"Mexican" Is Not a Noun

By Francisco X. Alarcón

I liked this poem, from my perception it presents to the reader how it is to be Mexican, their reality. In the poem, the writer says that being Mexican is not a noun nor an adjective, it is a verb.

Verbs are actions, the author is saying to the reader that being a Mexican is about actions; however, for them, their actions are seen with a negative perspective because of people opinion, normally a negative one.

Francisco X. Alarcón presents a part of the reality of Mexicans in terms of jobs. He says that a Mexican life is a long low-paying job. This gives the reader the idea that they cannot get good jobs, jobs that can give them more opportunities, more incomes. They cannot have this opportunity probably because of discrimination, lack of opportunities. Also, in many parts of the poem, he uses negative words. He gives a negative connotation of being Mexican; for example, it is possible to see this when he says that it hurts, it offends, it burns.

In this poem, the author presents the difficulties of being Mexican. I can see that in the United States it discrimination for Hispanic people is present every day, they have to face being treated as a minority.

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