mexicans living in the United States do not possess the necessary educational papers to enable them to acquire blue collar jobs and this makes them prefer casual jobs that do not require more education (Thirudrgaven, Smith).
There is also the notion that has been within the American society for years that Mexican Americans are lazy people who do not like to work. This is one of the most unfair stereotypes that the Mexican Americans have faced in this country for a very long time. This statement has never been proven to be true as Mexicans are just as hard working as any other group of people. Recent surveys have shown that most Mexican Americans have been hard workers over the years and most are currently living better lives compared to how they entered the United States. Most Mexicans are succeeding in the education front compared to a few years ago when they first entered the country (Vasquez, 2010).
The other stereotypic notion that most Mexican Americans face is the fact that most White Americans view them as people who have immigrated into the United States illegally. This is a stereotype that has been witnessed for a very long time but the truth of the matter is that most of these Mexicans are actually in the U.S. legally and they are legal American Citizens. Most of them were either born in this country thus acquiring the citizenship by birth or some have acquired the citizenship through the green card lottery that has enabled thousands to gains citizenships in this country. This is also a very unfair notion as it portrays these Mexicans as illegal people who should be jailed while the fact of the matter is that they are actually legal citizens (Gomez, 2007).
The other perception that most people in the United States have on Mexican Americans is the notion that they all love associating themselves with gangs. This might be a true statement if you look at the number of gangs that are present in the country Mexico. The Republic of Mexico has been found out to be a country with the most gangs with several of these gangs being involved in criminal and drug related activities. This has made most people in the U.S. to associate all Mexicans they meet to be involved with gang related activities which is very wrong. Not all Mexican Americans belong to any gangs and this assumption on Mexicans is also a very painful stereotype that should be avoided (Edwards and Andrea).
The other stereotype that Mexicans are drug traffickers is also a very wrong stereotype that should not be accepted. As much as most drug traffickers who have been caught in the United States have been found to have Mexican origins it is unfair to say that all Mexican Americans are drug traffickers. Drug trafficking is a crime that is committed by people from all races. There is no connection at all of Mexicans and drug trafficking since this is a problem that affects all races and so this stereotype is wrong and hurtful to most Mexicans who have never been involved in these drug trafficking issues (Adalberto).
Counterargument
Although Mexican Americans have been continuously been faced with some of the stereotype notions discussed in this paper most of these notions are not true and they are probably just a creation of some people who do not like the Mexican people or the Mexican culture. From recent studies most of these perceptions have been found to be false though there are a few true ones but the majority of them are untrue. Most of these stereotypes have made the Mexican American people to be disrespected and looked down upon by people from other races. Most Mexicans are continually being discriminated against in their work places due to their racial orientation and this is completely unfair and should be stopped at all costs (Saracho).
Conclusion
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Works Cited
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