A Life Along The Border

A Life Along The Border

A Life Along The Mexican Border



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Laredo, Texas is a multicultural city, by 10%.   90% of the population is Hispanic; the remaining 10% can be divided amongst Caucasians, African Americans, Asians, and other (www.citydata.com).   Our lifestyle in Laredo is much different than anywhere else I have ever lived.   Other races are not welcome in the community, and we live daily with discrimination.   The root of the discrimination we face is not because of race, it is of employment. This in turns, the discrimination leads to our racial background.

Anywhere and everywhere I look, I see people who look nothing like me. I am Caucasian with blonde hair and green eyes. The Hispanics are dark hair and have darker complexion then I.   Inside my “community” are people whose spouses have the same job as my husband. In this community, the members do look more like me, with a little diversity.

The leadership in Laredo, to say the lease, is not up to par. Everything here operates very differently then anywhere else I have lived.   The city tries to keep up and maintain an open-relationship with us. I have not had any personal experience with the leaders of my community.   I do not know if they treat people differently or not. With my husband’s job, we are not encouraged to go to community meetings and city council meetings.   We are not allowed to speak up and let our voices be heard, as this will draw more attention to our families (http://www.ci.laredo.tx.us/index.html).

    One of the worse feelings in the world is to face discrimination. To be given the evil eye, or pointed and laughed at.   This is how the members of the community treat us. We have been inline at a checkout in Wal-Mart and had the cashier close the register AFTER we put our groceries on it. After reloading our buggy and unloading into another lane, the original lane will reopen.   We encounter people who slam the door closed in our faces.   People, who spit at us, call us names and...