(NOTE: This is one of an occasional series on the Census.)
Gonzales: My grandmother was a Mexican Indian born near the sacred
site Chicomoztoc in Zacatecas -- the place of the seven caves. My
grandparents made it a point to tell me that we were Indios -- Kickapoo, Mexican
Indian, Comanche. Back then, Mexican was synonymous with Indian. My great-
great grandma, Mama Mencha, was Kikapua (Kickapoo) and went into Mexico
for refuge. When she returned to the North, her granddaughter was considered a
Mexican. My grandpa came from native peoples, north and south, but had to
buy his papers to make his life in "El Norte." I can only imagine how my
ancestors became Mexican to survive in Texas, where Indians could not own
land, were deported to Indian Country, or killed.
Rodriguez: My skin color is a deep red-brown; thus, I've never
doubted that I was Mexican. However, because of the racially hostile climate here,
as a child, I was ashamed of being Mexican. In those days, even people
who looked like us hated us; they claimed to be Spanish or even white --
anything but Mexican or Indian. Despite this, I grew up knowing that I was
indigenous to America. My parents raised us on stories of an indigenous America,
and amid constant taunts to "go back where you came from," assured us that
we had not crossed an ocean to get here.
Gonzales: Over the years, I've not fit neatly in boxes. My Indian
grandmothers of five generations walk with me always. They come to
me speaking "Indian" -- Kickapoo and Nahuatl. Sometimes those boxes
for government and employment stats aren't big enough for me and my
ancestors. My grandpa saved all our ancestors' names on a piece of paper, but it
was lost by one of my uncles in a move. We aren't on any rolls, but we don't
need government telling us who we are. As I did in the 1990 census, I'm
checking the American Indian box again. So is my mother.
Rodriguez: The Chicano movement of the 1960s changed the climate I
grew up under. Pride replaced shame. Though it was not until years later,
after I first went to the pyramids of Teotihuacan in Mexico that I finally
got a glimpse of what it means to be ancestrally connected to America or
Great Turtle Island. There I found an arrowhead that we keep to this day,
and later I met relatives who speak Nahuatl, affirming that we are part of an
ancient culture that has survived a half-millennium of cultural onslaught.
Gonzales: I've often heard Latinos/Hispanics say they are not a
race. But those cultures get erased in labels that erase the Indian and
African grandmothers and grandfathers. Though I've been separated from my
tribes as a result of migration, hunger and wars, in my closing the circle, I
have begun the return to my peoples. If naming my tribes can help my
relatives, then in some small way I have fulfilled my responsibility as an indigenous
woman.
Our experiences are not unique. Many readers wonder if their
answers will be changed -- if their heritage will once again be disappeared by a
government obsessed by a black/white vision of race and seemingly oblivious
that America spans two continents, not a single nation. Some wonder why the
bureau still asks questions about race and ethnicity -- as if it was any of its
business. Some argue that there's a relationship between an accurate
racial/ethnic count and combating discrimination. Still others ask why on birth
certificates, the government continues to engage in a practice that
is a throwback to the era of legal segregation, automatically
designating Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Central and South Americans as white?
In a turn for the worse, the bureau is now seemingly intent on emulating the
old Spanish colonial practice of dividing people into dozens of new
racially mixed categories. Perhaps we should also copy the practice of
giving these categories ridiculous names. How about "blue bunnies," "white
apples" or "brown peppers?" For obvious reasons, that system collapsed as will
this one.
Conducting an accurate count, combating discrimination and respecting people's heritage should not be an either/or situation. Until the government gets out of the identity business, it should respect self-identity and also understand that people like us are firmly rooted here in America.
COPYRIGHT 2000 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
The writers can be reached at PO BOX 7905, Albq NM 87194-7905, 505-
242-7282 or XColumn@aol.com