Oppression, unjust treatment, hit many different ethnicities in America but one that hits home personally for me and my family was the discrimination against Mexicans in the 20th century. Color was the number one motive for the racism in America, many white families had participated in the act of degrading people of color who were not white. During this time, it was very difficult to do anything to show that Mexicans were the same as white. Mexicans being oppressed during the 20th century is shown in the raid of 1931, when police officers raided Mexican-Americans in the Los Angeles area and threw them into waiting vans in order to deport them back to Mexico. Many people taken back to Mexico were citizens, but the police did not care about citizenship or immigration status. My grandmother is one of the most admirable people that I know because during this time of oppression she had stayed strong during her move to the states. She had been tormented most of her way here but eventually with all her praying the discrimination had begun to end with ease. She tells me, “it was very hard to stay positive during my journey here, but I just kept praying to God over and over again and look at that, the discrimination is over and here I am with my family.” My grandmother is an incredibly strong woman who has had to endure discrimination for her color. This rosary she says is the one that she had taken with her to the states and that she would wear every day in order for her to continue to push on forward.         

– Cristian Garcia

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child