I am a married, Hispanic woman living in New Haven, Connecticut. This paper will provide an overview of my experiences within my community and focus on ethnicity and the way race and ethnicity has shaped my own personal life view, as well the way I am perceived by others. I will discuss what I remember of my childhood, and what I don’t remember but was reminded of by relatives, and how I could not wait to get into High School so that I could work hard and pursue good grades and a successful life. In particular, I will relate the way my parents, grandparents, and other relatives helped shape my world view using their own experiences and different ways of dealing with life’s challenges.
I have but a few memories of early childhood, and certainly nothing that stands out in terms of being Hispanic. All my relatives were Hispanic, and most of the kids in the neighborhood were Black or Hispanic, even the places we visited for fun (Playground, etc.) had mostly Black or Hispanic children ' and I thought nothing of it. There were light skinned Blacks, dark skinned Blacks, boys and girls from Africa who were learning to speak, and a funny friend named Javier from someplace called Belieze who was one of my best playmates ' at least that I can remembe; there were children from Latin and South America, Mexico, and the dialects of Spanish were asounding, at least to me at the time.r. I remember Jahomeny because when I was 16, in High School, I read in the paper that he had never left the old neighborhood, and had been killed in a senseless, drive-by shooting. I was very sad about that, sent his Mom a card (his Dad having long since left), but never heard from her.
I do remember my first day in elementary school though ' I could not wait to get into school. I had been pestering my parents and relatives to buy books and read to me ever since I can remember, and I remember my Grandmother saying ' “Someday, Mi ninta, you will learn to read all these yourself ' and, oh...