Nicolas Rodriquez: Unwilling to settle for a divided community

Growing up in the Central San Joaquin Valley of California, I always felt like a kid in between places. After all, when people talk about California, they always define where you live in comparison to California's two poles -- San Francisco in the north and Los Angeles in the south.

Growing up Chicano was a great challenge as well. We Mexican-Americans did not seem to have a place in the history books we read, as Americans our books were in black and white with well-defined and refined covers. For my friends, as diverse as the color of a sarape, it was hard to imagine living in a world of black and white.

How do we define ourselves in this country? We define ourselves oftentimes against the "other." America is a country of mirrors, and Americans reflect their differences off each other. But we as human beings only see what we want to see. We are editors in the screening room of life experiences.

"You don't look Mexican!" That's the type of comment I hear many times, and I say in response, "So what? You never been out in the world?"

Recently, I had lunch with a good friend. Her partner, another friend of mine, is transgender. I could tell acceptance was very tough for them in the LGBT community, and she would tell me what they were going through. "On one hand, you have the lesbian community that sees her as a sellout. On the other, you have a gay community that sees her as less than a full man." She is living in between the confines of the of gay/lesbian model.

One hundred years ago, the Irish were considered an "other." Today, books like How the Irish Became White have begun to address the fact that "others" like Italians, Russians, Portuguese and Jews have basically been incorporated into the "white" category. By the same rationale, when diversity is addressed in America, many feel that it is solely a "black" issue.

Latinos defy borders -- literally and figuratively, we are the "mixed beings." We Chicanos and other Latinos in general come in all shapes and sizes. We are Asian, black, white, indigenous, Catholic, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, straight and queer.

Name a social group on earth and I will find you a Latino who fits that community and many others. People don't like to be confused or see something that is not easily classifiable. That's why when we address diversity, we address the issue not as a "minority" issue, but as a human issue. We have at least that much in common.

Being American does not mean defining yourself as either white or black, but as defining America. No longer can we say that assimilation or separatism is the solution to our problems. We as Americans, and as human beings, must look at the fallacy of our old perceptions and create new methods for addressing this intensely diverse global community.

Penn and America in general are microcosms of a human community that has by no means truly and faithfully addressed the complexity of our communities. Our communities recognize the problematic nature of segregation and division that exists here, but only few have addressed those concerns through action. When we have concerns about segregation, media perception or the academic and social resources we have as students, we must voice our concerns. We as a community must both challenge and work within our institution and our society to make sure that our concerns are not just gleamed over, but are addressed through proper action.

We have made progress as human beings, but when we start to see ourselves and our problems as more than the sum of our parts, then we are on the path to social cohesion.

Perhaps that is why I love jazz so much. In no other form of music have I seen a musician lay out the pain, joy, happiness and sorrow of life. Never duplicated, jazz and the musician always express a unique signature of humanity. Jazz knows no boundaries, and neither do we as human beings.

Never take things at face value. You are here at Penn and on earth to do something more, something better. The true sign of education is never submitting to complacency. You should never settle, never be totally comfortable, my mother would say.

We as human beings sell ourselves short by accepting the social models that are given to us by our ancestors -- it makes us lazy, stale and unchanging. That can be the pitfall of those poor people that buy into an ideology and can't seem to find any option outside of that good ol' party label.

Every day, I seem to meet someone that defies what society says about race and ethnicity. Every day we challenge ourselves a little more to understand the complexity of the unconquered "human spirit."

What we do is a reflection of who we are. Are you going to talk or are you going to do?

Nicolas Rodriquez is a senior Political Science major from Sanger, Calif. and spokesman for the Latino Coalition.

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