Celebrating our Mexican heritage

Amid celebrations of Mexico’s Independence, San Diego’s Consul Advocates for Education and Joining Forces
<figure id="attachment_32680" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32680" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/featured/celebrating-our-mexican-heritage/…; rel="attachment wp-att-32680"><img loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-32680" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_1592-CRX-we…; alt="Remedios Gómez Arnau, Cónsul General de México en San Diego" width="300" height="266"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-32680" class="wp-caption-text">Remedios Gómez Arnau, Cónsul General de México en San Diego</figcaption></figure>

On the morning of Tuesday, September 15th, Consul General of Mexico in San Diego Remedios Gomez Arnau went to Rosa Parks Elementary School – a bilingual school – to portray the words cried out by Father Miguel Hidalgo giving way to the fight for independence in 1810. This was but one of the many locations and events she will be attending throughout this month.
For Ms. Gomez Arnau, this celebration represents a means for Mexican people to reconnect to their home country, and for parents to reinforce Mexico’s unique traditions and customs with their children. At the same time, the Consul is in favor of having the Mexican people who live here embrace more than one culture: both that of the U.S., and that of their ascendance.
“It is very important for our youth to understand the culture of the United States, where they were born, where they are being raised, and where they will likely make a future for themselves”, the Consul General of Mexico in San Diego expressed to La Prensa. “However, it is also crucial for them to not forget their roots and to understand where their parents came from and why they like particular customs because, unless we understand where we came from, we will not be able to understand our present nor what we must do to forge our future.”
According to Ms. Gomez Arnau, being able to celebrate Mexico’s independence while in the U.S. is an opportunity to be reminded of the Mexico’s history, many details of which are unknown by a large percentage of Mexican residents in the U.S., and to reconnect with this country and with all its people.
“It is astonishing that many do not know, for example, that Mexico’s independence took 11 years to achieve. They think it started and ended in 1810”, indicated the Consul. “Nor do they remember that the priest Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon significantly led the fight for independence until 1815, after Father Hidalgo having done it the first year. Or that Mexico was born initially as an empire under Agustin de Iturbide.”
“Likewise, many do not remember that Mexico’s third root is that of Africa,” she added, “and that Jose Maria Morelos, who was of African, Native, and Spanish descent, was who made abolishing slavery in Mexico one of the first goals, prior to it being done in the U.S., when he drafted the principles for a new Constitution for Independent Mexico.”
Further, few remember that California also signed the Declaration of Independence from Spain, since it was also under their rule. Ms. Gomez Arnau feels that it is very important for both parents and students to seek out information beyond what they are taught in school.
On the topic of undocumented immigrants, Gomez Arnau reminds us that “Mexican immigration to the U.S. in large numbers started in fact at the request of the United States during WWII. They needed strong bodies to fight, to work in the factories, and to pick the crops. That is how the whole network was built, and that is why there are Mexican people all the way to Chicago. In 1964, however, it was said that Mexicans were no longer needed, in spite of the fact that employers needed them, and in the absence of a legal means to do so, the ‘undocumented’ phenomenon was born.”
In San Diego County, the Mexican community is comprised of everything from indigenous people to Nobel-Prize-Winner Mario Molina, and everything in-between, including mid-level workers; researchers in every scientific field; elementary, Jr. High and High School students; teachers; businessmen with companies in Mexico that contribute to the trade between our two countries; and owners of extremely successful businesses in San Diego.
“San Diego’s Mexican community is a microcosm of Mexico and its contribution to the wealth of both countries, but very particularly to this county,” shared the Consul. “We still need to accurately measure that contribution. Just in Coronado, a councilmember was telling me that it could be at least a billion dollars, without taking into account the contributions of Mexican people through their daily work and their personal spending and tourism, which are estimated at $4-$6 billion per year in San Diego.”
The consulates of Mexico in the United States, and specifically the one in San Diego, for over 20 years have focused on adult education programs as a priority, second only to health programs. “More so than those of us who serve as consular representatives, it is the Mexican community who are Mexico’s true ambassadors, who are out there every day interacting with the American people”, stated Ms. Gomez Arnau. “Therefore, we want them to improve their education and to help them better position themselves in the job market, as well as for them to better integrate into this society.”
Gomez Arnau encourages the Mexican people to get to know the services offered by their Consulate and to visit their website to facilitate becoming better integrated, and stressed the enormous importance of continuing to build and strengthen the bridge between Mexico and the U.S.
“It is a win-win situation”, ventured the Consul. “I would like for all the Mexican people in the U.S. to look at what is happening in California, which is the frontrunner for what will happen with the Latino community throughout the U.S.: 40% of California’s population are Latinos. Add that to the fact that many legislators are also Latino, and you begin to understand the bills that are being passed in favor of the Latino community, which is the first step in raising awareness about the benefits of our relationship and of working together. We have to always think of it as two countries that are already joined together, that share all kinds of different bonds that cannot be untied; rather we have to work together to strengthen them.”

Author

Maria Gonzalez Amarillo